Rehana Roussow
THE African National Congress’s Western Cape provincial conference last weekend failed to provide a blueprint for victory for the party in the 1999 elections.
Delegates who had hoped their organisation’s biennial conference would provide a solution for its inability to attract coloured voters left dissatisfied as not one resolution on the thorny issue was debated.
Elections for a new leadership dominated the proceedings, with almost the entire first day taken up by a battle for positions.
With most of Saturday spent electing a new provincial leadership, and a breakdown in administration on Sunday which meant delegates did not receive copies of resolutions, the conference was far from successful.
“Once again, we have had yet another ANC conference almost completely dominated by leadership battles instead of devising a political programme,” said a frustrated delegate.
“We had hoped this one would have been different, but the ANC in the Western Cape seems doomed to remain morassed in personality rather than programme.”
A document titled A political plan for the Western Cape drafted by a group headed by the ANC’s new provincial treasurer, Ebrahim Rasool, was circulated among delegates but did not become a major discussion point as many had hoped.
It suggested a new strategic path for the ANC, saying the coloured community had to be at the centre of any strategy the conference devised. Although there was heated debate in a commission on political strategy, without photo-copying facilities to circulate resolutions to delegates, the discussions were not translated into an action plan.
Outgoing provincial leader Chris Nissen attempted in his address to set the tone for action. “It is important to give due recognition to the coloured people of this province,” he said.
`Gone are the days when we talk about so- called coloureds. They are not superior to anyone or inferior, they have a culture to be proud of. The ANC needs to recognise this and give them its full support. The ANC must play a role in bringing communities together.”
ANC Deputy President Thabo Mbeki, who delivered the keynote speech, reiterated that the ANC should win over the coloured constituency in the Western Cape, but did not spell out a strategy of how to do so.
On the other major issue dominating Western Cape politics – crime in the province – Mbeki merely referred delegates to the ANC’s January 8 speech which called on members to engage in popular mobilisation to fight crime.
A resolution on affirmative action – a rallying point for coloureds who believe the ANC does not represent their interests – failed to find support at the conference.
It proposed the establishment of an affirmative action commission in the province to which people could complain if they were unfairly excluded from employment on the grounds that the job was not available to coloured workers.
The resolution, like most prepared by branches and commissions for conference, was referred to the provincial executive committee for debate.
There was some work done at the conference, though. Delegates adopted 10 resolutions, including one on crime which called for anti-crime units to be established in branches and for the ANC to lobby for additional funds for crime prevention.
Delegates also resolved to revive the masakhane campaign and lobby for adequate billing procedures in townships, incentive schemes for residents who pay for services and for payment offices to be opened at weekends and after hours.
Most delegates appeared satisfied with the outcome of the leadership elections which saw Justice Minister Dullah Omar elected as chairman, NomaIndia Mfeketo as deputy chairman, James Ngculu re-elected secretary, Marius Fransman as deputy secretary and Rasool as treasurer.