DOCSLIB.ORG

Open Letter to ANC Secretary General Comrade Gwede Mantashe

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Open Letter to ANC Secretary General Comrade Gwede Mantashe Open letter to ANC Secretary General Comrade Gwede Mantashe Dear Comrade Secretary General I have decided to take the unusual step to write you an open letter because the unusual situation that has now arisen in the ANC and the tripartite alliance requires extraordinary steps. I write to place on record the concerns I see as gnawing away at the ANC, with the hope that the leadership might wake up to the dangers our movement faces. When I joined the ANC, I was attracted by its policies, political culture, values, history and its commitment to the interests of our people - black and white. I am still as fervently committed to this cause as when I first joined the organisation. However, for some time now, I have lived with the growing sense that our leadership has veered the organisation away from the established policy priorities and customary democratic norms of the ANC. (i) For instance, those who express views that are contrary to popular opinion in meetings and conferences of the organisation are later hounded out and purged from organisation and state structures. This is contrary to the ANC's democratic culture. (ii) Sectoral and individual interests other than those flowing from the people's interests expressed in the Freedom Charter are elevated to levels of national priority. Thus we are expected to show up at criminal court cases or carry shoulder high individuals convicted of crimes unrelated to the demands in the Freedom Charter. (iii) Instead of instilling respect for institutions of democracy, our leaders issue threats that if judicial proceedings do not result in outcomes they prefer, the country will be brought to a standstill. (iv) Lately, the leadership has taken a direct and unadulterated departure from the Freedom Charter by calling for a political solution in the matter of the National Directorate of Public Prosecutions vs the President of the ANC. What happened to "There shall be equality before the law?". Or are we now to have political solutions to every citizen's criminal case? (v) Blatant threats to kill for certain individuals if desires other than their own are not satisfied are made with impunity. When democracy-supporting institutions intervene to stop such delinquent behaviour, more of our leaders come out in loud support for threats to kill. The lists of these excesses and the arrogance that accompanies them grows by the day. What resistance is put up by some in the ranks of members and leaders is harshly suppressed into tame acquiescence. This state of affairs leaves me and many other comrades, no doubt, with a clear sense that our membership to the organisation is an endorsement of practices that are dangerous to the democracy that many people in our country struggled to bring into being. I appeal to you to reply to my concerns in an open and frank manner so that everyone can be assured that the deduction that I and many other comrades have made, that the organisation is no longer pursuing the original policies of the ANC, is correct. Yours sincerely, Mosiuoa Lekota Open letter to comrade Terror Lekota I have been mandated by the Secretary General, on behalf of the national executive committee of the ANC, to respond to your open letter to us. First and foremost it is with great sadness that those entrusted with the leadership of our movement and country should find it normal to communicate with their organisation through the media. This is even more strange coming from one who is the former chairperson and, therefore, well averse with the policies and traditions of our movement. The answer to the apparent puzzle seems to be contained in the second but last paragraph of your letter. For purposes of clarity, I wish to quote: "This state of affairs leaves me and many other comrades, no doubt, with a clear sense that our membership to the organisation is an endorsement of practices that are dangerous to the democracy that many people in our country struggled to bring into being." Put bluntly, you and those who share your views are giving notice to leave the ANC. For the record, the ANC is a voluntary association of individuals who believe in it, and who are free to leave as and when they seek to do so. History is full of examples of such individuals. In the majority of cases, these were leaders who had grown too big for the ANC. These people could no longer subject themselves to the discipline of the organisation. As such, they either had to leave voluntarily or be expelled. We hope we have not reached that stage in your case. I now wish to respond to some of the allegations in your letter. May I take this opportunity to remind you of the many comrades you refused permission to speak in the NEC, abusing your position as chair, simply because you disagreed with them. In so far as conducting meetings, the NEC was reduced to an animal farm, where those who shared your views had a field day whilst the rest were banished to the twilight. The unlucky ones were subject to your verbal assaults, privately and publicly. Again, in case you have forgotten, you presided over a disrespectful discourse which insulted comrade Nelson Mandela in the NEC you were chairing. In this regard, we challenge you to deny the fact that you did so. Your individual and sectoral interests prevailed upon you to officiate over such an unwarranted attack upon an old man who thought of you as his own son. As brotherly advice, we suggest you visit Madiba and apologise. Your behaviour and public utterances prior to the Polokwane conference were, to say the least, un-ANC. Judge Nicholson found in the case of the State vs J Zuma that the executive violated the constitutional rights of the ANC president. We hope that all of us will respect all institutions that serve our country without fear or favour. To you and all your cronies, we at the ANC say that what you are trying to demonstrate to the country is nothing but the last kicks of a dying horse. Remember that the ANC, as an institution, will stay forever while individuals like yourselves will go. I wish to assure members of the ANC and the country at large that the ANC has not deviated from policies it has adopted at various conferences, some of which you presided over as our national chairperson. We are looking forward to engagement within our structures in line with the traditions of the ANC. Jeff Radebe NEC Member .
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Hier Steht Später Die Headline
    S OUTH AFRICA : COUNTRY PROFILE Konrad Adenauer Foundation Last Update: April 2019 ww.kas.de/Südafrika COUNTRY OFFICE SOUTH AFRICA Country Profile South Africa Konrad Adenauer Foundation Contents 1 General Information: Republic of South Africa ......................................................................................... 2 2 History ............................................................................................................................................... 3 3 The Political System of South Africa ....................................................................................................... 4 3.1 Executive Power .............................................................................................................................. 4 3.1.1 National Level ................................................................................................................................. 4 3.1.2 Provincial Level ............................................................................................................................... 5 3.2 Judicial Power ................................................................................................................................. 5 3.3 Legislative Power ............................................................................................................................. 6 3.3.1 National Level ................................................................................................................................. 6 4 Economy .........................................................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Why Labour Can't Get ANC to Work
    Why labour can ’t get ANC to work - Sunday Independent | IOL.co.za Page 1 of 2 IOL Newsletters Sign up now Sponsored Links: IOL Travel Personal Finance IOL Lifestyle Motoring SciTech Tonight All Channels 6 Search Advanced Search Home News Life Analysis International SA Time: 19 July 2011 11:00:48 AM Why labour can ’t get ANC to work 5.1 Surround Speakers Explosive 5.1 surround sound for PC July 11 2011 at 09:48am Creative Speakers for under R100 By Mcebisi Ndletyana WantItCheap.co.za Cheap Car Insurance It’s true. History does repeat itself. Perhaps with even Submit Your Details & We Call You With more frequency in our case than is usual. Yet, the Cheap Car Insurance Quotes! ANC-led tripartite alliance partners greet every www.get -insured.co.za recurrence with an even louder expression of shock Save on Car Insurance and deep disappointment at unmet expectations. Get Up To 9 Insurance Quotes. Save Money Then, they recommit, professing even more sincerity Guaranteed! and vigour to realise their objectives. The structure of www.youinsure.co.za/ the alliance, however, remains as before. But, they somehow manage to bring themselves to believing that the outcome will be different this time around. It’s a dance that the tripartite alliance has come to master. The outcome of Cosatu’s recent gathering was déjà Sunday Independent vu. Zwelinzima Vavi’s Secretariat’s Report decried the moribund state of the South African Communist SundayIndy Party. Rather than assume the vanguard role that history has accorded it vis-à-vis the working people, the party, Vavi writes, is largely inactive awakening only when deployments are discussed.
    [Show full text]
  • Jacob Zuma: the Man of the Moment Or the Man for the Moment? Alex Michael & James Montagu
    Research & Assessment Branch African Series Jacob Zuma: The Man of the Moment or the Man for the Moment? Alex Michael & James Montagu 09/08 Jacob Zuma: The Man of the Moment or the Man for the Moment? Alex Michael & James Montagu Key Findings • Zuma is a pragmatist, forging alliances based on necessity rather than ideology. His enlarged but inclusive cabinet, rewards key allies with significant positions, giving minor roles to the leftist SACP and COSATU. • Long-term ANC allies now hold key Justice, Police and State Security ministerial positions, reducing the likelihood of legal charges against him resurfacing. • The blurring of party and state to the detriment of public institutions, which began under Mbeki, looks set to continue under Zuma. • Zuma realises that South Africa relies too heavily on foreign investment, but no real change in economic policy could well alienate much of his populist support base and be decisive in the longer term. 09/08 Jacob Zuma: The Man of the Moment or the Man for the Moment? Alex Michael & James Montagu INTRODUCTION Jacob Zuma, the new President of the Republic of South Africa and the African National Congress (ANC), is a man who divides opinion. He has been described by different groups as the next Mandela and the next Mugabe. He is a former goatherd from what is now called KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) with no formal education and a long career in the ANC, which included a 10 year spell at Robben Island and 14 years of exile in Mozambique, Swaziland and Zambia. Like most ANC leaders, his record is not a clean one and his role in identifying and eliminating government spies within the ranks of the ANC is well documented.
    [Show full text]
  • The New Cabinet
    Response May 30th 2019 The New Cabinet President Cyril Ramaphosa’s cabinet contains quite a number of bold and unexpected appointments, and he has certainly shifted the balance in favour of female and younger politicians. At the same time, a large number of mediocre ministers have survived, or been moved sideways, while some of the most experienced ones have been discarded. It is significant that the head of the ANC Women’s League, Bathabile Dlamini, has been left out – the fact that her powerful position within the party was not enough to keep her in cabinet may be indicative of the President’s growing strength. She joins another Zuma loyalist, Nomvula Mokonyane, on the sidelines, but other strong Zuma supporters have survived. Lindiwe Zulu, for example, achieved nothing of note in five years as Minister of Small Business Development, but has now been given the crucial portfolio of social development; and Nathi Mthethwa has been given sports in addition to arts and culture. The inclusion of Patricia de Lille was unforeseen, and it will be fascinating to see how, as one of the more outspokenly critical opposition figures, she works within the framework of shared cabinet responsibility. Ms de Lille has shown herself willing to change parties on a regular basis and this appointment may presage her absorbtion into the ANC. On the other hand, it may also signal an intention to experiment with a more inclusive model of government, reminiscent of the ‘government of national unity’ that Nelson Mandela favoured. During her time as Mayor of Cape Town Ms de Lille emphasised issues of spatial planning and land-use, and this may have prompted Mr Ramaphosa to entrust her with management of the Department of Public Works’ massive land and property holdings.
    [Show full text]
  • Report of the 54Th National Conference Report of the 54Th National Conference
    REPORT OF THE 54TH NATIONAL CONFERENCE REPORT OF THE 54TH NATIONAL CONFERENCE CONTENTS 1. Introduction by the Secretary General 1 2. Credentials Report 2 3. National Executive Committee 9 a. Officials b. NEC 4. Declaration of the 54th National Conference 11 5. Resolutions a. Organisational Renewal 13 b. Communications and the Battle of Ideas 23 c. Economic Transformation 30 d. Education, Health and Science & Technology 35 e. Legislature and Governance 42 f. International Relations 53 g. Social Transformation 63 h. Peace and Stability 70 i. Finance and Fundraising 77 6. Closing Address by the President 80 REPORT OF THE 54TH NATIONAL CONFERENCE 1 INTRODUCTION BY THE SECRETARY GENERAL COMRADE ACE MAGASHULE The 54th National Conference was convened under improves economic growth and meaningfully addresses the theme of “Remember Tambo: Towards inequality and unemployment. Unity, Renewal and Radical Socio-economic Transformation” and presented cadres of Conference reaffirmed the ANC’s commitment to our movement with a concrete opportunity for nation-building and directed all ANC structures to introspection, self-criticism and renewal. develop specific programmmes to build non-racialism and non-sexism. It further directed that every ANC The ANC can unequivocally and proudly say that we cadre must become activists in their communities and emerged from this conference invigorated and renewed drive programmes against the abuse of drugs and to continue serving the people of South Africa. alcohol, gender based violence and other social ills. Fundamentally, Conference directed every ANC We took fundamental resolutions aimed at radically member to work tirelessly for the renewal of our transforming the lives of the people for the better and organisation and to build unity across all structures.
    [Show full text]
  • MINISTRY in the PRESIDENCY REPUBLIC of SOUTH AFRICA Private Bag X860, Pretoria, 0001, Tel: 012 473 0164, Cape Town 8000, Tel: 021 464 2100
    MINISTRY IN THE PRESIDENCY REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA Private Bag X860, Pretoria, 0001, Tel: 012 473 0164, Cape Town 8000, Tel: 021 464 2100 Statement on the Cabinet Ordinary Meeting held at Union Buildings, Pretoria on Friday, 13 December 2019 A. ISSUES IN THE ENVIRONMENT 1. Eskom 1.1. Cabinet fully supports all efforts meant to ensure electricity supply certainty in our country. In this regard, Cabinet has mandated Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan to negotiate with the Chief Executive Officer Mr Andre de Ruyter to commence his duties earlier than the set date. 1.2. Mr de Ruyter together with his management team will immediately deal with the concerning issues of governance, lack of financial management as well as stabilize the operations of Eskom. This includes dealing with the huge backlog of maintenance of the aging fleet of their power stations and the structural defects in Medupi and Kusile power stations. 1.3. Deputy President David Mabuza will convene a resuscitated Energy War Room comprising Finance Minister Tito Mboweni; Minerals and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe and Minister Gordhan. The team will deal with any challenges to our energy supply in the country. 1.4. Renewables will play a key role in our energy supply to complement the efforts of Eskom. Page 1 of 12 2. South African Airways (SAA) Business Rescue 2.1. The SAA was this past week placed under Business Rescue. Cabinet is confident that this intervention will assist in repositioning the national airline into a stronger, competitive entity that with time will gain confidence of all South Africans and attract equity partners.
    [Show full text]
  • South Africa: the Future of the Anc December 12, 2017
    SOUTH AFRICA: THE FUTURE OF THE ANC DECEMBER 12, 2017 SUMMARY ABOUT ASG • From December 16 – 20, 2017, the African National Congress (ANC) will convene Albright Stonebridge Group its 54th National Conference in Johannesburg, South Africa to elect its leadership (ASG) is the premier global for the next five years. strategy and commercial diplomacy firm. We help clients understand and • South Africa-watchers are anxiously awaiting the outcome of this conference, successfully navigate the which will determine the future of the ANC and, by extension, the country. intersection of public, private, and social sectors in • There has been significant focus on who will succeed Jacob Zuma as party international markets. president and represent the face of the ANC in the lead up to South Africa’s 2019 ASG’s worldwide team has served clients in more than national election. The two current front-runners are Cyril Ramaphosa, current 110 countries. Deputy President of the ANC and the country, and Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, former Chairperson of the African Union Commission. ALBRIGHTSTONEBRIDGE.COM • Although Zuma’s term as President of South Africa does not end until 2019, some speculate he might face significant pressure to step down – regardless of who succeeds him – before the critical 2019 national election. OVERVIEW OF THE ANC NATIONAL CONFERENCE From December 16 - 20, 2017, South Africa’s ruling African National Congress (ANC) Party will convene its 54th National Conference to elect the next cohort of leadership. Although significant attention has been focused on who will succeed Jacob Zuma as President of the ANC, the over 5,000 voting conference delegates will also elect other key party leadership positions – including the National Executive Committee (NEC), which will in turn elect the National Working Committee (NWC).
    [Show full text]
  • Socio-Economic Report to the 11Th Congress
    Socio-Economic Report to the 11th Congress Congress of South African Trade Unions September 2012 If we cannot succeed with the agenda of decent work and poverty eradication with Jacob Zuma as the President, Kgalema Motlanthe as the Deputy President responsible for poverty eradication, Gwede Mantashe as the ANC Secretary General, Ebrahim Patel as the Minster of Economic Development and Rob Davies as the Minister of Trade and Industry, then there is little possibility that we can succeed to make any next period that of workers and the poor. This is the moment that comes once in a long time. We, the leaders of the generation largely responsible for this political climate, so pregnant with real possibilities, cannot afford to squander this moment-Excerpt from the COSATU Political Report, 10th Congress The Freedom Charter states that the people shall share in the country’s wealth. Sixteen years into our democracy, while we have made substantial progress, we have not yet achieved true economic transformation, which should include fundamentally changing the structure of the economy and the distribution of wealth and income in our society”-President Jacob Zuma, Address to the ANC National General Council, Durban, 2010. As we convene at this 12th National Congress of the SACP, we are all well aware that the first decade of freedom is now well behind us. It is a decade of important victories... But it is also a decade in which the stabilization and return to growth of the capitalist economy has strengthened established big capital – the very forces who shaped a century of colonial and apartheid oppression and minority accumulation...
    [Show full text]
  • Covid-19 Regulatory Update 7May2020
    Covid-19 Regulatory Update: 07 May 2020 CONTENTS CONFIRMED CASES .................................................. 2 MEDICAL LAW ............................................................ 4 CONSTRUCTION ........................................................ 2 RISK ASSESSMENT FINDINGS ................................. 4 COURTS ...................................................................... 3 SAFETY AND SECURITY ........................................... 4 ENERGY AND MINING ............................................... 3 TRADE AND INDUSTRY ............................................. 5 FINANCIAL LAW .......................................................... 3 TRANSPORTATION .................................................... 5 LOCKDOWN REGULATIONS ..................................... 3 Covid-19 related guidelines and regulations: https://www.gov.za/coronavirus/guidelines Covid-19 Directives and notices relating to legal practitioners: http://www.derebus.org.za/directives-covid-19/ / https://lpc.org.za/ The following alerting services are available from Lexinfo CC. Email [email protected] for more information. Attorney Alert (weekly) Construction Law Alert (monthly) Employment Law Alert (weekly) Energy, Mining and Engineering Law Health Law Alert (monthly) Insurance Law Alert (monthly) Alert (monthly) Lexinfo CC : Library and Legal and Information Consultants Tel 082 690 8890 | 084 559 2847 Email: [email protected] PO Box 36216, Glosderry, 7702 http://www.lexinfo.co.za Practice Management Alert (monthly) Covid-19 Regulatory
    [Show full text]
  • Ebrahim Patel: Address by Minister of Trade and Industry and Economic Development, Budget Vote Speech, National Assembly (11/07/2019)
    SA: Ebrahim Patel: Address by Minister of Trade and Industry and Economic Development, Budget Vote Speech, National Assembly (11/07/2019) 12TH JULY 2019 Honourable Speaker and Honourable Members Workers, business representatives and agency heads in the public gallery Fellow South Africans It is an honour to present the budgets on Trade and Industry and Economic Development today. This is the portfolio’s first Budget Vote in the new Administration, and I will take a few minutes to highlight our approach for the next five years and for this year. The two departments will be merged into the new, renamed Department of Trade, Industry and Competition. The Departmental merger process will be completed by March next year, bringing together 17 agencies with the capacity to provide targeted industrial and transformation funding, regulate the consumer and corporate environment to foster a vibrant business ecosystem, and open up the economy for real, inclusive growth. The combined resources must be used to achieve the goals of the Freedom Charter, the governing party Manifesto and the National Development Plan. Our debate takes place in a tough domestic economic environment and with increasingly uncertain and fragile global growth, which require us to do more to change our performance and outcomes. The message from South Africans to all political representatives during the election campaign was: step up practical delivery, fix the slow implementation; and focus on jobs, growth and economic inclusion. We will have to work very hard, as government, and as business and workers, to pull our economy out of its weaknesses and speed-up the journey to a strong, growing economy that creates decent work and entrepreneurial opportunities for many more South Africans, particularly young people.
    [Show full text]
  • Ramaphosa's First 100 Days
    Ramaphosa’s first 100 days And what it tells us about the shape of the South African state June 6, 2018 2 Rhamaphosa's first 100 days The Shape of Ramaphosa’s Presidency Cyril Ramaphosa came to power in South Africa 100 days ago facing a huge challenge: restore the Graphing the key changes – and credibility of the Presidency and put key remaining question marks South Africa back on the growth ▪ Cronyism and looting are now off the track after almost a decade of agenda disastrous rule and entrenched corruption by Jacob Zuma, whose ▪ Radical economic transformation is not years in power came to be known ▪ State-led hostility against the private as “state capture”. Even for someone sector is out with as varied a skill-set as Mr Ramaphosa’s - who has succeeded ▪ But a mixed economy, not free-market approach, replaces it as a trade union leader, politician and businessman – the challenge to ▪ Economic policy and state‐owned deliver what has been dubbed enterprises are no longer primarily “Ramaphoria” is enormous, for he geared to rent seeking needs to align this to society in a ▪ But what replaces this economic way that has rarely been done. approach is less evident His political geometry, employing a careful ▪ Political risk should recede but political distribution of power in his cabinet and noise and complexity are here for the benefiting from consultation with concentric medium term kitchen cabinets, is both hazardous and necessary. Mr Ramaphosa has moved with ▪ That means rule of law, including both determination and deliberation to start property rights, remains embedded rebuilding confidence in the Presidency and government in what he calls the “New Dawn.” ▪ Nefarious policy making is out, but Mr Ramaphosa’s conundrum of renewing a political and regulatory complexity divided party after winning with slim majority remains subject to court challenges to and trying to win a clear mandate in the next deal with policy certainty election will show that his agenda is clear, but how far he can go is less so.
    [Show full text]
  • Outline for Renewed Research Regarding My Master Thesis on The
    Herfst 08 i Reporting the Protection of Information Bill A qualitative content analysis about the POI reported in the Mail & Guardian and the Sowetan in South Africa Master Thesis Gerben Solleveld - 3 3 5 8 1 3 Supervisor: Johannes von Engelhardt MSc Friday June 22, 2012 Erasmus School of History, Culture and Communication , Erasmus University Rotterdam A qualitative content analysis about the POI reported in the Mail & Guardian and the Sowetan | ii Reporting the Protection of Information Bill A qualitative content analysis about the POI reported in the Mail & Guardian and the Sowetan in South Africa Master thesis Gerben Solleveld – 335813 [email protected] Friday June 22, 2012 Supervisor: Johannes von Engelhardt MSc Second reader: dr. Bernadette Kester Erasmus School of History, Culture and Communication Master Media & Journalism Cartoon on the cover made by Zapiro: Zapiro. (2010, Aug. 1). ANC’s new policy towards the media? [cartoon]. Available from http://www.zapiro.com/cartoon/126721-100801st. A qualitative content analysis about the POI reported in the Mail & Guardian and the Sowetan | iii Abstract The current government in South Africa does not follow the principles of the national Constitution regarding press freedom. In November 2011 the parliament demonstrated their lack of regard for the Constitution by passing the Protection of Information Bill (POI). The POI was introduced by the government in 2008 and is mainly meant to protect the publication of state information. This study analyses how the media are reacting to this bill. Several newspapers in South Africa have been accused of writing in favour of the African National Congress (ANC), the ruling party.
    [Show full text]