ANC to drive NDP agenda

TUESDAY JANUARY 31 2017 THE NATIONAL Development Plan remains relevant in achieving radical economic transformation in order to lift the poorest of the poor from abject poverty, says ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe.

Briefing the media in Joburg yesterday on the outcomes of the ANC’s national executive committee lekgotla, he said the party wanted the government and the political establishment to work together in driving the transformation agenda, noting: “We have a bigger capacity in the state to drive transformation.”

Mantashe noted the “numerous successes” achieved since 1994.

They included growing a “vibrant and successful black middle class”, expanding employment from 9.5m in 1994 to 16m at the end of 2015.

However, much more still needed to be done, said Mantashe.

He said the lekgotla had resolved to accelerate radical transformation and “disrupt” existing patterns of ownership and control by increasing investment into infrastructure projects and prioritising townships and rural areas.

The ANC also wanted black industrialists to be beneficiaries of “generous subsidies” to build new factories and businesses.

Mantashe also called on the government to purchase the poultry farms being sold off as a result of “dumping” in an effort to save jobs “and increase food security and production”.

Poultry producer Rainbow Chicken announced recently that it would close 15 of its 25 farms in KwaZulu-Natal and retrench more than 1000 employees due to the negative effect of cheap poultry exports from the EU.

The financial sector needed to be “de-racialised” in order to benefit the majority in the country, and the barriers to SMME needed to be identified.

The government also needed to drive “local procurement and supplier development” and enhance its monitoring capacity, and consequence management for non-compliance.

“On mining, the ANC directs the government to consolidate state minerals holdings, promulgate the MPRDA (Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development) Amendment Act, implement the Mining Phakisa agreements and leverage DFI (Direct Foreign Investment) support for beneficiation.

“The mining licence regime and charter must be utilised to facilitate BBEEE, local procurement, the development of black industrialists and SMMEs.”

One of the resolutions was that the state must “engage all sectors of business to encourage their participation in industrial expansion, economic growth and job creation”.

The lekgotla, said Mantashe, had directed these priorities and needed to guide the forthcoming government lekgotla. –