ANC dodges most decisions from 2017
• Former leaders accuse the governing party of inaction
As the ANC’s national elective conference approaches, the party’s leadership will be under pressure to explain the apparent failure to implement resolutions from its last big meeting in 2017. A review of the party’s policy decisions suggests that other than the step-aside rule, there has been little to no progress in implementing resolutions adopted at the national congress held at Nasrec in Johannesburg in December 2017.
As the ANC’s national elective conference approaches, the party’s leadership will be under pressure to explain the apparent failure to implement resolutions from its last big meeting in 2017.
A review of the governing party’s policy decisions suggests that other than the step-aside rule, which aims to deal with corruption in its ranks, there has been little to no progress in implementing resolutions adopted at the national congress held at Nasrec in Johannesburg in December 2017.
These include expanding the mandate of the SA Reserve Bank to deal with employment creation and economic growth; the establishment of a state bank; fighting crime and corruption; expropriation of land without compensation; illicit financial flows; and closing the wage gap between workers and the executive.
Though ANC president Cyril Ramaphosa has reaffirmed his commitment to implementing the resolutions, his detractors have accused him of lacking the political will to do so for fear of upsetting the delicate power balance in the party, because he cannot fully assert his authority as he won the ANC presidency by a small margin. Others have accused him of obsessing over the step-aside rule to target his political opponents. Ramaphosa himself has said he will step down if charged over the Phala Phala scandal.
Cosatu first deputy president Mike Shingange told Business Day: “The ANC has so far failed to implement these policies because of a lack of political commitment and also due to the balance of forces domestically and internationally. The state bank has been researched by Treasury for four years with no action.
“The Reserve Bank governor has made it very clear that he is opposed to both the expansion of the Reserve Bank mandate and the idea of a state bank.
“The Postbank and African Bank are already under state control, but they are not oriented towards pushing a developmental agenda.”
Shingange said Cosatu was seeing progress on corruption with some high-profile arrests. “But we need more to be done. Austerity budgets are being used to undermine institutions like [the National Prosecuting Authority and Special Investigating Unit]. Police numbers have moved from 200,000 to 172,000 in the last 20 years and are dwindling because of budget cuts.
“So, there is nothing radical about the ANC and yet its manifesto called for a radical posture to move away from the business-as-usual approach.”
The upcoming conference, at which Ramaphosa is expected to seek a second term as party leader, is crucial. Whoever is elected will be responsible for leading the party’s campaign for the national elections in 2024, when the party’s support is expected to dip below 50%.
This has sparked fears among some that the ANC government could cling to power with destructive, populist macroeconomic policies and by raising the prospect of coalition politics.
The party suffered its worst electoral performance in the 2021 municipal elections when its support fell below 50% for the first time since 1994, resulting in the ANC losing the Gauteng metros of Johannesburg, Ekurhuleni and Tshwane to DA-led multiparty coalitions.
At its national congress in 2017, which elected Ramaphosa as party leader, the ANC resolved to accelerate economic growth and create jobs; strengthen state-owned enterprises that have been hollowed out by years of corruption linked to state capture; pursue land expropriation without compensation; speed up service delivery; and root out corruption in the public and private sectors.
However, some ANC leaders have accused the party of failing to implement some of these decisions. In July, former president Thabo Mbeki publicly berated Ramaphosa for failing to keep his promises to tackle unemployment, inequality and poverty, which Mbeki said had increased the risk of social unrest in SA. Other former heads of state, Kgalema Motlanthe and Jacob Zuma, have also criticised Ramaphosa’s leadership.
STEP-ASIDE RULE
The step-aside rule was adopted in 2017 and it calls for those facing criminal charges to step aside from their positions or be suspended. Those affected by the rule include corruptionaccused suspended ANC secretary-general Ace Magashule and eThekwini chair Zandile Gumede.
Ramaphosa, who was elected ANC president on an anti-corruption ticket, could himself be a victim of the stepaside rule if he is charged for any offence over the Phala Phala farm allegations. These were brought forward by former spy boss Arthur Fraser — Ramaphosa has denied them — and are the subject of investigation by law enforcement agencies and security organs.
STATE BANK
The 2017 conference resolved to establish a state bank. Business Day reported last week that the government has shot down calls by the DA for a feasibility study to be conducted before establishing Postbank as a fully fledged bank. Through the Postbank Limited Amendment Bill, the government could finally realise plans to set up a state-owned bank.
The party called for the Bank’s mandate to be expanded to take account of other objectives such as employment and economic growth. However, there has been little movement in implementing this resolution.
Reserve Bank governor Lesetja Kganyago, delivering a public lecture at the Wits School of Governance about two weeks ago, said: “When policy becomes overloaded with too many and contradictory objectives, then negative outcomes are more likely.
“As inflation rises and growth slows, a central bank that fails to respond to rising prices will face the prospect of compounding inflationary shocks. Currencies depreciate and investment falls.”
Kganyago said solutions to curb unemployment were outside monetary policy and “neither growth nor high inflation lead directly to job creation in our economy.
“Much of our employment challenge lies in encouraging the return of economic activity in sectors that have been hardest hit by the pandemic,” he said. The country is dogged by an unemployment rate of 33.9%.
EXPROPRIATION OF LAND
The ad hoc committee on section 25 in September adopted a controversial bill to amend the constitution to allow for expropriation of land without compensation.
Organised agriculture has objected to the bill, which is set to be tabled before the National Assembly for adoption, saying the inclusion of the nil compensation clause “will undermine access to capital and capital formation for the sector and economy”.
The ANC acknowledged that the service delivery agenda of local government was key to achieving a better life for all communities. It wanted to fasttrack service delivery, improve financial management of municipalities, employ capable and qualified staff, and strengthen local government systems.
But the degeneration of the local government sector continues unabated, with many of the country’s 257 municipalities having been run into the ground due to maladministration, looting and corruption, while others are struggling to pay staff salaries.
Cosatu general secretary Solly Phetoe told Business Day the labour federation was not happy about the ANC’s lackadaisical approach in implementing its congress resolutions adopted in 2017.
“There is no implementation except on the issue of fighting corruption. But even then, many ANC comrades implicated in state capture are not stepping aside, people are not being prosecuted,” Phetoe said.
“The ANC has been very slow in dealing with the issue of establishing a state bank. There is no full implementation,” he said.
Phetoe also criticised the lack of service delivery, saying “95% of municipalities have collapsed because of corruption. We are not happy about ANC implementation of its resolutions.”
Wits University political analyst Prof Susan Booysen said it was a “serious indictment” of the ANC that so little ground had been covered in terms of the party implementing its policy resolutions in government.
“In a way, [the slow progress] is a serious indictment on the ANC. It is a governing party on which the hopes of many South Africans rest. This does not reflect positively on the ANC,” Booysen said.