INTRODUCTION
Events of the past few years have sparked debates about the democratic culture of the ANC. Questions are raised as to whether we have become a movement which is top-down, elitist and lacking a climate for free, open and critical debate.
Although this perspective comes mostly for people outside the ANC, increasingly cadres and structures of the movement are expressing similar perspectives. These concerns are often raised where the NEC intervenes in problems of leadership (such as the Free State, KwaZulu/Natal, the Northern Province and ANCWL Conferences), in issues of policy (such as the macro-economic strategy-GEAR), or of tactics such as the approach of the NWC on the various border disputes.
The response to such concerns from leadership points to the ANC constitution which gives the NEC powers as the highest decision making organ. In addition, it points to the fact that the ANC is not a federal organisation and that central leadership structures occupy an important position in defining policy and implementing that policy which affects each level of organisation. However, membership and structures affected by such decisions question the process through which these decisions are made.
Another area of concern in this debate about a democratic culture is the extent to which individuals who disagree with the dominant view in the movement are seen to be marginalised or victimised. This is a concern which has been raised in Parliament in particular and has also been raised in the general debates and lobbying around leadership in the movement. Furthermore, the movement has been plagued with what seems to be widespread problems of political discipline at leadership levels, particularly in the run-up to provincial conferences last year.
There is no doubt that the ANC has a proud and rich history of a democratic culture and debate within its ranks. This culture prevailed and flourished even under the difficult conditions of exile, underground and repression. However, this is a culture which is continually changing as conditions change and as the movement adapts itself in pursuit of the National Democratic Revolution(NDR).
The purpose of this discussion document is to raise some of the major issues which define how we view the internal democracy of the ANC, and issues of dissent and discipline in the movement. It needs to be read along with all the other papers contained in this edition of Umrabulo.
DEMOCRACY AS A GOAL, PRINCIPLE AND PART OF OUR STRATEGIC APPROACH
The NDR is a process of struggle which seeks the transfer of power to the people. Within this, the central objective of the ANC is defined as the transformation of South Africa into a united democratic, non-racial and non-sexist society. This objective also defines the character of the ANC and means by which we have conducted the struggle for this objective.
The ANC constitution, as adopted in 1994, has following to say about the democratic character of the ANC as a liberation movement.
Since the negotiations, thee are very few political parties and movements who do not say that they are fighting for democracy. However, when you look at their organisational culture and structure, it is clear that the ANC is one of the few movements which actively seeks to create a democratic culture as both a goal and as part of its organisational operations. The movement itself should therefore be a learning organisation or a school of democracy for its cadres and members who lead society in building democracy.
PRINCIPLES FOR ORGANISATIONAL DEMOCRACY
There are a number of principles that the ANC adheres to in terms of organisational democracy. These are discussed below.
1. Elected Leadership
Leadership of the ANC is elected at all levels, and re-elections are held at regular intervals. No single individual must become irreplaceable. In addition, elected leadership can be recalled before the end of their term of office if they are not disciplined. Members, according to the constitution, have a right to take part in elections and be elected to any committee, structure, commission or delegation of the ANC.
2. Collective Leadership
The ANC has leadership collectives, instead of a single leader, at all levels of organisation - BECs, PECS, the NWC and the NEC. The constitution sets out the powers of each of these structures and they are expected to operate as a collective. This means that there must be continuous and ongoing consultations on matters affecting the ANC. In addition, it means that all members must take responsibility to explain and ensure the implementation of decisions taken by these collectives. Collective leadership also means that leadership skills, experience and knowledge must be shared.
3. Consultation
The structures of the ANC are set up in such a way that it allows for meetings at regular intervals. The ANC branch is the basic unit of the organisation and membership participate through monthly meetings and branch Annual General Meetings (AGMs). Furthermore, branches are represented at other structures of decision-making such as regional and Provincial Councils and Conference and, finally, at the highest decision-making body of higher structures through a system of ex-officio representation at all levels of the ANC. For example, all provinces and Leagues have representation on the NEC.
Having outlined the above provisions in our constitution for consultation , we should debate and discuss why situations occur such as the examples mentioned in the introduction of this document. It is a problem that our structures are ineffective.Our structures are not used to ensure adequate consultation by leadership and/or membership. Are therefore other demands that make it difficult for us to have ongoing consultations?
Consultation is not an end in itself. We have consultations to ensure that there is popular support in the ANC for certain decisions and policies and are able to explain them to others and to the public in general. Consultation is also part of ensuring that as a liberation movement we remain true to our calling that our people should shape their own destiny, and that the ANC is the correct vehicle through which to do this.
4. Powers of National Conference
The National Conference of the ANC is the highest decision-making body of our unitary organisation and can ratify or change any decision or policy adopted by structures at other levels. National Conference consists of mandated individuals from all constitutional structures of the movement at all levels of organisation. That is why we have discussion papers before Conference general meeting PGCs and other forums to discuss issues and to elect our delegates to Conference.
In its deliberations, Conference adopts the Strategy and Tactics and other policies which must guide the movement until the next conference. Sometimes, National Conference gives power to another structure such as the NEC or a special conference (like the Ready to Govern conference) to adopt policy. Provincial, regional and branch conference and AGMs are guided by the policies and Strategy and Tactics adopted by National Conference. The National Conference of the Leagues are also bound by the decisions of Conference.
The Strategy and Tactics document sets out the overall objectives, character and strategy of the ANC. It is a broad document that guides the movement from one Conference to another, and is often relevant for decades, depending on the objective conditions. The Conference, in this context, does not concern itself with matters of detailed tactics. For example, the creation of united South Africa is part of the strategic objective. The various border disputes and how to resolve them are matters of tactics. These tactics are decided upon by balancing the inputs from structures directly affected and the national interest, which in terms of ANC policy, is the creation of a unitary country.
Conference also decided on matters of policy, usually within the context of broad guidelines which are contained in resolutions.The constitution also allows for the creating of various structures to develop detailed policy, such as the Policy Department.In the new situation, in the context of being a majority party, questions which have confronted us over the past few years include the following:
5. Mandates, Accountability, Reporting
In the context of the above our organisational structures should provide elected members with mandates to guide them when they represent us in various structures of the ANC and elsewhere. When we elect MPs or councillors, we should have policies and broad strategies for how we want to transform a particular sector, and the role our cadres should play and combine towards this process.
This is not say that we do not encourage individuals deployed to express their views, nor that those elected to leadership position. We expect all the members of our organisation to think for themselves, to be able to raise and debate their ideas at any time, and to be able to take initiative to further the goal of our struggle. We expect leadership to lead our movement, ensuring that we respond to challenges and that we implement our programmes. However, when there is a need to change in strategy or policy, we expect leadership and elected representatives to consult and get fresh mandated on the new direction.
In order to do the above in a way that does not undermine our capacity to be an effective government, one of the key challenges of the ANC remains building its capacity to give policy direction to its cadres deployed in different sectors, to have mechanisms of ongoing reports and assessment and strong structures which can respond to process of consultation.
Reporting back, whether as MPs our councillors to our constituencies and constitutional structures, as elected leadership to our PECs, PGCs, BECs and general meetings, or as members who have been assigned particular tasks, is an important part of democracy. Information is a source of power, and if not shared, it can undermine the democratic process.
This raises the issue of how as an organisation we communicate with our members and structures. Often, information is confidential information then films its way into the newspapers in a distorted form. The ANC therefore needs to devise ways of keeping our members informed through organisational structures while we use media much more effectively to communicate. our message.
Another related matter which needs to be raised in the context of report back, is how we locate constituency work of MPs and MPLs in the context of the general programmes of the ANC, and how the parliamentary facilitate ongoing contact between our elected representatives and communities.
6. Criticism and Self-Criticism
We do not believe that any of our members are beyond criticism. Our movement and our strategies are also not beyond criticism. This means have regular evaluations, questions must be asked and constructive criticism encouraged. We must also have a cadreship and leadership who are humble and prepared to listen to constructive criticism. Part of being a cadre also means an ongoing process of self -criticism, evaluation, learning improving our strategies, tactics and policies as a movement.
Most of us would broadly accept the above. However, the challenge is to integrate this understanding into the work of our constitutional structures. For example, should the NEC, PECs, RECs have, at least once a year, a session built into their regular constitutional meetings to assess themselves as leadership collectives and the strengths and weaknesses of individual cadres who serve on these collectives?
7. Democratic Centralism
The ANC is a unitary and national organisation. Its operations are guided by the principles of democratic centralism which includes the following:
Decision of the majority prevail
After debate and discussion on a particular issue in the correct
structures, a decision is taken which is binding on all members of the ANC. Even
if an individual has motivated or voted for a different position, that
individual will have a responsibility to implement and defend the decision that
has been taken. This approach presents a number of difficulties. One of the
central problems with this approach is the following question:
What happens when a comrade is a member of two or more organisations within the alliance and a mandate is conflicting? For example, a member of the ANC PEC is bound by the decisions of the NEC on GEAR. However, that comrade may also serve as a member of the SACP's Central Committee where the perspective on GEAR is different. To which mandate will the comrade be bound and how are these conflicting mandates deal with in public? The alliance partners are independent and will therefore differ at some point on issues of tactics and sometimes on strategy. In such instances, it must be clear when speaking in public and internal platforms what mandate the comrades is fulfilling. When raising debates as ANC, COSATU or SACP members, comrades should do so in a manner that is not destructive to the alliance, its individual members and their organisational decisions.
It is part of our democratic culture to debate and discuss our strategies, policies and tactics in order to clarify ourselves and deepen our understanding of these issues. This includes the right to question whether decisions that have been taken are the best and most suited to current conditions. However, we must know what decisions are open to question and how these need to be raised. Guidelines on this issue may include the nature of the decision (is it broad general policy such as our position on free and compulsory education or is it a specific decision such as the decision to deploy a particular cadre to a specific position) and questioning decisions within structures.
Decisions of higher structures bind lower structures
As a unitary organisation, this principle applies. Because of this there is the
provision for ex-officio representation of lower structures in all higher
structures in all higher structures of the ANC. The NEC is the highest
decision-making structure between national conference and therefore has the
overall responsibility of ensuring that conference resolution and our Strategy
and Tactics document are implemented, that the constitution is upheld, that it
leads lower structures and maintains the character, discipline and unity of the
ANC and that national interests are balanced with sectoral and geographical
consideration and interests.
Responsibility of leadership and cadres
The nature and character of the ANC means that cadres and leaders must take
their responsibilities and rights seriously. For example, leadership collectives
at all levels often have to take decisions in the interest of the movement which
may be unpopular. A leader who is part of such a collective has the
responsibility to understand the motivations for such decision and explain it to
the membership and the public in general.
This also means that leadership collectives must be in touch with popular sentiment in our structures as well as with public opinion. In this way, when decisions are taken, the movement can take along its support base and not make errors of judgement which may backfire.
Cadreship must display strength of their convictions to raise matters and problems in forums where they have the opportunity to do so, even if this may risk individual promotion. The interest of the organisation must be placed above self-interest . Leadership, on the other hand, must ensure that there is a climate that allows for the open debate and raising issues and deal with victimisation should this arise. The responsibility for the democratic character of the ANC is the responsibility of both leaders and cadres.
Our cadreship and our leadership must strive for personal attributes such as commitment, dedication, loyalty, respect for others, modesty, incorruptibility and critical, independent thinking.
The above principles enable the ANC to fulfil its role as a national movement, uniting different sectors, national groups and the country as a whole. These principles assist in achieving organisational unity, capacity and political cohesiveness which enables the ANC to lead the alliance, the mass democratic movement and society in general, as well as to be the leading party in government, the driving force for transformation and to exercise effective political and organisational leadership at all these levels.
DISCIPLINE
Discipline is a weapon of struggle and transformation. It does not exist for its own sake, but to safeguard the unity of the movement, ensure that it is able to fulfil its historic mission and achieve its objectives. Discipline is a political matter.
Members voluntarily join the ANC and become cadres of the movement in order to contribute towards changing and transforming our society. As a national liberation movement, the ANC has basic principles, strategies, norms and an organisational culture and structures which set the parameters for this contribution by individual members and cadres. Part of the discipline of the ANC must therefore be to ensure that its members and cadres internalise these principles, strategies, norms and organisational culture through political education, participating in debates and being tasked with certain responsibilities.
Our constitution says the following about discipline in the movement:
The constitution also gives members responsibilities. These include:
In dealing with discipline of individual members and cadres, they must be treated as comrades, with an awareness of the various levels of personal and political development and their various levels of responsibility. In the process, contradictions which are antagonistic and non-antagonistic are looked at.
When a member, cadre or leader contravenes the constitution or code of conduct of the ANC, procedures are put in place to deal with the issue. These procedures are based on principles of fairness and justice They include:
In light of the above, we should assess the effectiveness of our code of conduct in our deliberations on it. We need to look at how we use it to deal with new situations such as a code of conduct signed by our public representatives at various levels.
CONCLUSION
The democratic culture of the ANC, and indeed its organisational and political discipline, is central to the character of the ANC. This culture of democratic and open debate allows us to come up with the most progressive policies and to allow the organisation to correct itself from within. This is what distinguishes the ANC from the political parties and movements in the country and in many parts of the world.
This democratic culture and discipline is not something that we can be complacent about. It is therefore fitting that as the ANC approaches its last National Conference before the end of the Millennium, its members, cadres and leaders take stock of this matter and reaffirm our commitment to our essential character as a movement.