/ 22 December 2006

Cosatu: ANC sidelined from policymaking

The African National Congress (ANC) and its alliance formations are themselves largely sidelined from policymaking, the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) has argued in its end-of-year report.

Spokesperson Patrick Craven said in a statement issued on Thursday evening that political power resides in the Presidency, which results from the constitutional prerogative of the president to appoint his deputy and Cabinet ministers.

In addition, the president has the power to appoint directors general and premiers as well as mayors.

”Most of the important policies arise from the state and conservative economists from the universities, some of whom even [come] from abroad. The Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative for South Africa (AsgiSA) is a typical example. The ANC has no independent instrument to effectively monitor compliance of the government with policy directives of its constitutional meetings or to effectively monitor progress.

”This has led to a situation where those in the executive [cabinet] basically monitor their own performance and defend their policy shifts,” argued Craven.

Cosatu noted that it had called for the introduction of a strong constituency element in the electoral process at national and provincial level.

”The current proportional representation system undermines democracy and inevitably leads to a situation where [those deployed] lick the boots of the leaders rather than serve the movement.” — I-Net Bridge