The many tasks of the people's representatives

Today, our second democratic parliament begins its fourth session. This will be marked by the traditional formal opening, which will be addressed by the President of the Republic.

After the debate of the President's address next week, dealing with the important matter of the direction our country should take, parliament will settle down to its detailed work. This will include consideration of the national budget later this month.

The re-opening of parliament once more focuses attention on our elected public representatives who sit in our national, provincial and local legislatures. Elected by the people to represent them and advance their interests, these public representatives occupy the centre of our democratic system. They carry the heavy burden to ensure that our democracy functions properly and that it addresses the interests of the masses of our people.

We are also a multi-party democracy with a party-list electoral system. The elected representatives are therefore chosen and mandated by their specific political organisations. In turn, to varying degrees, depending on the levels of popular support, the political organisations are mandated by the people to take the country forward in terms of their manifestos.

It is however also true that the legislatures are themselves important institutions in their own right. They are the only bodies in our country that have the possibility and obligation to make the laws that govern our lives. The elected representatives therefore also have a duty to their legislatures to discharge their obligations as members of these institutions.

It would therefore be correct to say that our elected representatives are accountable to:

• the people;
• their political organisations; and,
• the legislatures to which they belong.

On average, nationally, in all three spheres of government, about two-thirds of the elected representatives are members of the ANC, delegated by the ANC to serve in the legislatures as such elected representatives. This Letter is dedicated to these cadres of the ANC, whom we wish success during this Year of the Volunteer.

Their task is three-fold. They have to work among the people. They have to work within the ANC. They have to work within the legislatures. Thus, perhaps unique among the members of the ANC, they have no choice but to carry out multi-sectoral work that demands much thought, time and effort.

Nevertheless, the point must also be made that these elected representatives constitute a critically important part of the leadership both of the ANC and the people. It is therefore natural that they will be called upon to exercise this function of leadership in the three areas of activity in which they are necessarily involved. Necessarily, their work cannot but be demanding.

And what are the main directions of their work this year!

As we indicated in an earlier Letter, one of the central objectives of the Year of the Volunteer is to strengthen the relations between the government and the people. The other is to ensure that the policies that have been agreed and translated into legislation actually make an impact with regard to improving the lives of the people.

All our elected representatives have a standing obligation to maintain regular contact with the people. All of them have been allocated specific constituencies or wards. This year, their work within their constituencies and wards must focus on the two areas we have just mentioned.

In the event that they find these relations to be not what they should be and that what the law requires is not being done, they will have to act to correct whatever is wrong. We are not talking here of approaching these issues as outside critics whose task is to issue statements criticising others for what they have not done.

Our elected representatives have the more challenging task of intervening to help remove whatever obstacles may have led to a failure to achieve the two objectives of the improvement of the lives of the people and strengthening the links between the people and the government they have elected. In this regard, our elected representatives have an advantage in that they are familiar with the policies and laws adopted by our democracy since 1994.

Undoubtedly, the representatives closest to the people are our local government councillors. Accordingly, a particular responsibility falls on their shoulders. Nevertheless, both our provincial and national representatives have an obligation to support and assist the councillors. In this regard, they have to familiarise themselves with the activities and decisions of the councils that fall within their constituencies.

Our constitutional system of co-operative government means that our three spheres of government share many responsibilities. Accordingly, both provincial and national governments also have various responsibilities for what happens at the local level. Our representatives in these spheres of government therefore have the additional responsibility to ensure that the development objectives of the provincial and national legislatures and executives are translated into reality at the local level.

The second challenge facing our elected representatives is to intensify their work within the organisation they represent in the legislatures -the ANC. This relates directly to what we have to do to ensure the success of the Year of the Volunteer.

In particular, our elected representatives have to increase their interaction with the constitutional structures of the ANC within their constituencies and wards. They have to assist the membership at the grassroots level to understand the tasks our movement has to discharge during this Year of the Volunteer. They have to help this membership to translate this understanding into productive programmes of action that contribute to the achievement of the tasks we have set ourselves.

One of these tasks is to mobilise the masses of our people to become active participants in the process of the reconstruction and development of our country. We have to end the situation of the demobilisation of the people, some of whom have come to believe that all they have to do is to wait to receive whatever benefits the government can bring them. The people must be organised and activated to become their own liberators from poverty and underdevelopment.

The mobilisation of the masses of the people into united action for progressive change requires that we have strong branches of the ANC that are in contact with and are respected by the people. These branches should also encourage all other organised formations in their areas, including community based organisations and organisations of the mass democratic movement, themselves to participate in the mobilisation of the people.

For all this to happen requires that we should have strong, well-organised and active branches. Our elected representatives, themselves leaders both of the ANC and the people, have a responsibility to help ensure that we have such strong, well-organised and active branches. Among other things, they have to work for the successful completion of the process of the realignment of our branches with the local government wards.

Above all, these constitutional structures of the ANC, from the branches upwards, have to enjoy the confidence of the people. Our elected representatives therefore have a responsibility to help ensure that we continuously improve the quality of our membership so that it is made up of the best people among all our communities.

These are fellow South Africans who are inspired by the noble goal of serving the people of South Africa that informed the decision of thousands of our people to volunteer to participate in the Defiance Campaign of 50 years ago in 1952.

There are many such people throughout our country, both black and white. Many of them fully support the aims and objectives of our movement of building a South Africa that belongs to all who live in it. Our elected representatives should work to attract these into the ranks of the organisation as members.

Some among these may not be ready to join us as members. Nevertheless, they remain patriots. They must be respected, treasured and organised to participate in the process of the transformation of our society. Many of these belong to various organisations. This should not be used to justify their exclusion from the discharge of the task of the mobilisation of the people to participate in the processes encompassed within our Year of the Volunteer.

The central point we are making is that our elected representatives are also our organisers. Their organisational tasks include working to strengthen the vanguard movement of change in our country, without which the reconstruction and development of South Africa cannot be realised. As they work within our legislatures, they must keep this in mind that above all else they are agents of progressive change.

They are cadres of the principal political movement for progressive change in our country, the ANC. To carry out its responsibilities, this movement has to be strong and effective. Part of their responsibility is to ensure that their movement, which they represent in our democratically elected legislatures, has the capacity to discharge its responsibilities to the people and our country.

Each of our elected representatives should also act in a manner that enhances the confidence of the people in those they have elected. These masses expect that those they elect to represent them in our legislatures are their best sons and daughters. Of them, they expect nothing but the best. Our elected representatives have an obligation to live up to this expectation.

This year they have to stand out as the best representatives of the Congress Movement. They have to stand out as the best among our volunteers. Practically, they have to occupy the front ranks of our members that will make the Year of the Volunteer a success. Both their movement and the people they represent must be proud to count them among our foremost activists for change, the revolutionaries.

Our elected representatives also have the responsibility to ensure that our legislatures do the work for which they were elected, as provided for in our Constitution. As has been the case during the last seven years, our legislatures will have to continue the work of establishing the complex legislative framework that defines the new South Africa we are helping to build.

We have already achieved much in this respect. The make up of our democratic, non-racial, non-sexist and humane society is, in many respects, already clear. Nevertheless, more work still needs to be done by our legislatures further to create this policy and legislative framework.

At the same time, yet more work has to be done to address current problems. The legal framework has to be expanded to govern our social behaviour today, consistent with where we want to be tomorrow. Some existing laws have to be changed, further to improve them, to take account of unintended consequences and to deal with situations that had not been foreseen when the legislation was first adopted.

This means that, once more, our legislators have a challenging year ahead of them to ensure that our legislatures discharge their responsibilities correctly and expeditiously. Their work is that more difficult because on them rests the responsibility to approve the laws that define our actions as we engage the exciting project of the creation of the South Africa for which the Volunteers of 1952 and others after them, were prepared to sacrifice their lives.

During this week of the opening of our national parliament, we wish all our elected representatives success in their work. This is the year of the 90th anniversary of the ANC, the Year of the Volunteer. The work done by our elected representatives this year, must make it possible for our people to say that this was a year during which our country made great strides forward towards the eradication of the legacy of colonialism, apartheid and racism.

Johannesburg World Summit 2002

Countdown to global indaba on sustainable development

The World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD), taking place in Johannesburg in August, must change the unequal power relations between the North and South, a South African government delegation told a preparatory meeting at the United Nations in New York this week.

Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, Mohammed Valli Moosa, said the Johannesburg summit needed to reach a deal which would address the problems of global inequality and poverty.

This follows a resolution by the ANC National Executive Committee in January to work to ensure wide participation by NGOs and other sectors of civil society in the WSSD to reinforce and support the focus on social and economic development and effective protection of the environment. It agreed the principles of sustainable development should be integrated into the organisation's overall policy frameworks.

As much as possible, the theme of sustainable development will be integrated into the voluntary service activities taken up by ANC, alliance and democratic movement structures in the course of the Year of the Volunteer for Reconstruction and Development.

The summit will be one of the biggest events in the global political calendar this year, and the biggest conference ever held in Africa. Over 150 heads of state and 60,000 delegates from around the world will attend. Delegates will include people from governments, civil society organisations and business.

The conference will assess the progress made since the Rio Earth Summit in 1992, which established a global agenda around sustainable development. Sustainable development recognises the essential interaction between social development, economic growth and environmental protection. A major outcome of the Rio summit was Agenda 21, a plan of action embracing the entire environment and development agenda, cascading from global to national and local level.

In a briefing to media, Valli Moosa said South Africa agreed with the assessment that Agenda 21 has "neither been sufficiently nor evenly implemented". Among the reasons for this was that commitments around financial resources, capacity building and technology for sustainable development had not been implemented. The Johannesburg summit would need to agree on a programme to accelerate the implementation of Agenda 21. This programme would have to include a clear set of targets, resource commitments, time frames and monitoring mechanisms.

South Africa's view is that the economic platform for development at WSSD must include better access for developing countries to markets of the North, including access for agricultural products, textiles and value-added natural resource products; increasing investment for developing economies; increased resource commitment from development finance institutions; the deepening and extension of the debt relief programme to other developing countries; and technology development, transfer and knowledge sharing.

Social development programmes must address the need for increased access to safe water, sanitation and energy for the poor in developing countries, increased global food security; action to ensure universal literacy; and improved health care and a global attack on HIV/AIDS and other communicable diseases.

South Africa believes that the environment agenda at Johannesburg must ensure a renewed focus on the environmental rights of the poor, and the implementation of conventions and agreements that are of particular concern to developing countries, such as the Convention to Combat Desertification, which, Moosa said, has a particular relevance to the African continent.

"In advancing these programmes we draw inspiration from new initiatives and partnerships at regional level, such as the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD). It is South Africa's view that NEPAD is the basis for
a sustainable development programme for Africa, particularly in its emphasis on African ownership and leadership, and its bold assertion of a new economic agenda for the African continent," he said.

NEPAD also recognises the need for sound and effective governance, the elimination of corruption, and the establishment of peace, democracy and macro-economic stability as crucial building blocks for sustainable development.

The participation of both government and civil society in South Africa is central to the realisation of these aims. South African civil society, as hosts, will have a responsibility to lead global civil society. Structures of the ANC and the Tripartite Alliance will therefore work to mobilise all sectors of South African civil society to participate actively in preparations for the summit. In particular, it is necessary to ensure that popular formations, such as civics, the trade union movement, youth organisations, women's organisations and the churches participate in the conference.

More Information

• Johannesburg World Summit 2002
• Statement by Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, 5 February 2002

RV Selope Thema

Life of ANC stalwart remembered

The life and work of ANC stalwart Richard Victor Selope Thema will be remembered this weekend when his tombstone is unveiled and a rally held at KwaThema, the township on the East Rand which is named after him. This celebration coincides with the 90th anniversary of the organisation of which he was an early member and leader.

Born on a farm in Pietersburg, in the then Northern Transvaal, in 1886, RV Selope Thema began his education in a village school in 1897. The schools in those days were not under government control, for the white government had nothing to do with education for the native. This role was entirely confined to missionary efforts. His education at this mission school was interrupted when he was compelled to work as a labourer in the dispensary of the Imperial Military Railways during the Anglo Boer War.

At the beginning of 1903, he returned home to resume his studies. By this time, native schools were under the colonial government and Africans were not allowed to go beyond the third standard. After passing standard three, he was sent away from his home to open up a school. With the little money he earned as an unqualified teacher, Thema enrolled at the Lovedale Missionary College, in the Eastern Cape, where at the age of twenty-one he obtained his first Junior Certificate. Through the Hutton Scholarship, he was able to proceed to finish matric. At the end of 1910, he went home, again to teach. He taught for a year and soon realised that teaching was not for him. He then started work as a clerk at the Pietersburg mine recruiting corporation.

After having worked for three years, in 1915 Thema left for Johannesburg, where he started work as a clerk for Attorney Richard W. Msimang. This was to be Selope Thema's introduction to the new phase of the African political struggle. At the time Msimang was heading the drafting committee for the ANC constitution.

His dedication to the struggle soon catapulted him to the position of secretary of the ANC Transvaal branch, and in 1915, acted as Secretary General of the movement, until 1917. He served under the leadership of John L. Dube, who was president of the ANC at the time.

In 1919, he was a member of the ANC deputation to Britain and the League of Nations to explain the plight of the Africans and extract support, especially from Britain because of its imperial relations with South Africa. Thema took advantage of the trip and enrolled for a course at the London School of Journalism. On his return, he became sub-editor of the ANC's newspaper, Abantu Batho.

His leadership ability was soon recognised by the government and he was invited to participate in several conferences to discuss pending legislation for the Africans based on the policy of segregation. When Abantu Batho finally closed, he involved himself with the Johannesburg Joint Council, an organisation of selected prominent Africans and whites. The purpose of the council was to discuss conditions of Africans in Johannesburg and make representations to the authorities. In 1932, Thema became editor of Bantu World, a white-owned newspaper for Africans. Under his leadership, the paper transformed becoming a major force for the politicisation of urban Africans, covering the ups and downs of the African National Congress in detail.

In 1935 he was a founder member of the All African Convention (AAC), an umbrella organisation, which included organisations such as the ANC, the Communist Party and the Industrial and Commercial Workers Union. Selope Thema devoted his energies to the AAC, which was conceived because of an urgent need to mobilise against several drastic bills that were to be enacted. These included the Native Trust and Land Bill; the Riotious Assemblies Bill, designed to suppress demonstrations and strikes; the Native Service Contract Act; and the Pass Laws, which controlled and restricted the movement of Africans within the country, severely limiting their freedom to work where they want and their right to tenure.

In 1937 he was elected to the Native Representative Council (NRC), an indirectly elected body which included nominated chiefs. The NRC served as an advisory body to the Minister of Native Affairs. While the NRC was initially approved by the All African Convention, the ANC became increasingly hostile to this instrument of indirect rule, and eventually demanded that the members boycott the Council, which they did. In 1951, the nationalist government dissolved it.

Selope served in the National Executive of the ANC until 1949. He was opposed to the alliance of the ANC with the Communist Party and the South African Indian Congress, and to the approach of direct action being advocated by the militant leaders of the ANC Youth League.

In 1952, the same year of the Defiance Campaign, he retired as editor of Bantu World, becoming in his last days a spokesperson for moral rearmament. Selope Thema died in 1955.

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