Jaspreet Kindra
The African National Congress national executive committee (NEC) meeting at the weekend is expected to formulate a hard-hitting stance on the United States’s threats to boycott the United Nations conference on racism to be held in Durban at the end of this month.
The US has raised concerns about the inclusion of reparations for slavery, colonialism and a provision equating Zionism with racism on the conference’s agenda.
ANC sources said the party, which historically has an “anti-imperialist” tradition, is expected to draft a position along the lines that “no country has the right to dictate the agenda in a democratic forum”.
Deputy President Jacob Zuma told the Mail & Guardian: “The US is not setting a good example.” He reasoned that if people wished to influence others, they could do so only by participating.
South Africa’s racist past was a motivating factor for the UN to choose it as the host country of the conference.
The Zionism provision was dropped on Wednesday night after an agreement between representatives of the 194 participating countries, who are meeting in Geneva to draw up a draft conference declaration.
The racism conference and a report back on the realignment of ANC regions and branches along new municipal boundaries are two of the issues that will feature prominently at the ANC’s NEC meeting, said party spokesperson Smuts Ngonyama. The ANC’s leadership is also likely to discuss the upcoming Alliance Summit.
The ANC’s provincial conferences, which were expected to be held from last month across the country, have been postponed as the realignment of regions is yet to be finalised.
The ANC’s Nomfanelo Mayosi-Kota said: “The provinces had underestimated the amount of work that needed [to be done] prior to the conferences.”