Tripartite Alliance I

ANC meets countrywide to discuss problems

Structures of the African National Congress will this weekend begin a series of countrywide meetings to discuss the state of the organisation's alliance with the South African Communist Party (SACP) and the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu). The holding of 52 special regional councils was one of the decisions of the ANC National Executive Committee meeting held two weeks ago in Johannesburg.

Members of the national executive have been deployed to each of the regions to brief regional and branch leadership on discussions in the National Executive Committee (NEC), and to facilitate discussion among ANC members on the challenges facing the Alliance. The NEC also agreed to hold a series of bilateral meetings with the SACP and Cosatu ahead of an alliance summit to be held before the end of the year.

The discussion follows a period of strained relations between the member organisations of the Alliance. Tensions within the Alliance were brought to a head by Cosatu's general strike against government's programme of restructuring state assets, which coincided with South Africa's hosting of the World Conference against Racism in Durban. This came against the backdrop of problems in the Alliance for at least the last five years, blamed on a range of ideological, policy, strategic, structural and tactical differences.

In preparation for discussion at regional councils, the NEC noted the effects the political transition of 1994 had on the organisation and the alliance. The reality of governance and the national and global context in which the transition took place presented a range of new challenges for the ANC, its alliance partners and the broad forces for change. These challenges form part of the explanation for the difficulties currently experienced by the alliance.

The ANC was affected by the deployment in 1994 of much of its leadership and experienced cadres to positions in parliament and the legislatures, government, the public service and other important areas. This has had a marked impact on the strength and coherence of the structures of the movement. As a result, the ANC has not been able to exercise as it should its responsibilities in strengthening and leading the alliance.

The SACP has had to deal with similar problems, including the challenge following its re-emergence in 1990 as a legal organisation to build its structures and establish its identity as distinct from the ANC. Cosatu is having to grapple with the many challenges which face the trade union movement in a radically changed and rapidly changing global economic environment.

The NEC identified a lack of theoretical depth and political engagement within the alliance, leaving the alliance at a disadvantage in addressing with confidence the challenges and complexities of the new political environment. This has contributed to the lack of a common understanding among and even within the alliance member organisations on the role and function of the alliance, and how the relationships within the alliance should operate and be managed.

The NEC reaffirmed the position of the alliance as the leading force for democratic transformation in South Africa. It noted that the ANC had a historical obligation to ensure the resolution of differences and to work to strengthen, politically and organisationally, each of the members of the alliance.

"A central task in building the Alliance is therefore to strengthen the ANC as a mass-based organisation, with a solid theoretical understanding of the objectives, tasks and environment of the NDR [National Democratic Revolution]. It demands an ANC whose members and branches are actively engaged in a clear programme of transformation at all levels of society," it said.

The Alliance requires a strong progressive trade union movement, capable of representing the interests of its members while engaging in broader tasks of social transformation, it said.

"These tasks must be undertaken alongside ongoing efforts to develop and implement Alliance programmes at national, provincial and local level; to improve mechanisms of communication and information flow; to address issues of how the structures of the Alliance can best relate to each other; and to approach politically the resolution of differences that exist or may arise between Alliance partners," it said.

Tripartite Alliance II

Political and organisational vacuum creates space for tension

The relative vacuum of political and organisational leadership within the structures of the Alliance following the democratic transition of 1994 is a key cause of the problems currently being experienced by the alliance, according to the ANC National Executive Committee.

The member organisations of the alliance have been affected in similar ways by the new political climate, as well as each having to overcome specific challenges. The ANC has had to contend with an exodus of experienced leadership from full-time organisational work, with weakened branches, and with the emergence of tendencies such as careerism and factionalism. As the leading organisation in the alliance and democratic movement - and given that most SACP and Cosatu members are also ANC members - the ANC's weaknesses have profoundly affected these organisations.

The ANC's long-standing alliance with the SACP is based on a common commitment to the ongoing struggle for national liberation. In content and detail, the programmes of the ANC and SACP are therefore the same. "It is this understanding which gives rise to the concept of dual membership, where members of the SACP join the ANC as members in their own right. They participate fully in the political life of the ANC, the formulation of its policies and the execution of its programmes," it said.

While this relationship worked well for over four decades, the unbanning of the organisations in 1990 placed the organisations in a new context. For the SACP, the end of forty years of illegality and in the context of the collapse of the socialist community of states, it had to address critical questions around the organisational form it should take in the new terrain. It also had to undertake a profound re-examination of socialist theory and practice. This meant the relaunch of the SACP as a mass party and the forging of a public identity independent of the ANC. The NEC suggested these conditions fed fears within the SACP that, in the hostile environment following the collapse of the Soviet Union, the ANC may succumb to pressures to 'ditch' its alliance with the SACP.

The inclusion of Cosatu in the alliance of the SACP and ANC was the result of the conscious decision of the federation at its formation to not merely restrict itself to the improvement of the wages and working conditions of its members, but to involve itself in the national liberation struggle together with other classes and formations. This stance was reflected in Cosatu's adoption in 1987 of the Freedom Charter as its political programme. It is also reflected in the resolutions of many of its affiliates to strengthen the ANC and by the large number of Cosatu members active in the ANC.

Since 1994, the alliance has achieved a decisive move away from the oppressive labour relations of apartheid. At the same time the process of globalisation, changes in productive processes and changes in the labour market have had a significant effect on workers, the poor and on trade union movements across the globe. Cosatu has also had to deal with changes brought about by the transformation and restructuring of the economy and building a democratic and developmental state; while at the same time beginning to address the social deficit of apartheid.

"The ANC acknowledges that with the enormous challenges of coming to grips with governance and the process of driving thoroughgoing transformation, it has not paid sufficient attention to its responsibility towards the trade union movement," the NEC said. It noted the continued existence of other political perspectives in the union movement, and the increased prominence these minority views have gained in the federation in recent years, "even though the general membership, the affiliates, remain politically ANC".

The NEC identified an increasing tendency within the SACP, Cosatu and even the ANC to try 'detach' the working class and working class struggles from the broad multi-class struggle for national liberation. All of these aims are pursued under the banner of 'taking forward working class struggles'. It warned of the dangers of this approach: "Lessons from other struggles teach us that the surest way to defeat the working class is to fight a pure class struggle." It would in the process also defeat the struggle for national liberation and social transformation, it said.

In addition to briefing ANC structures on its discussion, and encouraging broader discussion of these matters within the organisation, the NEC agreed to meet bilaterally with the SACP and Cosatu to discuss its analysis of the problems in the alliance and to map out a programme to resolve them.

MORE INFORMATION:

• South African Communist Party
• Congress of South African Trade Unions

ANC Women's League

Consultative Conference looks at political challenges

Political challenges facing the ANC Women's League will come under the spotlight this weekend as the organisation holds a four-day National Consultative Conference in Johannesburg.

Under the theme 'Women marching together into the African Century', the conference is part of political and organisational preparations for the league's regular national conference due to take place in December. It will discuss challenges facing the organisation and the broader women's movement, and their role in driving the process of African regeneration.

The conference will be attended by close to 800 delegates from all structures of the ANC Women's League (ANCWL). Invited guests will include international friends of the ANCWL, diplomats and local sister organisations. Also in attendance will be ANCWL veterans, ANC officials, ANC Youth League officials, ANC ministers and SACP, Cosatu and Sanco officials.

Documents for discussion at the conference will cover the challenges facing the ANCWL, the programme towards a non-sexist South Africa, the status of the women's movement, women's economic empowerment, and organisational democracy.

The conference will be opened by the ANCWL President Winnie Madikizela-Mandela and the keynote address will be delivered by ANC Deputy President Jacob Zuma.

MORE INFORMATION:

• ANC Women's League

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