To Kofi Annan - an early valediction!

Kofi Annan, the second son of Africa to serve as Secretary General of the United Nations, after Boutros Boutros Ghali, will end his 10-year tour of duty on 31 December this year. Inevitably many in Africa and the rest of the world will begin to comment on the "Annan Decade", among others to assess whether global human society and its institutions of governance as at 31 December 2006 will be in better shape than they were on 1 January 1997!

We too will have to do this, the better to be able correctly to determine our principal tasks, as a new Secretary General takes over leadership of the UN on 1 January 2007. In the meantime, the recent and current international gatherings, the Havana XIV Summit Meeting of the Movement of Non-Aligned Countries (NAM), and the 61st Session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA), have given all participants an opportunity to convey warm thanks and a fond farewell to Kofi Annan, an outstanding global leader who has done Africa proud.

In this regard, when we addressed the UN General Assembly on behalf both of the more than 130 countries organised as the "G77 and China", and our own country, we said:

"The G77 and China as well as my own country, South Africa, sincerely thank the Secretary-General for the selfless and dedicated work he carried out during one of the most challenging periods of this Organisation. In the midst of increasing poverty and underdevelopment during an era of unprecedented wealth accumulation and technological advances and, as the river that divides the rich and the poor zones of the metaphorical global village ever widens, the Secretary-General of the United Nations never lost focus on the imperatives of our time.

"We thank him for never losing sight of the fact that poverty and underdevelopment remain the biggest threat to the progress that has been achieved, and that equality among the nations, big and small, is central to the survival, relevance and credibility of this global organisation."

The two gatherings to which we have referred also provided the Secretary General with an opportunity to say his own farewell and thanks to the developing countries and the nations of the world, given that these would be his last addresses to these gatherings as UN SG.

Speaking at the opening of the UNGA, he said: "This is the last time I shall have the honour of presenting my annual report to this Assembly. Let me conclude by thanking you all for allowing me to serve as Secretary-General during this remarkable decade. Together, we have pushed some big rocks to the top of the mountain, even if others have slipped from our grasp and rolled back. But this mountain, with its bracing winds and global views, is the best place on earth to be."

At the NAM Summit, he correctly traced his political parentage to the great movement for the liberation of Africa and other colonised peoples, which resulted in the defeat of colonialism and apartheid, and placed our continent at the centre of the emergence and development of the Non-Aligned Movement. He said:

"I stand before you a proud son of one of our founding nations. Half a century ago, when Kwame Nkrumah and his peers built the foundations of this Movement, they could not have imagined the upheavals and advances that were to shape our world - and the crucial role our countries were to play in it."

As we spoke at the Havana, Cuba NAM Summit on behalf of South Africa, we were fully conscious of the challenge posed by Kofi Annan regarding the tasks facing the developing countries in terms of shaping the world. In this regard, we therefore said:

"Can we go from here to gather in the meeting halls of the UN knowing that we are coherent in our solidarity to confront pressing issues of development, security and human rights in the context of the current debate on UN reform? Will we say, as we conclude this important Summit that we have interrogated all issues and formulated appropriate responses that would help us defeat the scourge of unilateralism and the continuing impoverishment and marginalisation of billions of our citizens?.

"Our gathering here as the XIV Summit of our Movement, must carry a unified and unequivocal message reaffirming to the world at large that the NAM is very much alive, relevant and will continue making the necessary interventions so as to ensure that the poor and the marginalised would begin to walk tall as equals among the peoples of the world."

In his own Address to the NAM Summit, Kofi Annan had drawn attention to the same challenge - the urgent need for the developing countries to live up to the promise of the founding years of the Movement. This was the promise that the Non-Aligned Movement would ensure that the potentially powerful voice of the poor billions of the South would help to determine the global agenda. He said:

"The sheer size of this Movement does not equal success. A larger voice brings with it greater responsibility, both internationally and at home; a responsibility to work decisively and constructively to build a multilateral system - and a United Nations - capable of responding effectively to today's challenges; a responsibility to explore ways of working better together, to forge cohesive and flexible positions that will make the South a more effective player in the international community."

The NAM Summit Meeting itself adopted a Document on Methodology and a Declaration, which focus precisely on the issue of "making the South a more effective player in the international community." The Declaration says:

"The Non-Aligned Movement, faced with the goals yet to be reached and the many new challenges that are arising, is called upon to maintain a prominent and leading role in current international relations in defence of the interests and priorities of its Member States. The developing countries will be marginalized if they are unable to define their priorities, share their concerns and efficiently design their own actions so as to ensure that their interests are taken duly into consideration. Thus, it is imperative that the Movement continues to be in the frontline in the struggle to change and transform the present unjust international order."

I believe that no honest observer will have failed to sense the mood behind, and the meaning in the statements I have cited. Together they communicate a sense of impatience among the representatives of the poor, deriving from the failure of human society as a whole to transform what the NAM Summit Meeting described as "the present unjust international order". This impatience emanates from the fact that perhaps too many rocks of strategic interest to the developing world "have slipped from our grasp and rolled back", as Kofi Annan put it.

From all this, it seems perfectly obvious that the countries and peoples of the South are losing patience with the countries of the North, which, despite their rhetoric, continue to act in a manner that seeks to perpetuate "the present unjust international order". At the same time, the countries and peoples of the South are losing patience even with themselves because, despite their own rhetoric, they have failed to use their combined strength to achieve the transformation of "the present unjust international order", regardless of the resistance and narcissism of the big powers of the North.

For 10 years, Kofi Annan has stood at the apex of the multilateral system, exposed to what he described as "its bracing winds". More than most, he is eminently qualified to provide leadership as to what must be done to create a just international order. As developing countries we must therefore take his advice very seriously, that we must organise ourselves and act in a manner that will "make the South a more effective player in the international community."

At the same time, the big powers of the North, in particular, must respond seriously to the comments that Kofi Annan made at the NAM Summit Meeting concerning the unacceptable global imbalance of power. In this regard he said:

"The Security Council must reform - for the sake of the developing world, and for the sake of the United Nations itself. The perception of a narrow power-base hanging on five countries is difficult to sustain and it risks leading to an erosion of the United Nations authority and legitimacy - even, some would argue, its neutrality and independence. I have, in the past, described this as a democracy deficit. It must be corrected."

When Kofi Annan addressed the UNGA earlier this month he said: "When I first spoke to you from this podium, in 1997, it seemed to me that humanity faced three great challenges. One was to ensure that globalisation would benefit the human race as a whole, not only its most fortunate members.

"Another was to heal the disorder of the post-cold war world, replacing it with a genuinely new world order of peace and freedom, as envisaged in our Charter. And the third was to protect the rights and dignity of individuals, particularly women, which were so widely trampled underfoot."

The "Annan Decade" has indeed been characterised, among others, by a further acceleration of the process of globalisation. Commenting on this matter at the UNGA, three months before the end of his tenure, he said:

"Globalisation is not a tide that lifts all boats. Even (among) those who the statistics tell us are benefiting, many are deeply insecure, and strongly resent the apparent complacency of those more fortunate than themselves. So, globalisation, which in theory brings us all closer together, in practice risks driving us further apart."

Commenting on all the three global challenges he identified in 1997, Kofi Annan told the UNGA: "The events of the last 10 years have not resolved, but sharpened, the great challenges I spoke of - an unjust world economy, world disorder, and widespread contempt for human rights and the rule of law.

"As a result, we face a world whose divisions threaten the very notion of an international community, upon which this institution stands. And, this is happening at the very time when, more than ever before, human beings throughout the world form a single society. So many of the challenges we face are global. They demand a global response, in which all peoples must play their part."

When he speaks of a threat to "the very notion of an international community", Kofi Annan is referring to the danger humanity faces of the disintegration of the currently existing agreed system of international cooperation, however imperfect, based on principles and processes that have been agreed especially in the post-World War II and post-colonial periods, including those incorporated in the UN Charter, the Declaration on Human Rights, and other documents and resolutions.

That disintegration would arise essentially from the global power imbalance that has provoked the impatience of the developing countries to which we have referred, and as a consequence of which, as Kofi Annan said, humanity is still confronted by "an unjust world economy, world disorder, and widespread contempt for human rights and the rule of law."

As Kofi Annan has argued, this reality "demands a global response, in which all peoples must play their part." Our own movement and country must respond to this call, and therefore play our part in helping to create a just international order. Among other things, this means that to contribute to that "global response", we must start "from below", harnessing our own strength, as well as the combined strength of the countries of the South.

An example of the latter is the formation of IBSA. After their first Summit Meeting held in Brazilia on 13 September 2006, the Heads of State and Government of India, Brazil and South Africa issued a Joint Declaration which, among others, said:

"Created in 2003, the IBSA Dialogue Forum plays an increasingly important role in the foreign policies of India, Brazil and South Africa. It has become instrumental for promoting ever closer coordination on global issues between three large multicultural and multiracial democracies of Asia, South America and Africa, and contributed to enhancing trilateral India-Brazil-South Africa cooperation in sectoral areas.

"The importance of the IBSA Dialogue Forum goes beyond its positive impact on India-Brazil-South Africa relations. The Forum, consisting of three large developing countries, provides a framework that will give additional impetus to further contacts between Asian, South American and African developing countries, thus contributing to strengthening South-South cooperation."

Thus IBSA constitutes an appropriate response to the challenge issued by Kofi Annan, to construct relationships in keeping with the fact that "more than ever before, human beings throughout the world form a single society". Of particular importance in this regard, is the fact that the IBSA relationship is not encumbered or compromised by the global power imbalance that Kofi Annan identifies as one of the main challenges of our age. It constitutes an important re-assertion of "the very notion (and practice) of an international community".

Again, within the context of Kofi Annan's call for "a global response, in which all peoples must play their part", we, as the ANC, the liberation movement of the people of South Africa, must both act in a manner that reaffirms our tradition of internationalism and human solidarity, and make absolutely certain that nothing whatsoever diverts us from the pursuit of the objectives of our national democratic revolution. What we do at home, in Africa and the rest of the world must continue to contribute to the birth of a just international order.

In his UNGA Address, pointing to the imperatives of a qualitatively interdependent global human society, Kofi Annan said: "What matters is that the strong, as well as the weak, agree to be bound by the same rules, to treat each other with the same respect. What matters is that all peoples accept the need to listen; to compromise; to take each other's views into account.

"What matters is that they come together, not at cross purposes but with a common purpose - a common purpose to shape their common destiny. And that can only happen if peoples are bound together by something more than just a global market, or even a set of global rules.

"Each of us must share the pain of all who suffer, and the joy of all who hope, wherever in the world they may live. Each of us must earn the trust of his fellow men and women, no matter what their race, colour or creed, and learn to trust them in turn. That is what the founders of this Organisation believed in. It is what I believe in. It is what the vast majority of people in this world want to believe in."

Our common and urgent challenge is to ensure that this belief that inspires billions across the globe, must, sooner rather than later, serve as the roadmap that guides the reconstruction and development of the global village. Our actions must say that we heard what Kofi Annan said. Our own guiding motto, as the wretched of the earth, must be that - the fault is not in our stars but in ourselves that we are underlings!

Cosatu Congress

Our Alliance is unique in the world

One of the most remarkable characteristics of the congress movement is the deep and unambiguous historical ties that exist among the Alliance partners. These ties have been articulated eloquently by our illustrious leaders in the past, providing us with the blueprint on which to base our historical, present and future relationship.

As we mark the 21st anniversary of the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu), we recall the words of our former ANC President, the late Oliver Tambo. When welcoming the formation of this giant federation, in 1985, he said:

"The struggle to form one democratic trade union centre has been hard and protracted. Many comrades have spent countless hours working to achieve the result that was consummated with the formation of Cosatu. We all acted in this manner convinced of the need for the unity of the working class of our country, of the imperative to defend and advance the interests of this class and of the necessity for the organised, united and conscious workers to remain in the front ranks, and as an integral part of the mass army of revolution that is today shaking the apartheid system to its very foundations.

"The formation of Cosatu has therefore added enormously to the strength of the democratic movement as a whole and is a victory which this movement must defend at all costs."

The formation of Cosatu and worker unity is a victory that all of us, as Alliance partners will continue to celebrate and defend. The 9th national congress of Cosatu is important primarily because of the context in which it takes place. It gives members the opportunity to reflect on the past 20 years of Cosatu's existence and the past 12 years of our democracy. It provides an occasion to identify existing and new challenges - in the workplace and in broader society. This will be done against the background of Cosatu's sterling work in the past few years, in building the trade union movement, as well as the tireless efforts against the shedding of jobs, and to increase employment.

Beyond the shopfloor, Cosatu has throughout its history, been an integral part of the struggle against oppression and exploitation in this country. It has stood steadfastly on the side of the liberation movement to ensure that the objectives of our National Democratic Revolution are achieved. There are a number of issues that we trust this Congress will be dealing with. Among these is the changing nature of employment, as well as challenges such as the reality of HIV and AIDS.

Our well thought-out economic policies in the ANC are very clear on the direction of our economy. No individual in the ANC develops his or her own policies on any issue of national importance. These policies are crafted, adopted and implemented collectively by the movement as a whole, in line with our history and traditions. We remain committed to the undertakings we made in our 2004 Election Manifesto and this year's January 8th statement.

In the January 8th statement, we said that one of the central tasks of the national democratic revolution during our Second Decade of Liberation must be the achievement of high rates of economic growth and development to be able to reverse the legacy of colonialism. We were responding to the need to address the twin evils of poverty and unemployment. In the 2004 Election Manifesto, we said that we would, among other things:

• Strengthen cooperation among economic partners ­- government, business, trade unions and community organisations - to implement agreements of the Growth and Development Summit, which are aimed at creating work and fighting poverty.
• Speed up economic development in rural and urban areas with economic potential, improve skills and access to services especially among women and youth in all parts of the country, and intensify the rural development and urban renewal programmes.

We identified the key priorities as including the reduction of unemployment by half through new jobs, skills development, assistance to small businesses, opportunities for self-employment and sustainable community livelihoods. All of this is work in progress. Our country has a growing economy, which is managed competently by the ANC government. The goals we set are therefore achievable.

Having said that, we also raised in the manifesto the fact that despite the enormous strides we had made in the economy, the dignity of sustainable livelihoods still eluded many families.

When we analysed this challenge in the manifesto we said: "...The number of people seeking work has sharply increased; many workers have lost their jobs; and many have been negatively affected by casualisation and outsourcing. As a result many, many South Africans do not have jobs or decent self-employment; poverty is still a reality for millions as many do not have appropriate skills, while many cannot get credit to start or improve their own businesses".

There are people in this country, who have worked for a decade or more as casual workers with no job security, dignity or benefits. It is a very difficult situation, which requires the undivided attention of labour, business and government. As we stated in our 2004 manifesto, as ANC we undertook to conduct research into the full impact of casualisation of labour and outsourcing, and devise ways of dealing with their negative impact on workers and the economy as a whole. Surely, it should be possible to find a solution that extends to workers the dignity and rights they deserve.

Another issue that congress needs to discuss vigorously is the health of our nation, particularly HIV and AIDS. Very few in this gathering can claim to be not affected by the epidemic in one way or another, directly or indirectly. Government, on its part, has in place a comprehensive HIV and AIDS programme which integrates prevention, treatment, care, support and research towards a vaccine, among other interventions. In addition, the alleviation and eradication of poverty remains a critical priority. Consequently, we need to ensure that our sustainable livelihoods programmes reach the poor, thereby guaranteeing food security and good nutrition.

South Africa has in the past been praised for its excellent HIV and AIDS programmes, which are supported by a good budget. Unfortunately, HIV and AIDS remains a highly contested terrain in our country. The politicisation and bickering clouds any progress made, and impacts negatively on partnerships and collaboration. We need to find each other as various sectors, and focus on implementing programmes that will bring about relief to the infected and affected, and those which prevent the spread of the virus.

We need to remind ourselves that in the final analysis, the HIV and AIDS epidemic is about the lives of our people, especially the poorest of the poor. It is therefore not a matter we should be seeking to score points on.

This crucial Congress reminds us that we should go back to basics - reflect, and reaffirm the ties that bind us as the Alliance. Recently, the question has been raised of whether the Alliance was still a viable vehicle to pursue the interests of the national democratic revolution.

The advantage of the congress movement is that it is guided by its cherished history and traditions. We do not have to go to soothsayers or izangoma nemihlahlo to establish which direction we need to go. We know where we come from, where we are right now, and where we are going. Our history and traditions provide the roadmap.

Borrowing from this rich history, let us recall what President Tambo said marking the 60th anniversary of the SACP in London on 30 July 1981, on the role of the worker-ANC Alliance.

He said: "Ours is not merely a paper alliance, created at conference tables and formalised through the signing of documents and representing only an agreement of leaders. Our alliance is a living organism that has grown out of struggle. We have built it out of our separate and common experiences... It has been strengthened through resistance to the vicious onslaught against both the ANC and the SACP by the Pretoria regime; it has been fertilised by the blood of the countless heroes; many of them are unnamed and unsung. It has been reinforced by a common determination to destroy the enemy and by our shared belief in the certainty of victory".

The relationship between the ANC and the working class, which gave birth to this Alliance, did not start with the formation of Cosatu in 1985. It dates back to the evolution of trade unionism in our country, for example the formation of the Industrial and Commercial Workers Union (ICU) in 1920. The ICU was formed with the full blessing and support of the ANC, through the struggles waged in the 1930s, which resulted in the loss of lives by worker and communist leaders, such as Johannes Nkosi.

Another milestone was the formation of the African Mine Workers Union in 1941. The union led mineworkers in one of the major strikes to have taken place in our country, in 1946. We can also never forget the role of trade unions in reviving our struggle during the 1972-73 Durban strikes. The strikes had a major impact in the revival of internal mass resistance to apartheid in the 1970s. These strikes were led by among others, cadres who carried the political influence, of the revolutionary trade union federation, SACTU [South African Congress of Trade Unions]. This indicates the correctness of the approach of political revolutionary trade union movements, as distinguished from those union movements that concern themselves only with factory floor issues.

The strikes precipitated the formation of the South African Allied Workers Union (Saawu) and the Federation of South African Trade Unions (Fosatu), the forerunners to Cosatu in the 1970s, and the formation of Cosatu and the United Democratic Front in the 1980s. The origin of our relationship proves that our unity over the years was not an accident of history. We have a bond that has been determined by a common history, in a common struggle. It is the strategic unity that Chief Albert Luthuli, the then President of the ANC, spoke about, when he said that the ANC is the shield and the revolutionary trade union movement, the spear.

The relationship among the Alliance partners is also fundamentally a question of practicality and objective interests. Each of the Alliance partners needs the others. For Cosatu to advance in its objectives, it needs an ANC government which is user friendly in its approach and policies towards worker interests.

The ANC is the only political organisation in the country that can produce policies and a legal environment that addresses the plight of the workers. Simply put, for the plight of the workers to be addressed, Cosatu needs the ANC to be in government. Cosatu therefore remains in this Alliance, safe in the knowledge that the ANC will never turn against worker interests.

With regards to the SACP, whose objective is socialism, in the history of this country there is no other political formation that the party has worked with except the ANC. The SACP needs Cosatu as a revolutionary trade union movement, and the ANC as a political party that understands the problems of the poor. The party therefore needs the ANC for better conditions in which it can pursue its own objectives.

The ANC on the other hand needs both Cosatu and the SACP for it to remain in power and its overwhelming majority in order to pursue the objectives of the national democratic revolution. The ANC's association with its Alliance partners has defined it as a progressive and revolutionary liberation movement, and a true parliament of the people.

Our Alliance is unique, not only in South Africa but in the world. The rationale for this historical relationship is not a theoretical issue; it is a very practical issue of interests and objectives. Therefore, the congress cannot arrive at a different conclusion about the future of the Alliance. History has determined this concrete reality, and so shall it be!

Any challenges that might exist within the Alliance can and must be resolved within the Alliance. We need to be guided by our history and traditions.

The Alliance provides a conveyor belt, on which the sentiments of the people on the ground have a direct link to their political decision-makers. Each of the Alliance partners has a right to speak out within the framework of the National Democratic Revolution, in furtherance of the interests of each of constituencies. This characterises the dynamism in the Alliance. After all, it is only in the Alliance where debates about the policies and future of this country take place.

Granted, from time to time, there may appear to be contradictory messages emerging from the Alliance partners. Our task then is to ensure that all these voices are heard, while simultaneously finding mechanisms through Alliance structures, to harmonise these voices into a collective Alliance voice. After all, contradictions are not always antagonistic. Some are non-antagonistic and need to be resolved non-antagonistically.

One of the key agenda points in the business of congress is the election of new leadership. The decision about the leadership must be guided by the interests of the federation as a whole, and not by individual interests. The underlying principle must be that of unity. Our choice of leadership therefore must reflect the pursuit of this unity.

The issue of leadership of the entire democratic movement has been taken very seriously since the late 1940s and early 1950s. It has always been a matter that nobody wanted to take chances on. This Congress has brought us all together as comrades in the Alliance. In isiZulu we defined comrades as amafelandawonye, people who are prepared to die together in the trenches, if need be. This concept of comrade was inherent and it was passed on organically through the generations. It characterised us as members of the ANC, the SACP and Cosatu and defined our commitment, courage and the nature of our struggle.

Comradeship permeated international boundaries and conquered the brutal apartheid machinery. It united us in dark days and bound us together in our victory. Let it stay that way. Let the members of the Alliance continue to be bound by this undying spirit of comradeship, as they advance the objectives of our national democratic revolution, in one united Alliance. History has determined this concrete reality, and so shall it be!

** Jacob Zuma is ANC Deputy President. This is an edited version of his address to the 9th Cosatu National Congress, 18 September 2006.

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