African National Congress (ANC) president Jacob Zuma on Monday sought to ”clarify” recent statements of his, which he said had been misrepresented in the media, and denied having been ”summoned” by the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) to explain some of them.
”There have been a lot of reports in the media in the past two weeks on remarks made by the ANC president at public engagements, which are claimed by various journalists and commentators to be inconsistent with ANC policy,” he said in a statement.
”I would like to clarify some of the points made, as they have been grossly misrepresented by some sections of the media.”
On the issue of labour-market flexibility, the ANC’s Polokwane conference had resolved that creating decent work opportunities was the primary focus of ANC economic policy.
At the same time, given the existence of two economies in the country, it was necessary to continuously seek ways of improving the lot of people in the second economy.
”That is a reinforcement of our policy. Not a deviation. As the ANC, we will continue to guard and work to deepen the hard-won rights of workers.
”I chose to brief a meeting of the Cosatu central executive committee on this matter as I felt I needed to explain to them what was fast being distorted by the media.
”I was not ‘summoned’ by Cosatu as some sections of the media reported,” Zuma said.
Neither was there any ambiguity in the ANC’s position on the death penalty, ”as I have consistently stated”, he said.
The ANC was opposed to capital punishment, for cogent reasons.
”I have also made it clear that we are a democratic country and that it would be difficult for us as the ANC to tell people they cannot debate whether or not there should be a referendum on the matter.
”It would be a contradiction if we say we believe in democracy, but refuse to allow people space to tell us what they think.”
However, a debate would not change the fact that the ANC’s policy and the Constitution remained very clear on the right to life of every South African.
”We who believe in this view should be ready to defend it through engagement and persuasion, not through denying others a platform to state their views.”
Dialogue
Regarding affirmative action, Zuma said that during an interaction with trade union Solidarity, a white parent had asked on behalf of his young son whether he would battle to find a job when he finished school due to the affirmative action policies.
”I indicated that I welcomed Solidarity’s view on affirmative action, in which they stated clearly that they were not opposed to the policy, but wanted to engage us on how we can find a way to accommodate white South Africans, especially with regard to scarce skills where no suitable black candidates were available.
”I said there should be dialogue on the matter. As the ANC, we welcome interaction between the different formations of organised labour in the country.
”We believe the sharing of views would enable us to deal with any perceptions that may exist within the white community on affirmative action.”
Media hype around an interview he had with Britain’s internationally circulated Financial Times, which reported he said President Thabo Mbeki no longer had any powers, had been mischievous.
”It is a misrepresentation of what I said in the interview,” Zuma said.
It had been repeatedly stated that the ANC government implemented ANC policy.
Therefore, all ANC members in the government, from a national to a local level, were accountable to the movement.
This was nothing new. Nor should it change simply because the positions of ANC president and president of the country were held by different people.
”The powers, duties and responsibilities of the President of the Republic, which are prescribed by the South African Constitution, have not been changed or diminished.”
On ANC policy, Zuma said the party continuously monitored and evaluated implementation of its policies in various forums and conferences.
The ANC had a responsibility to engage in these processes to ensure its policies were advancing the objective of a better life for all.
”That is why I said that policies should not be seen as equivalent to the Ten Commandments.
”Instead, they should be open to review and ongoing interrogation,” he said.
Meanwhile, Cosatu on Monday joined Zuma in taking issue with the media.
”The editors, journalists and analysts responsible for this biased coverage are people who consistently opposed Zuma’s bid for the presidency,” said Patrick Craven, Cosatu’s spokesperson, ”and are now trying to undermine the democratic decision of the ANC conference by a policy of biased and malicious misreporting of his speeches.” — Sapa, I-Net Bridge