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South Africa |
POLITICS
The African National Congress (ANC), one of the oldest political parties in Africa, is celebrating its 90 birthday, this year. Founded on 8 January 1912, much has changed since a group of chiefs and mainly educated Africans came together to form what amounted to a pressure group, to influence government policies on «native» issues
Both the ANC and chiefs have had a chequered history. Chiefs continued to hold key positions, best illustrated by Chief Albert Luthuli who sacrificed his chieftainship for leadership of the ANC (a demand made on him by the government of the time). Luthuli was the first South African and the first ANC leader to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
The ANC was later to abandon this alliance with the country’s traditional leaders, as the chiefs became tools of apartheid in Bantustan politics. By the eighties, many chiefs were «on the run» from party activists. However, today’s ANC is courting tribal chiefs, a remarkable return to the days when tradition rulers were an integral part of the ANC.
Political analyst, Joe Mati, says perhaps this is where Mbeki’s political security really lies. The party’s leadership has on several occasions called on party members to respect chiefs because they are part of the leadership of black society.
The ANC made sure the chiefs’ role was acknowledged in the Constitution, but stopped short of giving them any meaningful powers. Its leader, Thabo Mbeki, who is also South Africa’s President, recognises this. Race, he insist, still defines politics in South Africa. It certainly defines his core constituency.
The ANC — contested terrain
As a broad movement that accommodates liberals and nationalists, the ANC has always been a contested terrain, as the various schools of thought sought to influence the party’s direction of policy. Herbert Adam, of Canada’s Simon Fraser University describes the ANC as a «middle-class party committed to the enrichment of the new black elite», adding: «The ANC‘s historical role is to both represent and control the poor majority.»
Mbeki has often said he wants to see the fractious black business sector speak with one voice. In many of his public utterances, he has also attacked elements of the black elite for seeking wealth with no sense of social obligation. At the ANC‘s latest general council meeting held in Port Elizabeth, the party adopted a new concept. The ANC will develop a programme to educate members to see their role as primarily that of serving the people and not enriching themselves. At a rally in early January, Mbeki spoke passionately about the need for voluntary service to the people, thus recapturing the community spirit that prevailed in the 1980s.»
The Freedom Charter
Mbeki also reaffirmed the ANC‘s commitment to the ideals of the Freedom Charter. (The Freedom Charter was drawn up after extensive nationwide consultation. It is a statement of intent, agreed upon by the ANC, the South African Communist Party (SACP) and the trade unions during the Congress of the People, which took place on 26 June 1955. The document became the definitive «ideology» of the liberation movement). In this regard, while some of the objectives such as «the people shall govern», have been achieved, millions have still to have access to houses, electricity, security and jobs.
Socialists within the ANC have sought to convince the membership, that the Freedom Charter was essentially a socialist document, advocating socialist policies such as nationalisation of assets, free education and a host of other socialist inspired ideals. Nationalists advanced a counter argument, saying that the Freedom Charter advocated a mixed economy and there was nothing explicit in the document that was communist.
The SACP
The SACP runs no candidates of its own, but its cadres feature prominently on the ANC electoral list, and all the senior leadership of the South Africa Congress of Trade Unions (COSATU) belong to the party, making the SACP one of the most powerful Communist parties anywhere in the world. There was actually more to the Tripartite Alliance’s solidarity than the joint struggle against apartheid. (Author’s note: The Tripartite Alliance is made up of the SACP, COSATU, with the ANC in the leadership role). Their apparent mutual commitment to the varying shades of socialism, promised a long lasting relationship beyond the anti-apartheid phase.
The SACP believed in the overthrow of capitalism and its substitution by a full fledged socialism. COSATU wanted the workers to exercise significant control over the means of production. It appeared that there was general agreement on what had to be done with the economy come a new political landscape. Within changing international realities and the changing class and racial cleavages in the country, the ANC has to balance its commitment to business with that of its base constituency — the rural and urban black poor.
«The ANC is a broad movement, at the heart of a complex series of alliances and mass democratic formations» says Marilyn Stevens, a trade union organizer.
The ANC — realities
In 1994 and 1999, the ANC campaigned on slogans like «A better life for all,» but the reality has been that over half-a-million have lost jobs — an unemployment rate over 30 percent, incomes are falling, a currency has halved in value, social services are deteriorating, and there’s a crime wave of mammoth proportions. A survey conducted by the Pretoria-based Human Science Research Council finds that the average ANC supporter is black and speaks one of the five most common South African languages. He or she is likely to have an educational qualification of less than high school certificate, and in one case out of five has some form of employment. Though not satisfied with the cost of living, the ANC supporter thinks that those holding high office (in the presidency) should be given a chance.
This group does not back the ANC for any particular policy. It is interested only in what the ANC can deliver, and Mati says, the ANC has not done badly in the eyes of these supporters. But its alliance partners are not complacent with its performance.
SACP strategists play a prominent part in the ANC. The ANC, whose own organization has fallen into a state of dilapidation after seven somewhat disappointing years in power, relies heavily on COSATU‘s muscle. The labour federation has provided the mass support at the polls; SACP stalwarts made significant contributions to policy formulation; and the ANC, as head of government, had both the SACP and COSATU members in top posts. But relations with the two alliance partners has in recent months become tense. The ANC, which is under pressure from international money markets and the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, has been strongly criticised by its alliance partners for diluting the principles of the Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP) by arguing that the more business-friendly Growth Employment and Redistribution Policy (GEAR) is a logical extension of the RDP.
COSATU is particularly unhappy about privatisation. «The alliance is up to now heading for disaster. The reality is, that we have to sort out the relationship to create an environment for logical and rational discussion» says COSATU‘s general secretary, Zwelinzima Vavi. COSATU and the SACP have proposed a People’s Economic Summit to debate the country’s macro-economic framework. It is calling for a type of Marshall Plan intervention that will «solve our problems as GEAR is not going to do that for us», Vavi said.
In the case of the SACP, despite the fact that eight cabinet members, as well as several members of parliament hold senior positions on its central committee, the SACP says the ANC has shown no indication that it might change its views on contentious issues like privatisation.
The way forward
Developing a strategic left-wing platform has been identified by both COSATU and the SACP as key to influencing the ANC‘s Cape Town national congress in December this year. The SACP is revising its core strategy documents ahead of its own congress in June. Already, party structures have begun discussions about updating the Strategy and Tactics document, the first time a major revision has taken place since the party’s last congress in exile in Cuba, in 1989.
As the tripartite allies negotiate issues that might strengthen or weaken their relationship, internally, the ANC needs to reflect on the relationship between those who kept the home fires burning during the dark days of apartheid, and the exiles. Tension between the two has shaped the ANC since its unbanning. Because of lack of meaningful contact between the two «sides» over three decades, the groups have forged different cultures and traditions.
What the ANC needs to do urgently, is to establish whether it is going to cling to the political culture of an exiled liberation movement, or whether it is going to allow its transformation into a modern political party with the transparency and internal democracy which that implies.
The ANC has so far failed to deal with its fundamental dilemmas. It has begun to pay the price for its failure to integrate the seemingly irreconcilable cultures of its exiled wing, on the one hand, and the more consultative and democratic front — the trade unions and the civic bodies — on the other. Marginalising the latter in the present government, shuts out a vital pool of talent that understands South Africa’s complexities and diversity better than the exiles, who in turn, have a better understanding on international dynamics.
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PeaceLink 2002 - Reproduction authorised, with usual acknowledgement