Delegates to the African National Congress’s (ANC) policy conference were tight-lipped on Wednesday evening about the outcome of behind-closed-doors debate on the party’s strategy and tactics document.
Earlier, in the opening session of the four-day conference, party president Thabo Mbeki had set the tone for the debate by telling delegates that the ANC had never sought to prescribe to the South African Communist Party (SACP) the policies it should adopt.
The strategy and tactics document, which the ANC describes as its ”collective view of the theory of the South African revolution”, was the first of 13 documents to be debated in closed sessions at the gathering.
The left wing in the tripartite alliance, including the Congress of South African Trade Unions and the SACP, was expected to seek key revisions of the document in a bid to push the ANC towards more radical social and economic policies.
Discussions on the document, held in 12 separate ”commissions”, ended at about 6.30pm.
One senior ANC member who attended several of the commissions said from what he had heard, significant changes to the document were unlikely.
The ANC would be ”stupid” to change its macroeconomic policy, he said.
He also said there had been substantial discussion on industrial policy and the importance of industry in job creation.
A member of the ANC Youth League said the question of how the ANC should define ”monopolistic capital” was a topic of lengthy and robust debate in one commission.
Earlier, the conference was told in open session of a proposal from KwaZulu-Natal that monopoly capital be regarded as an enemy of the national democratic revolution.
Joel Netshitenzhe, head of the policy unit in the Presidency and member of the ANC’s national executive committee (NEC), told the open session this position had to be discussed.
”How can we sustain such a posture while saying [to monopolies] ‘you are the enemy of the national democratic revolution, but invest’?” he asked.
Netshitenzhe is to brief the media on the strategy and tactics discussions on Thursday morning.
ANC national chairperson Mosiuoa Lekota said after the Wednesday evening commissions: ”My impression is the discussions went very well.”
Another delegate, asked whether the left had been victorious in the commission he attended, replied with a smile: ”The ANC doesn’t have a left and a right. It’s the ANC of the people.”
‘Sharpening the debate’
Mbeki, in his opening address, told the 1 500 delegates at Gallagher Estate in Midrand that a socialist victory could not be achieved in South Africa outside the context of the victory of the national democratic revolution.
He said the ANC had never discouraged the SACP from leading the socialist revolution.
The SACP had historically accepted that the ANC had to lead the national democratic revolution, he said.
SACP leader Blade Nzimande later told the South African Press Association he did not believe Mbeki’s words had been a warning or a decree.
”He was sharpening the debate around the matter, which we welcome,” he said. ”He was actually stating correctly what has been our historical relationship, which we have always accepted as the SACP.”
Mbeki, who entered the conference hall together with party deputy president Jacob Zuma, denied that the conference was being driven by the struggle over the leadership succession in the party, which comes up for review at the December conference.
Among the debates scheduled for the rest of the week, the one surrounding the so-called two centres of power -‒ which could determine whether Mbeki serves a third term as party boss — is set to overshadow other issues.
Introducing on the organisational review discussion document, ANC secretary general Kgalema Motlanthe said three suggestions had emerged from discussions at provincial level.
The first, which drew applause from the delegates, was that the president of the ANC should automatically stand as the party’s candidate for the presidency of the country.
The second suggestion — which met with groans — was to place the decision on the national presidency in the hands of the ANC’s NEC.
The third was to elect a candidate at the same time as the ANC’s own leadership was elected, and allow the national conference to decide whether the two offices should be linked.
Day two
The conference enters its second day on Thursday with a debate that will effectively decide whether Mbeki can serve a third term as party leader.
Under discussion is the organisational renewal document, which outlines options for reshaping the ANC.
Though the South African Constitution sets a two-term limit on the national presidency, the ANC at present has no restriction on the ANC presidency.
Though the conference does not make policy, its decisions are termed ”draft resolutions”. It is unlikely that the party’s national conference in December will take a different view on the issue. — Sapa