Over the weekend of 29-31 July, the ANC held its 6th National Policy Conference at Nasrec, Gauteng. These conferences are meant to be held approximately thirty months into every administration’s term of office, but this time round the COVID pandemic delayed the conference.

Since the ANC is the governing party, and its decisions are likely to translate into national policy, they deserve close scrutiny. Before the conference, Stephen Grootes wrote as follows: “While the ANC’s policy conference is officially about the battle of policy ideas, there are strong indications already that the power contest(s) will overshadow debates around ideology and delivery. And yet, the policy documents published by the party ahead of its conference are important, as they give an indication of what officially the future direction of the party could be.”

Paper by the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference Parliamentary Liaison Office