SA ruling party vows to address internal challenges

The ruling African National Congress (ANC) on Sunday launched its policy strategy, vowing to address its own internal challenges.

The strategy, known as Discussion Documents, recognizes that the ANC is increasingly losing the trust of the people as illustrated by declining electoral performance and intense public criticism.

This refers to the Local Government Election last year in which the ANC lost some major cities such as Johannesburg, Pretoria and the Nelson Mandela Bay. The ANC has thus came under criticism for arrogance, nepotism, corruption and inability.

The Documents list a series of internal challenges confronted by the ANC such as social distance between leaders and members, widespread corruption, poor performance in government and abuse of organizational processes for personal gain.

These challenges "will contribute to the ANC's demise if left unattended", the party warned.

"The organization must act urgently to restore its moral character, to win back the trust of the people and to ensure that the ANC is structured optimally to remain the leader of the motive forces for change," the ANC said.

The ANC launched the Discussion Papers in order to inform debate and discussion towards the 2017 National Policy Conference, to be held from June 30 to July 5 this year, ANC national spokesperson Zizi Kodwa said.

It is only the National Conference of the ANC that adopts policy.

"The ANC looks forward to wide-ranging discussions, highlighting divergent views and intense debate on its policy proposals and we trust that the organization and the nation will emerge from this process with a united, common vision of our country's developmental trajectory," Kodwa said.

The documents propose that the ANC should maintain its dual character as a national liberation movement and a political party, specifically as access to state power.

The paper acknowledges that South Africa has not made enough progress in reducing unemployment and inequality.

The paper stresses the need to increase wages and broad-based ownership and control of the economy.

The ANC's programme to transform South Africa's society and economy must, therefore, be judged on the extent to which it radically and systematically improves the lives and opportunities of those who are marginalized and excluded, according to the paper.

The paper proposes a series of measures to ensure that the ANC strengthen radical economic transformation.

These measures aim to reduce unemployment and specifically youth unemployment, return the land to the people and increase black ownership and control in the economy, among others, the party says.

At the heart of the Discussion Documents remain the ANC's call for the second phase of the National Democratic Revolution that requires a more intense focus on the full radical economic and social transformation of the country.

Source: Xinhua