The African National Congress’s (ANC) policy conference enters its final day well ahead of schedule on Saturday at Gallagher Estate in Midrand, with a closing address by party president Thabo Mbeki set for 10am instead of 3pm as originally planned.
The 1 500 delegates have already spent three days in often robust debate behind closed doors.
On Friday, they settled one of the thorniest issues of the conference by adopting a compromise proposal that leaves the way open for either Mbeki or the deputy president of the party, Jacob Zuma, to stand for the leadership when it comes up for review at the ANC national conference in December.
The conference also during the week reached what was described as ”broad consensus” on the need for a developmental state, with more government intervention to bring about higher growth in the economy.
Women’s ministry
There also has been a ”strong call” at the conference for a women’s ministry with its own department and budget, ANC national executive committee member Thoko Didiza said on Friday.
She said delegates in closed commissions had also urged that teachers be barred from sitting as municipal councillors, and urged that the government explore a work-related grant to cover gaps in the social-security net.
All these proposals still have to go before a plenary of the conference.
Didiza told a media briefing that the proposal on the women’s ministry had come from the ANC Women’s League. There had also been another view that existing mechanisms dealing with women’s emancipation and development could be strengthened.
These included the Gender Commission, the office on the status of women in the Presidency, and structures at provincial level.
However, there was no consensus on the proposals, nor on one for the establishment of a women’s fund.
She said there had been a very strong view that teachers should not be allowed to serve as municipal councillors, either full- or part-time. ”If we want to improve the quality of education, we can do better if we say this category of our workers should not remain councillors,” she said.
There had not been talk of legislation, but she was sure that when the government looked at the issue, it would say if there should be a change to the law. It is understood that at present, teachers have to apply to provincial education departments to take up simultaneous council positions.
Basic income grant
Didiza said there had been debate on a basic income grant, and delegates felt that there was a ”challenge” in a particular bracket in the community posed by unemployment or the restructuring of the economy.
They felt that if there was to be income support, it had to be linked to ”work activity” to avoid creating dependency.
Delegates at commissions had also:
- rejected the idea of a specific grant for HIV/Aids;
- called for the gradual raising of the child-grant minimum age from the current 16 to 18;
- agreed that 60 years was a good age for the equalisation of pensions, which are currently paid to women at 60 and men at 65; and
- suggested that the state should intervene to lower the cost of building materials and therefore of housing.
There had been support in commissions for the view that the ANC should explore a state pharmaceutical company in order to help lower the cost of medicine.
There had also been inconclusive debate on the property clause in the Constitution, and on regulation of foreign land ownership, Didiza said. ”Delegates did not make us any wiser as to how that would be done without affecting foreign investment.” — Sapa