Though Cyril Ramaphosa won the election
Cyril Ramaphosa may have won the presidential election battle at the ANC’s 54th national conference, but the war for the ANC will continue in policy discussions expected to commence today.
The so-called “unity ticket” win on Monday evening sees the top six divided into three representatives from the Ramaphosa slate, and three from Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma’s (although, reportedly, there is a dispute over the vote count for ANC secretary general).
Insiders in the economic transformation commission anticipate the top six split will further manifest in policy discussion where prickly proposals touted by the NDZ camp are expected to arise.
Clues as to what ideas may be pushed lie within a campaign paper for the losing candidate, titled “Radical Times”, which was distributed at the conference at the weekend. The publication set out a variety of points for “empowering delegates in discussions”, and these points are anticipated to still be pushed, despite Dlamini-Zuma’s loss.
In line with her campaign’s emphasis on a developmental state, much of the emphasis is on nationalising a number of institutions and industries. For example, the document suggests the Reserve Bank should be nationalised. This was placed on the table during the ANC policy conference in July and must be deliberated on further by the conference.
A resolution to do so is expected to be passed, but this alone would not impact on how the bank operates. However, the Radical Times guideline also proposes the bank’s mandate should include development financing as well as growth and employment.
Additionally, it’s suggested delegates discuss nationalising cost-plus coal mines – through direct ownership by Eskom – to reduce coal prices and stabilise energy costs.
Nationalisation of Sasol as well as ArcelorMittal (or re-nationalisation as it is termed) are also key proposals. For the concentrated construction and cement sectors quarries, like mines, “should be democratised through state-ownership”, the publication says.
Further, the forestry sector should be state-owned and a plan should be implemented to expand the role and ownership of forests by government’s South African Forestry Companies Limited.
Redistribution of land is ANC policy, but the NDZ publication pushes for the consideration of constitutional amendments to enable the state to expropriate land without compensation. Again, this was a policy proposal brought up in July and which must be decided by delegates at the conference. The campaign paper suggests the land must be returned to productive use with the principle of “use it or lose it”.
It is also proposed that a state-owned Reserve Bank should, “alongside other assets such as gold, also accumulate platinum group metals as a reserve, which can be used to stabilise foreign exchange earnings and to facilitate trade”. This idea has been floated in the past, but the Reserve Bank has previously said rejected the idea based on feasibility studies it had conducted.