A special NEC meeting scheduled for April 20 to 21 will be held to discuss the land issue as well as a land summit involving all South Africans.
ANC head of policy Jeff Radebe announced during the official launch of the party’s 54th conference report and resolutions that the organisation will organise workshops and consultations with all South Africans on the practical steps the ruling party would take to implement its conference resolution land expropriation and agrarian reform.
“At the most recent ANC NEC meeting, the ANC also considered the practical steps to give effect to its conference resolution on land expropriation and agrarian reform, and will organise a workshop and consultations with all South Africans on these steps,” Radebe said.
He said implementing land expropriation without compensation was extremely urgent and that a special NEC meeting scheduled for 20 to 21 April would be held to discuss the land issue as well as a land summit involving all South Africans to talk about the policy.
Food economy and security are not a precondition to the implementation of the resolution, he added.
Radebe reiterated President Cyril Ramaphosa’s words that land grabs were illegal and law enforcement agencies should deal with illegal land grabbers decisively.
Radebe further said the party resolved at ensuring that South Africans share equitably in the country’s wealth.
“Some of these include a focus on youth unemployment such as prioritising public employment schemes, internships, job placement and youth entrepreneurship.
“We have already begun to give effect to our resolution to change the ownership structure of the economy and break the concentration of ownership in the hands of a small, largely white and male minority,” he said.
Radebe said the ANC intends to amend the Competition Act to promote faster, inclusive growth and transformation.
He said the key resolutions at the conference last December include an instruction to the party’s NEC, provincial, regional and branch leadership to implement a sustained programme of unity and renewal.
“Building strong and activist ANC branches that takes up community problems and help address service delivery blockages, working with communities. Modernising the ANC Membership system, so that it addresses problems of gatekeeping and makes it much easier for South Africans to join the movement and renew membership. The strengthening of the ANC Integrity Commission to help restore the values and integrity of the ANC, and the introduction of a National Dispute Resolution Commission, to provide an avenue for ANC members to raise grievances, before resorting to courts,” he said.
He further said the party resolved at building links between it and all sectors of society – faith-based organisations, traditional and royal leadership, youth, women, professionals, creative industries, workers, business, as we build a South Africa that belongs to all.
“Organising the South African diaspora, by encouraging ANC structures in overseas countries,” he said.
The second focus of the 54th National Conference resolutions was on a programme of radical socioeconomic transformation (RSET), as the country look towards the next quarter century of democracy, Radebe said.
“Building on the foundations of the first 25 years of democracy, and acknowledging that much more needs to be done to tackle poverty, unemployment and inequality and our resolutions speak to this objective,” he said.
Radebe said the party was committed to giving effect to resolutions on international solidarity with oppressed peoples of Palestine & Western Sahara and that the party has committed to engage Brics countries to raise the plight of Palestinian & Saharawi people at the forthcoming UN General Assembly.
“Beyond our seminal decision on providing free higher education to students from poor and working class backgrounds, the ANC resolved further to introduce a minimum of three languages into the curriculum of schools. One of these languages must be an African language,” he said.
Another conference resolution was that the party should develop a clear accountability framework to hold its members deployed to public office to account.
“The ANC commits to South Africa that we shall improve access to and quality of service delivery across the public service,” he said.
Further resolutions in the governance sphere relate to enacting legislation to ensure that local and provincial governments cooperate better and that there is harmony between the services provided by both spheres, Radebe said.
“We resolved that ANC branches must be effective change agents and lead in driving the radical socioeconomic agenda. Branches must have dynamic interaction with communities and lead in programmes to address social ills, build vibrant communities and promote social cohesion,” he said.
He said the public must be educated on the consequences of damage to public property during protests and that government must impose heavy penalties on those who damage and destroy public property.
“The ANC Strategy and Tactics document adopted at the 54th Conference, which we also launch today, acknowledges that the struggle for social transformation, to undo the over 300 year legacy of apartheid colonialism, is a protracted one.
“Strategy and Tactics acknowledge that ‘the marginalised are less and less prepared to bear the agony. At the same time, more and more of the privileged do seem to appreciate that their interests are closely linked to those of society as a whole’.
“This confluence of circumstances presents a unique opportunity to forge a social compact to move the nation to greater social heights. The current phase of transition demands decisiveness, speed and a dogged determination.
“The successes and the failures call for optimal societal leadership and an active citizenry,” he said.
