ANC Today --------------------------------------------------------------------- Volume 1, No. 31, 24 - 30 August 2001 --------------------------------------------------------------------- THIS WEEK: * Letter from the President: Tell no lies, claim no easy victories * Middle East: World cannot ignore the plight of the Palestinian people * Xenophobia: Intolerance towards fellow Africans must be tackled --------------------------------------------------------------------- LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT Tell no lies, claim no easy victories Just over four months from now, on January 8th, 2002, we will be celebrating the 90th anniversary of the ANC. These will be continental celebrations because the ANC is the oldest and therefore the pioneer national liberation movement in Africa. Fittingly, the last conference of the Organisation of African Unity and the first conference of the African Union will be held in our country next year, as Africa celebrates the 90th birthday of the ANC. Of equal relevance, this month, the peoples of the world will meet in South Africa at the critically important World Conference against Racism. What makes it possible for us to host this important world conference is the fact that as African liberation fighters, we emancipated our Continent from the yoke of colonial and white minority domination. Necessarily, as we mark the 90th anniversary of the ANC, we will celebrate this African victory. We will also salute the decisions of the peoples of Africa and the world to hold both the founding AU conference and the World Conference against Racism in our country. Similarly, we will have to re-commit ourselves to play the role that Africa and Africans in the diaspora expect of us, to contribute to our common emancipation from poverty, underdevelopment, marginalisation and continuing racism. In this regard, we will have to ensure that we meet our responsibility to work for the success of MAP, the Millennium Partnership for the African Economic Recovery, and therefore the achievement of the African Renaissance during this, the African Century. Because of what we have done in many decades of a continuing struggle, Africans everywhere are confident that as South Africans, we will indeed, occupy the front trenches in the common struggle for the complete and permanent recovery of the human dignity of all black people everywhere. The African liberation movement succeeded to liquidate the system of colonialism in the face of the determined resistance of the colonisers, which included brutal efforts to defeat and destroy this movement. And yet the movement lived on to score the victories it has achieved. Fundamental to this success is the fact that, at all times, the African movement for national liberation respected and always upheld the truth. The late, celebrated African leader from Guinea-Bissau, Amilcar Cabral, expressed this in an evergreen saying when he advised the liberation fighters of his country and all Africa: "Tell no lies. Claim no easy victories". The ANC itself has lived on to celebrate its 90th anniversary because throughout its life, it has always striven not to tell lies and not to claim easy victories. It will live on for many more years, continuing to enjoy the confidence and support of our people, because of its continuing devotion to honesty and truthfulness. Ever since they stepped onto our soil, the colonisers have always enjoyed superiority over the indigenous population because they disposed of superior force. Even as we attained our liberation in 1994, the white minority regime controlled a powerful machinery of repression that was capable of inflicting extensive death and destruction on our people and country. Despite its capacity to exercise brute force, white minority rule in our country also found it obligatory to resort to lies and dishonesty to perpetuate oppression. In his book, Native Life in South Africa, the first Secretary General of the ANC, Sol Plaatje, writes that even as early as 1913, as the ANC mobilised against the Natives Land Act of the year, the then Prime Minister, General Botha, "visited a northern tribe and was said to have warned the chief and his people against the pretensions of the Native Congress (the ANC)". Another book can be written about the practice of the oppressor to misinform, according to which, among other things, the ANC was presented as an agent of a savage and anti-human future that our country could not afford. This was conveyed as the essence of die swart gevaar - the black danger. And yet, the powerful forces of racism were defeated, despite their capacity for repression and terrorism and in spite of their capacity to misrepresent reality by resorting to lies, misinformation and dishonesty. In this context, all of us will remember that the apartheid security forces even set up special 'stratkom' departments for the propagation of lies about our liberation movement and struggle. Currently, much is being said about the ANC and our government, concerning our commitment to pursue the objective of a better life for all our people, especially the black millions who continue to suffer from poverty. It stands to reason that we have not yet eradicated the inherited legacy of poverty and underdevelopment. Equally, it stands to reason that it will take time for us to achieve this objective. With regard to the time frames relevant to this important matter, once again, the ANC decided neither to tell lies, nor to claim easy victories. What we have said to the people and will continue to say is that, acting together with these masses, we will wage a protracted struggle to realise the goal of a better life for all. We have said and will continue to say this, that gradually, step by step, our country proceeds further away from its painful past. There are some in our country who, like Louis Botha almost 90 years ago, seek to warn our people "against the pretensions of the Native Congress (the ANC)". Like Botha and his progeny, these resort to misinformation. This time they charge that the liberation of our people has brought with it greater poverty and suffering for these masses. They suggest that we could have made faster progress towards the eradication of the centuries-old legacy of white minority domination. As part of this campaign, they turn their backs on the long-standing morality of our movement, never to tell lies and never to claim easy victories. One of the lies they tell is that our government has betrayed policies agreed by the broad democratic movement with regard to the issue of the restructuring of state assets. Thus they argue that, because of this, we have abandoned the pursuit of the objective of a better life for all. In 1992, the ANC published the document entitled "Ready to Govern". It is sub-titled "ANC policy guidelines for a democratic South Africa adopted at the National Conference". Among other things, this important policy document says: "In the context of the growth and development strategy, the role of the state should be adjusted to (meet) the needs of the national economy in a flexible way. The primary question in this regard is not the legal form that state involvement in economic activity might take at any point, but whether such actions will strengthen the ability of the economy to respond to the massive inequalities in the country, relieve the material hardship of the majority of the people, and stimulate economic growth and competitiveness. "In this context, the balance of evidence will guide the decision for or against various economic policy measures. Such flexibility means assessing the balance of the evidence in restructuring the public sector to carry out national goals. The democratic state will therefore consider: * Increasing the public sector in strategic areas through, for example, nationalisation, purchasing a shareholding in companies, establishing new public corporations or joint ventures with the private sector; * Reducing the public sector in ways that will enhance efficiency, advance affirmative action and empower the historically disadvantaged, while ensuring the protection of both consumers and the rights and employment of workers." In 1994 we published "The Reconstruction and Development Programme", sub-titled "A Policy Framework". This document repeats the foregoing passages from "Ready to Govern" virtually word-for-word. It says: "There must be a significant role for public sector investment to complement the role of the private sector and community participation in stimulating reconstruction and development. The primary question in this regard is not the legal form that government involvement in economic activity might take at any point, etc.(as above). "In restructuring the public sector to carry out national goals, the balance of evidence will guide the decision for or against various economic policy measures. The democratic government must therefore consider: * Increasing the public sector in strategic areas through, for example, etc.(as above); and, * Reducing the public sector in ways that enhance efficiency, etc.(as above)." Everything our government has done since 1994 with regard to the public sector has kept to these positions. Any claim to the contrary is absolutely false and cannot be substantiated with any facts whatsoever. It is equally true that we adopted all policy positions and practical measures in this area with the agreement of our country's organised workers. We will continue to abide by this process of consultation, as we did even last week. Similarly, these policies and measures brought about the precise results defined in the documents we have cited. Again, any claim to the contrary is absolutely false and cannot be substantiated with any facts whatsoever. The question that arises is why lies are being told and false claims made of the possibility of easy victories over the colonial and apartheid legacy. Whose interests do they serve, who abandon the morality of revolutionaries, so that they can use workers as cannon fodder to launch an offensive aimed at defeating their own liberation movement! The time has come that the organised workers and the rest of our progressive movement should ask these questions and demand answers. Those who have, apparently from "the left", joined hands with the right wing, that has always sought to defeat our movement, need to know this. The enemy tried! The enemy failed! Thabo Mbeki --------------------------------------------------------------------- MIDDLE EAST World cannot ignore the plight of the Palestinian people No international conference against racism can avoid discussing the racist practises of the Israeli state against the Palestinian people. As the two previous world conferences mobilised global condemnation of apartheid, delegates to the UN World Conference against Racism - which starts in Durban next week - should condemn the ongoing oppression of the Palestinians. The struggle of the Palestinian people, led by the Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO), for national emancipation is a struggle against racial oppression. It is a struggle for the realisation of their inalienable rights, including the establishment of an independent state of Palestine with Jerusalem as its capital. The ANC recommits itself to ongoing solidarity with the Palestinian people and calls on the Israeli government to immediately and unconditionally end: * its campaign of murder and terror against Palestinian activists and leaders; the use of live ammunition against civilians, and the deployment of military tactics and weapons of war against civilian communities; * detention without trial; * its ongoing gross violations of human rights, and the various forms of collective punishment it imposes on the Palestinian people; * its illegal and provocative programme of settlement activities. Until its defeat, South Africa's apartheid regime found much in common with their Israeli counterparts. Both Afrikaner nationalism, as manifest in the apartheid state, and Zionism, as manifest in the Israeli state, propagated the ideology of an exclusive 'chosen people'. In Israel today, the government classifies its citizens as either Jew or non-Jew. These classifications are stamped into official identity documents. Political, social and economic rights and goods are allocated on the basis of this classification. Such an approach is familiar to black South Africans. It is racist. The 1948 and 1967 wars led to the displacement of thousands of Palestinians to neighbouring countries and the creation of a Palestinian diaspora. The Palestinians insist the right of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes should be recognised in principle. Israel adamantly refuses to recognise this principle on the basis that it would dilute that Jewish character of the Israeli state. During the past few years more than one million Jewish settlers, from mainly east European countries, have been encouraged to settle in Israel. Any Jew, anywhere in the world, has an automatic right to Israeli citizenship, whereas Palestinians who were born within Israel's borders are treated like foreigners and criminals. These policies are racist. The Durban conference cannot avoid discussion of these issues, particularly when there is an intensification of the brutality against the Palestinians by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's regime in its efforts to quell an 11 month-old uprising. With increasingly violent images being beamed into television screens world-wide, it would be difficult to pardon the international community from its responsibility to act swiftly and effectively to help bring about peace to the region. The international movement needs, and has a responsibility, to help re-open the door to a just and lasting settlement, beyond racism. Significant international positions include the resolution of the recent meeting convened in South Africa of the Non-aligned Movement's Committee on Palestine and the the G-8 foreign ministers declaration calling on Israel and Palestine to accept international observers. The draft declaration of the World Conference against Racism NGO Forum in Durban says: "We call for the employment of all effective measures available to participants, relevant United Nations organs and member States to ensure that Israel complies with its obligations under human rights, humanitarian law and United Nations resolutions with the view to end its colonial policies and apartheid system." The struggle against apartheid was part of the international struggle against the ideas that found their most direct expression in the advent of Nazism and the holocaust. South Africans, having defeated apartheid, have a direct stake in the eradication of apartheid practices on a global scale, and in the plight of the Palestinian people in particular. Our task is to labour and struggle humanely to confront military occupation, discriminatory actions and gross violations of human rights. The world must work together to find the keys for a just and democratic settlement between Palestinians and Israelis. MORE INFORMATION: NAM Position on Palestine, 1 May 2001 http://www.polity.org.za/govdocs/pr/2001/pr0501.html Statement on Middle East, G8 Foreign Ministers' Meeting, 18-19 July 2001 http://www.g7.utoronto.ca/g7/foreign/fm091901_mideast.html --------------------------------------------------------------------- XENOPHOBIA Intolerance towards fellow Africans must be tackled A marked rise in recent years in the number of immigrants to South Africa has been accompanied by an increase in visible acts of xenophobia against non-South Africans, particularly those from other African countries. Xenophobia - hatred of foreigners - is one the global problems which the World Conference against Racism aims to address when it meets in Durban at the end of the month. The xenophobic sentiments evident in parts of South Africa runs against the current of the country's main political traditions, and is in sharp conflict with the strong non-racial culture of the majority of its people. At its formation in 1912 the African National Congress became the pivot of African unity in South Africa and beyond. Its broad, outward-looking nationalism reflected both the humanist traditions of African democratic inclusiveness and the universalist values of the major religions of the world. The ANC's formation stirred the imagination of our continent. African National Congresses were formed in Zimbabwe, Zambia and even as far a field as Uganda. Our anthem, 'Nkosi Sikelel'iAfrika', which is sung in a host of Southern African nations, is a reflection of the pan -African vision and unity for which the ANC has always stood. The governments and peoples of the African continent played a central role in the achievement of democracy and non-racialism in South Africa. In these countries, South African exiles would sing: "Mozambican people/ Oh lovely people/ Though we are so far from home/ We will love you and respect you/For the things you've done for us." The contribution of these countries to liberation in South Africa cost them severe economic and political destabilisation by the apartheid regime, causing damaged from which many have yet to recover. However, as South Africa proceeds to extend public goods and services to the once-excluded majority, and reallocate scarce resources, unfounded perceptions of the additional burden created by migrants, especially from sub-Saharan Africa, have contributed to friction and in some cases xenophobia. In certain instances xenophobic feelings have manifested themselves in incidents of violent attack. The instance of xenophobia in South Africa is largely linked to immigration. The South African government last year repatriated 170,000 people. The great majority of these people were undocumented immigrants from various countries in Africa. One hundred thousand came from Mozambique, 50,000 from Zimbabwe, 6,000 from Lesotho and 3,500 each from Swaziland and Malawi. The figures do not tell the whole story of undocumented immigrants who cross South Africa's borders in search of safety and better opportunities. There are thousands of foreign nationals who, while they do not possess legalising documents, stay undetected in the country for long periods of time. In addition, there are thousands of immigrants from the continent who are refugees and others who hold various types of permits, including documents for work and study purposes. The increased immigration was a predictable consequence of South Africa's democratic breakthrough in 1994. More immigrants, and not less, are going to come to South Africa. This will continue to be the case each year until both the political and economic conditions on the continent change for the better and Africa has been fully integrated into the global economy, as envisaged in the Millennium Partnership for the African Recovery Programme. It was obvious the new conditions of democracy, peace, justice and prosperity in South Africa would bring to the country many immigrants, especially from the African continent. The new arrivals would, in the main, include asylum seekers from the political conflicts still raging in some parts of the continent as well as economic refugees from hunger and want in their own countries. Among them would be people who would have wanted to make the trek to South Africa a long time ago but were prevented from doing so by apartheid. In fact, Africans from the continent, whether they were political or not, became, immediately they sat foot in the country, victims of apartheid and the oppressive laws that dehumanised all black people. Immigration control Successive colonial and apartheid regimes used immigration control as part of their tools to convert South Africa into a colony of a special type. While the immigration of whites was encouraged and assisted as part of a deliberate recruitment programme, blacks were carted, through controlled immigration and forced removal, to areas that were reserved for occupation by Africans, Coloureds and Indians. An indication of things to come, was the enactment in 1913 of the Immigration Regulation Act. The Act was designed to control Indian immigration when one of the unintended consequences of their arrival in 1850 as indentured labourers was the arrival of more Indians who were not part of the indenture system. The Act also proscribed the movement of black people in South Africa and made them foreigners in the land of their birth. The question of race and ethnicity dominated policy discussions. Skin pigmentation and ethnicity became reference points for every decision and every action that was taken. Concomitantly with this, suspicion and fear became the order of the day. The various regimes and the capitalist bloc exploited to the fullest extent the xenophobia that began to emerge and created divisions among the people. The relationship between xenophobia and racism is inextricable - both are manifestations of intolerance to people who are different, and at the same time express real differences in power and control over resources. Through challenging racism, both social and material manifestations, it is possible to challenge xenophobia. Fighting xenophobia includes supporting the progress of regional integration with all the countries of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and commitment to the vision of African renaissance. The misperceptions, animosities and divisions among African people may emerge as obstacles to the realisation of these objectives. We are also committed to upholding the letter and the spirit of the constitution, which protects the human rights of both South Africans and migrants within the country. Whilst xenophobic elements in our society would call for further limitations of the rights of migrants, such limitations are likely to themselves result in an increase in xenophobia. It is important to understand the phenomenon of xenophobia in the context of globalisation. As well as threatening to reinforce the material basis of racism on a global scale, the process of globalisation is also associated with the emergence of new forms of racism, xenophobia, gender and related intolerance. While the free movement of capital and goods across national borders is encouraged, and is growing, the movement of people across borders, especially the movement of unskilled labour from less developed to the more developed countries is becoming increasingly circumscribed. This, combined with policies that conspire to actively 'poach' the cream of skilled labour produced in the South, means that nations which stand outside the centres of capital accumulation are most disadvantaged by these restrictive migration regimes. These developments, which intensify the tendencies towards marginalisation in the process of globalisation, are spurred by xenophobia. Such restrictions give credence to these animosities. The ANC supports the establishment of a human-rights based system for migration control through legislation that meets the following objectives: * The promotion of a human-rights based culture in both government and civil society in respect of migration control. * To prevent and deter xenophobia in any other sphere of government, state organ and at community level. * To promote economic development by allowing South African business to employ foreign citizens where necessary. * To facilitate the movement of students and academic staff within SADC for study, teaching and research. * To facilitate South Africa's compliance with its international obligations towards refugees and migrants. The ANC will work to ensure its structures are equipped to assist immigrants to legalise their stay in South Africa, and will work with other forces on the continent to encourage economic growth and social development across Africa. --------------------------------------------------------------------- This issue of ANC Today is available from the ANC web site at: http://www.anc.org.za/ancdocs/anctoday/2001/at31.htm To receive ANC Today free of charge by e-mail each week go to: http://www.anc.org.za/ancdocs/anctoday/subscribe.html