Johannesburg - Carl Niehaus, a former ANC member and founder of civil society group the Radical Economic Transformation Movement (RETMO), has presented his 10-point plan to transform the organisation into a socio-political force in the country.
Niehaus' RET rhetoric within the ANC has seen him break ranks with most of the current leaders of the ruling party, whose neo-liberal policies have taken over the ANC in recent years. In the lead-up to the ANC's 55th national conference in December, the former uMkhonto we Sizwe Military Veterans' Association spokesperson was booted out of the ANC after he was accused of bringing the party into disrepute.
Among some of his ambitious proposals, contained in his draft policy statement, are the scrapping of the privatisation of state owned enterprises, the nationalisation of the South African Reserve Bank (SARB), the establishment of a state bank, and a state-owned pharmaceutical company.
"RETMO will prioritise the expropriation of land without compensation as a matter of national priority and commit to the building of a broad national coalition of all progressive forces in the country to nationalise all land and make such land available for productive use on the basis of our national developmental priorities," Niehaus said during delivery of his plan via Twitter Spaces this weekend.
Niehaus said the ANC had failed to act on the issue of the Reserve Bank.
“The push must be for this (SARB nationalisation) to happen immediately now; however, if the current ANC government fails to act, our understanding must be that a government of the progressive left committed to this 10 point plan, once it comes into power, must as one of its first priorities, within one month after it has come into power, fully nationalise the SARB and, through an Act of Parliament, also re-formulate the mandate of the SARB so that it will primarily have a duty to grow the South African economy and to create jobs," he said.
With Eskom plagued by load shedding and the inability to end it, Niehaus believes an executive order should be issued to halt coal exportation in the country.
"RETMO will immediately bring by executive order an end to the export of high grade South African coal, and issue an executive order that our coal resources must be utilised to address the energy crises in South Africa," he said.
The Star