In the run-up to the ANC’s national conference at Polokwane, analysts and journalists had a field day, predicting that the movement was on the verge of a major showdown that might even result in a split.
This gloomy picture was informed by what became known as the succession debate. In this process, a number of these wise men and women assumed the freedom to characterise our movement as lacking depth of leadership. They had no faith in the ANC’s democratic processes, which have been tested over many years.
In response to this gloom and doom, one ANC member described the movement as being like an ocean, with the ability to cleanse itself — a party with a depth of historical experience, capable of rising to the occasion and taking appropriate decisions when it matters most.
The process we have been through has reinforced the understanding among all ANC members that unity of the movement is of the utmost importance. The word ”unity” was mentioned by almost every delegate who spoke in the conference plenary and it became our clarion call. In his closing remarks at Polokwane, the ANC’s newly elected president, comrade Jacob Zuma, made an appeal to everyone to put the divisions and disagreements that emanated from the lobbying process behind us.
On further reflection, the robust and candid discussions that dominated this leadership contestation were not necessarily all bad. There are important lessons that can be drawn.
One such lesson is that unity does not mean uniformity. Robust contestation of ideas within the movement should be encouraged as the lifeblood of our organisation. Another lesson is that contestation of ideas should be conducted according to an unwritten code that ANC members must respect each other. Gossip, backbiting and backstabbing are alien to and undesirable within our movement. The freedom that factions acquire in tense situations to vilify each other — and to describe their opponents as being factional while they themselves claim to embody the values of the movement — must be stamped out.
The question now is how to move forward. Everyone should appreciate that we are still emerging from a very difficult period, during which our own comrades were brutal with each other. We should, however, accept that the national conference closed that chapter, and any attempt to sustain the disagreements and divisions is an investment in weakening the movement.
We must, therefore, operate on the basic assumption that all the members of the ANC love their organisation and the movement of which it is part. They backed different candidates based on who they believed were the people most capable of leading the process of building a strong movement. They all understand that this democratic process did not and does not make them enemies.
We emerge from Polokwane with one ANC, one leadership collective and one programme. The implementation of all the conference resolutions will help us rebuild trust and marshal all our forces in the same direction. As will be seen in our programmes for the year, the focus will be on mass mobilisation, giving life to the theme that the people will determine their own destiny.
It is within this context that the ANC president encouraged delegates to go back and build street committees that will work directly with community safety forums, making communities part of the fight against crime. We are talking of making education a societal issue, elevating it from being regarded as solely a departmental or government responsibility. This will remove the hype around the matric results, involve communities in tackling problems in schools and help to develop a deeper appreciation of the social and developmental challenges facing learners. We will work to revive activism around the priority areas identified.
Unemployment, poverty, inequality and underdevelopment have been identified as the core problems facing our society. The resolution on rural development and agrarian reform speaks to the importance of food production and food security as a critical intervention if we are to achieve the objective of halving poverty by 2014. Radically reducing poverty cannot just be a function of higher economic growth and employment creation; indeed there must be targeted interventions directed to the least socially and economically developed sections of our society.
Those who have expressed fears that there will be major policy changes should be comfortable that the focus will be on accelerating implementation of existing policies where this has lagged, with specific focus on the poorest sections of our population.
Finally, we must expect closer working relations among the alliance partners. I have taken note of the fears that a coherent alliance triggers in those who have invested in weakening our movement. Some describe a coherent alliance as making the ANC socialist. Through the implementation of joint programmes we must correct these perceptions and reassert the centrality of the alliance in driving the national democratic revolution.
Coherent messages from the leadership will be important for all of society, including undoing the perception that Cosatu and the ANC are at each other’s throats on the majority of issues. This will require more energy to engage all our allies and accept their independence.
Gwede Mantashe is secretary general of the ANC