THE ANC’s 6th National Policy Conference has exposed President Cyril Ramaphosa and his delegates for ignoring resolutions taken at Nasrec in 2017.
There were concerns that some resolutions that were adopted in 2017 had not been implemented and it was dubbed as merely a “talk shop”.
Some of the resolutions include the creation of a state bank; the creation of the National Health Insurance; nationalisation of the Reserve Bank; expropriation of land without compensation; the creation of a state mining company; the restructuring of financial institutions to fund a young majority; free tertiary education; the creation of a state pharmaceutical company; and the resolution to downgrade South Africa’s mission in Israel.
All these resolutions were ignored at this stale three-day policy conference which ended yesterday.
From the onset, delegates on Friday lacked energy and according to sources they had been advised to toe Ramaphosa’s line, hence the failure to address previous resolutions, and the elephant in the room, the Phala-Phala matter, which delegates resolved not to discuss.
NEC member Zizi Kodwa said Ramaphosa had appeared before the party’s integrity committee and the meeting was incomplete.
Speaking of the conference, political analyst Sipho Seepe said: “George Orwell famously remarked that in a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act.”
“The ANC policy conference has proved to be another instalment of deceit. While deceit might be too strong a word, the conference was all about pretence.
“To have expected anything else from a largely prepaid leadership is delusional. White monopoly capital does not take chances,” Seepe said.
“As expected, delegates were seized with the same issues that have confronted the ANC since 1994. Whereas the previous leadership collective might have failed to fully implement the party’s policy outcomes, due to incompetence and a lack of capacity, the current crop has no political will to implement them.
“In worst-case scenarios, the resolutions are ridiculed. When Johann Rupert, who doubles as the puppet master, described the resolution calling for radical socio-economic transformation as a mere cover for stealing state resources, his minions took their cue from him,” Seepe said.
He said the party’s leadership has prevaricated on the land question. Despite constituting about 80% of the population, Africans own a measly 4% of the land.
“No amount of ducking and diving will make the Phala Phala farmgate scandal disappear. Internationally, Ramaphosa is damaged goods. His misdeeds have earned front-page coverage in influential papers across the world.
“In a functioning democracy, a president accused of defeating the ends of justice and of various forms of criminality would have resigned,” Seepe said.
Moeletsi Mbeki, political scientist and brother of former president Thabo Mbeki, said Ramaphosa has one of the best public relations he could think of, but failed as a president.
“Ramaphosa is not a leader, really. He was never a leader. He is an apparatchik or an agent of the party but he presents himself as a leader. If you put him next to Nelson Mandela, Thabo Mbeki and even Jacob Zuma, he is not a leader because he does not believe in anything.
“He goes with the flow. He wakes up in the morning and says which way is the wind blowing; I am going go that way,” said Mbeki.
ANC Gauteng provincial secretary TK Nciza, in an interview with the national broadcaster, said one of the critical things the policy conference should look for was making sure that they implement the resolutions of the ANC taken in 2017; they are here to review that.
“We know it’s a recommendation to the national conference that our people are living in squalor. We spoke about the state bank. We have not established it well, we don't know where we are and many other issues.
“The issue of land; we said appropriation of land without compensation, SAA why would we make it go down like it has, we spoke very strong on issues of e-tolls affecting the people of South Africa, the migration issues are affecting our people. Our policies must be clear on that, the illegal immigrants who are roaming around are a problem; the high level of crime; Eskom; some of these things we must speak to them without fear or favour,” Nciza said.
There are other matters that people are worried about, including the existence of the ANCWL and the MK veterans which existed during Zuma’s time.
Closing of the conference yesterday, Ramaphosa told delegates that the controversial step aside rule that was adopted in 2017 would remain.
Ramaphosa said the rule would be refined and there was a proposal for an appeals process for comrades who found themselves in a position where they were asked to step aside.
ANC KwaZulu-Natal provincial secretary, Bheki Mtolo, told The Star that the step aside rule was being used against some individuals in the ANC.
He said the rule was illegal and questioned why the premier of the Eastern Cape Oscar Mabuyane had not stepped aside.
Mabuyane found himself under fire after the Public Protector (PP) Busisiwe Mkhwebane made damning findings in her report which indicated that he benefited from a R1.1 million tender for the memorial service of Struggle icon, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela. There were allegations that Mabuyane had received over R450 000 in relation to the tender which was used to renovate his house.
“There were issues that were raised by the premier of the Eastern Cape. There are many issues about him, but he speaks here like he is in a position of moral authority because he knows he is part of the establishment that protects him,” Mtolo said.
Mtolo said the step aside rule was being used incorrectly. He accused the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the ANC of preventing democracy and a majority view.
Mabuyane told The Star that he would not step aside. He said he had presented himself to the ANC’s integrity committee and was cleared of wrongdoing.
Meanwhile, uMkhonto weSizwe Military Veterans Association (MKMVA) spokesperson, Carl Niehaus told The Star that he had been banned from the policy conference.
Niehaus said he believed that the policy conference was a failure and that it did not address key issues, which included Ramaphosa’s Phala Phala scandal.