Finding a value-based overarching South African identity has become a priority for the African National Congress (ANC), national executive committee member Joel Netshitenzhe revealed on Thursday in a press briefing on the party’s strategy and tactics document.
The document, as it emerged from the ANC policy conference earlier this year, was discussed in a closed session at the party’s national conference in Polokwane. ”Very little came back from branches in the lead-up to Polokwane” to change the proposed document, said Netshitenzhe.
One section that was added to the document, however, deals with ”building social cohesion and values of a caring society”. This would help define broadly the mandate of an ANC government.
Such a strategy would deal, for example, with ensuring care for the most vulnerable in society, discarding of arrogant displays of wealth, not allowing political or religious intolerance and campaigning against the abuse of drugs and alcohol.
Asked whether the many luxurious BMW X5s seen on Polokwane’s roads in the past week would qualify as ”arrogant displays of wealth”, Netshitenzhe asked the journalist in turn: ”Is it a reflection of your aspirations that you refer to an X5 and not a Hummer?” Several Hummers have been seen ferrying around ANC delegates.
On a serious note, he said, the ANC does not want to discourage initiative and entrepreneurship. ”We must not destroy the ambition people have to achieve things for themselves. There is nothing wrong with buying what you can afford. It is more a question of behaviour.”
He used the example of ANC members driving X5s who park next to the road to the conference venue in Polokwane, with the doors open and crates of beer outside, ”to say to villagers that ‘We have arrived.’ That must be discouraged.”
To implement the desired values, he said, ”Government can encourage, but all of society would need to be active leaders in the campaign to build a caring society,” said Netshitenzhe. ”We need to work together as South Africans to build this overarching South African identity.”
He added: ”When you look at all these belief systems [in South Africa], the focus will be on what is common and what is good,” and not on a specific culture or religion, for example. ”The idea is not a melting pot where multiple identities disappear.”
There was also a discussion on the concept of a ”counter-revolution”, Netshitenzhe said.
There will always be opponents to what the ANC stands for, he said, but such opposition is legitimate and needs to be protected by the Constitution. However, there are some fanatical elements too — such as the Boeremag. Often these forces originate from the apartheid era and ”use underhand methods to try to subvert state institutions such as our intelligence and security organisations”.
He mentioned examples of conspiracy theories and the hoax email saga as tactics used to try to weaken and destroy the ANC. Such actions are seen as counter-revolutionary.
Asked whether the ANC sees the Democratic Alliance as an enemy or an opponent, Netshitenzhe said: ”Opponents are just opponents. People who operate within the constitutional framework of the country are just opponents. They [the DA] remain a legitimate school of South African thought. It is a fundamental distinction.”
A third discussion concerned the characteristics of monopoly capital. It was decided that the broad characterisation contained in the document was adequate.
A developmental state needs to regulate the environment in which capital operates, said Netshitenzhe — referring to, among other methods, taxation and the fiscus, and opposing anti-competitive behaviour (such as the recent price collusion found in the bread industry).
A slight amendment in the strategy and tactics document now states that there is much in the nature and behaviour of monopoly capital that opposes what the ANC stands for.
On whether South Africa’s budget surplus would be used to increase social spending, Netshitenzhe said: ”The South African government suffers from an embarrassment of riches but it is a challenge of capacity to spend these resources.” If there is a windfall, he added, do you spend it all or save it for a rainy day?
However, no department or state institution has been sent away with no budget.
The modified strategy and tactics document was adopted by the conference.