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Report of the Alliance Summit REPORT OF THE ALLIANCE SUMMIT 3 - 7 APRIL 2002 Esselen Park Conference Centre, Kempton Park, Ekurhuleni ALLIANCE SUMMIT REPORT CONTENTS Abbreviations Introductory Note 1 Opening Remarks by the President 1 2 The Ekurhuleni Declaration 3 Consolidated report of commission discussions on the 10 3 NDR, Balance of Forces and Building the Alliance Consolidated report of commission discussions on Growth 15 4 and Development 5 Discussion Document: Accelerating Growth & Development 17 APPENDIX ONE: A Summary Of Government’s Microeconomic Reform Programme APPENDIX TWO: Some Key Issues For Debate Around Growth And Development Raised By Cosatu 6 Resolution on Palestine 35 7 Closing Remarks by Deputy President Jacob Zuma 37 8 Alliance Secretariat Report (Presented to the Summit) 38 Summit Agenda 41 List of Attendees 43 ABBREVIATIONS ANC African National Congress AU African Union BEE Black Economic Empowerment COSATU Congress of South African Trade Unions DRC Democratic Republic of the Congo ETC Economic Transformation Committee GDP Gross Domestic Product GDS Growth and Development Summit GEAR Growth, Employment and Redistribution HIV/AIDS Human Immuno-deficiency Virus/Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome. HRD Human Resource Development ICT Information and Communication Technology IDP Integrated Development Plan ILO International Labour Organisation IMF International Monetary Fund ISRDP Integrated Sustainable Rural Development Programme MDC Movement for Democratic Change MDM Mass Democratic Movement NDR National Democratic Revolution NEDLAC National Economic Development and Labour Council NEPAD New Partnership for Africa’s Development NFA National Framework Agreement NGC National General Council NGO Non-Governmental Organisation POA Programme Of Action PPP Public Private Partnership RDP Reconstruction and Development Programme RSA Republic of South Africa SACP South African Communist Party SADC Southern African Development Community SDI Spatial Development Initiative SETA Sector Education and Training Authority SMME Small, Medium and Micro-Enterprises UN United Nations URS Urban Renewal Strategy WSSD World Summit on Sustainable Development WTO World Trade Organisation ZANU-PF Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front INTRODUCTORY NOTE The Alliance Summit of the ANC, SACP, COSATU and SANCO, led by the leadership of the four organisations, met in Kempton Park, Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Council from the 4 – 7 April 2002. The delegations were made up of members of both the national and provincial/regional leadership of all the organisations. The Summit agreed that in the coming weeks and months, we would brief our structures at all levels, about the discussions and outcomes of the Alliance Summit. The final plenary session of the Summit held on 7th April agreed that the Alliance Secretariat should prepare a report for distribution to structures and that this report should consist of: § The ‘Ekurhuleni Declaration of the Alliance’, which constitutes the agreement of the Alliance Summit (Document 2) § The consolidated report of commission discussions on the NDR, Balance of Forces and Building the Alliance (Document 3) § The consolidated report of commission discussions on Growth and Development Commissions (document 4), which includes as an addendum the discussion document presented to the Summit entitled ‘Accelerating Growth and Development’ (Document 5) and that document’s appendixes. The Summit also agreed that the full reports from each commission and the issues raised in them would be processed by the Alliance secretariat. In this regard the Alliance Secretariat undertook to take forward these issues, through, amongst other mechanisms, meetings of the Alliance Officials, the Alliance Task Teams that would be established to take forward the Growth and Development process, and any other relevant structures. The documents contained herein have been subject to minor editorial and layout changes since the plenary session (e.g. we have added paragraph numbers for ease of reference). In addition to the above mentioned documents we have included within this report, for the sake of comprehensiveness, a number of other documents: the resolution on Palestine, the report presented to the Summit by the Alliance Secretariat, the Summit Agenda and list of attendees as well as an edited transcript of the President’s Opening Remarks and the Deputy President’s Closing Remarks. -1- OPENING REMARKS BY PRESIDENT THABO MBEKI It has taken a long time to prepare for this Summit. The last time we met in this format was in 1998. We have correctly given ourselves a fair number of days to discuss the important matters on the agenda. Last week we were in Abuja, Nigeria in a meeting of the implementation committee of NEPAD [New Partnership for Africa’s Development]. It was convened to look at the programme of action that the Secretariat and Steering Committee of NEPAD had agreed on, and to look at what needed to be done. We took the opportunity to look at what needed to be done to achieve the objective of defeating poverty. That process will require the greatest possible cohesion of the African continent. In reality, that process will require the restructuring of global society. You cannot achieve a progressive transformation without a progressive movement leading the process. In Abuja we looked at how to mobilise all the forces on the continent to achieve this task. What emerged clearly from that meeting was that the progressive movement in Africa depends greatly on what the comrades in this room do! Because of its longevity and capacity, and on the basis of their experience of and interaction with the ANC over many years, many in Africa say it is necessary and inevitable that the South African democratic movement must lead the process. South Africa also has the level of economic development which other countries in Africa do not have. Of all countries and governments in Africa, South Africa enjoys significant respect in the world. We therefore cannot avoid being the spokesperson of the continent on many matters. The tasks we face on the continent are basically the same as those we face at home: poverty, underdevelopment, and marginalisation of the continent; illiteracy, disease, and technical backwardness. We face the challenges of building democratic societies and achieving peace, stability and economic development – of radically changing the quality of life of our people, as well as changing the relations between the nations on the continent and the rest of the world. This results, in part, in an obligation on us to provide advice, where asked, on matters that may arise in particular countries. For example, many countries are multi-ethnic and multi-cultural, and this has often been used as a source of instability. These countries therefore look to the South African experience. And they ask how our Alliance works. Partly as a consequence, we are involved in a number of countries on the continent to assist in addressing problems. Comrade Kgalema Motlanthe is currently involved in discussions between ZANU-PF and MDC in Zimbabwe. There are around 500 delegates from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) meeting at Sun City to resolve the political, economic and other problems in their country. We asked comrade Madiba to facilitate the resolution of the Burundi problem, where great progress has been made. We are therefore practically involved in the process of addressing the problems of the continent. There is a similar expectation in other parts of the world. We are in contact with the Palestinians and Israelis around the resolution of the problem there. Part of what results from this role, is that there are some people who have a vested interest in giving leadership on what we should be doing – here in South Africa and the Alliance Summit/April2002 l PRESIDENT’S OPENING REMARKS PAGE 1 rest of the continent. These people do not like that we can think independently, that we can identify for ourselves what our interests are and what we need to do about them. These people are accustomed to dealing with a continent that can be told what to do. The more we are able to think and act independently, the more those forces will try to subvert that action. If we allow them to succeed, we will fail to achieve the transformation of South Africa and Africa. We meet as revolutionaries who seek revolutionary change in our country and continent. It requires, among other things, that we think independently – that we study and understand the many challenges we face; that we discuss these challenges among ourselves very openly and frequently. Because there is no vacuum. There are people with opposing views to ours; and they are on a constant offensive to promote their views: what they think needs to happen in South Africa and the continent. We need to continually engage these views on an ideological level. As the Alliance we need to share views on all the things on the agenda of this Summit and come to common positions. Over the past years, all manner of tensions have arisen. The relationship has often been marked more by conflict than by cooperation. I hope we are over that period, and have learnt the lesson that such conflicts do not further the revolutionary transformation neither of South Africa nor of the continent. The unity of the Alliance is a strategic goal - which we need to work on all the time - to ensure that we have the cohesion to carry out the responsibilities that we have to carry out. We must defend the movement and the Alliance against a sustained offensive. By defending our unity, we defend the fundamental forces required to bring about that change. The bilateral interaction that has taken place over the last few months has dealt with a lot of the matters which resulted in public friction, which were undesirable. We still need to discuss many questions. In approaching those discussions, I hope that we are informed by the understanding that we belong to one movement, that we have an obligation to the masses of South Africans and Africans, and that we do not betray their confidence in the leadership that is sitting here.
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