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THE SMART NEWS SOURCE | Feb 11 2012 01:54 | LAST UPDATED Feb 11 2012 01:54 |
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President Jacob Zuma has dismissed fears of a "leftist takeover" of the African National Congress (ANC), saying the party always has been an organisation of the left. In a newsletter published on Friday, Zuma wrote that "those outside of the alliance" between the ANC, the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) and the South African Communist Party have struggled to understand the "cross-pollination of ideas" between the three. "Indeed, many people fear it. And so arises this feverish pre-occupation with a 'left takeover' of the ANC," Zuma wrote. "The point that many people fail to grasp is that the ANC, by its own definition and by any objective standard, is in fact an organisation of the left. "It is a multi-class national liberation movement with a bias towards the working class and poor." Zuma said the party's alliance partners did not determine its economic policy, but merely added to the debate. "These policies have been, and continue to be, the subject of ongoing debate, within the ANC and within the alliance," he said. Policy arose from debates in the ANC, "through a very intensive process". "There is nothing therefore in the argument that the alliance partners determine the policy of the ANC," Zuma said.  CONTINUES BELOW "It appears that people get mistaken when alliance partners raise their views in an open debate, commenting on policy. "We should not be afraid to debate policy, but we should be cautious not to associate certain policy positions with individuals." He also dismissed the idea that economic policy was determined by one minister. "Though there are ministers responsible for coordinating economic policy, they do not determine policy. "That is the function of Cabinet, drawing on the positions of the ANC, which is the key policy formulator, guided by the mandate of the electorate." Cosatu has called for Economic Development Minister Ebrahim Patel to have more of a say in setting the government's economic policy and said that the fiscally conservative Planning Minister, Trevor Manuel, has too much power. The federation wants the government to do away with inflation-targeting and favours a weaker rand. Zuma said it was important that the alliance continued to debate important issues. "It is important that we debate economic policy," he said. "It is important that we debate how to improve the effectiveness of our police, and how we can better safeguard the lives of our police men and women." -- Sapa TOPICS IN THIS ARTICLE
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