The decision to smooth out differences was the crowning achievement of the ANC’s summit, reports Paul Stober
THE ANC’s “pragmatic” and “left” camps — locked in a struggle over the future of the organisation — negotiated an informal truce at the ANC’s first post-election inter- regional summit last weekend.
At the heart of the debate is who will control the government of national unity. The “left” camp, predominantly outside government, believes the ANC must give direction to the government and keep a tight rein on the cabinet. The “pragmatists”, mainly in the cabinet, are said to be determined to secure political stability and economic investment at all cost.
Commenting on the summit, ANC government sources said: “In the end we had to accept that we differ, rather than let others take advantage of our disagreements. We have a lot of other problems, so we need to look at doing something about our differences in a constructive way.”
ANC activists inside and outside the government agreed that the question of state salaries — reported in the media as the main topic at the summit — was a side issue. The rapprochement of the two groupings was the crowning achievement of the summit, they said.
The two camps are also at odds over how to further the reconstruction and development programme (RDP). The “pragmatists” are accused of ignoring the interests of traditional ANC allies — such as the trade unions — in order to create conditions that appeal to foreign investors and local business.
“The RDP cannot depend on foreign capital to succeed,” said a leading member of the “left” camp. “The moment the need for any political morality disappears, the conditions for loans and investment will harden.”
The “left” is accused of endangering South Africa’s fragile multiparty government and squandering international goodwill by promoting obsolete ideological positions.
Before the summit, alliance activists feared ANC government leaders — worried about the wave of strikes and open criticism of the organisation’s role in government by the South African Communist Party and the Congress of South African Trade Unions — would try to pull its allies into line.
In the event, relatively open discussions resulted in a broad agreement that while the problems needed to be resolved, neither the ANC nor the country could afford public squabbling. Both camps agreed to play down the issue until the next ANC national conference, scheduled for December.
But the restructuring of the ANC, announced after the summit, clearly indicated that the “left” is already positioning for a showdown at the end of the year.
ANC secretary general Cyril Ramaphosa has taken control of the organisation outside parliament. The new management committee, which will oversee the day-to-day running of the organisation, is heavily weighted towards the “left”.
The eight-person committee includes Rama-phosa, Marion Sparg, trade unionist and parliamentarian Phillip Dexter and Cheryl Carolus, an ANC heavyweight who chose not to go into government.
While they cannot be lumped together politically, they are a powerful group said to share an interest in a strong ANC independent of government — a development about which ANC government officials are wary.
A drive by the ANC to re-establish dynamic contact with its membership and regions and to rebuild its public profile is also an indication that the “left” has secured an important role.