Reassurance message and responses to challenges from other political parties.
YES, THE ANC CAN GOVERN THE COUNTRY AND DELIVER WHAT YOU NEED - JOBS, PEACE, AND FREEDOM.
1. general
ù On 27 April you will elect a government of your choice.
ù Use the best weapon you have for a peaceful and secure future: your vote.
ù For the first time in this country's history you, the people, are offered a choice about who you wish to have represent your interests. This election is a unique event; that is why the world is watching. You must vote for the party that has always fought for the people. This record and our plan for the future should serve as a guide.
ù The time has come to stop thinking that any one group, race, or culture is going to dominate or be swamped. For eighty years the ANC has stood for a non-racial, inclusive democracy where everyone has a say in the governance of the country.
ù You, the voters, have been calling for an end to violence, the creation of jobs and homes, and a secure life for all. We responded by formulating a plan for all to see and comment upon, long before the elections. Business has been consulted and agree that our plan is realistic.
ù The ANC is the only party with a plan to create jobs, promote peace and secure freedom. It is the only party that gives real hope to women and youth, who have been ignored and marginalised in our society. It is the only party that respects and guarantees the rights of workers.
ù The ANC wants to work together with all communities to bring peace, security, and stability to our country.
ù The ANC is ready to assume responsibility for governing our rich country in the interests of ALL South Africans.
ù The ANC is aware of the enormous tasks ahead. We are prepared to work with everyone to secure a better life and do what is necessary, wherever and whenever possible. We have shown this by negotiating with the IFP to be included on the ballot even at this late stage.
ù Our plan for peace and a better life for all involved the consulting of people and organisations throughout the country.
ù Our plan is to address the inequalities that generate divisions, insecurity and pessimism.
2. PEACE AND SECURITY
We have already made interventions to protect the lives of people and quell violence.
ù The ANC continues to monitor communities ridden with violence and to monitor the forces sent into these areas.
ù We will not rest while there are abuses by security forces, or while our people are killing each other and being killed.
ù We will continue to co-operate with the police to bring peace to our communities. Now more than ever, it is the responsibility of every person, every organisation and every government service - including the ANC - to ensure that we put an end to violence and get on with building a nation.
There are forces accusing us of being war mongers and the instigators of violence. I appeal to you to look at the facts.
ù On 25 March, the ANC held a march for freedom to vote. 100 000 people marched through the centre of Durban. Some shop windows were broken, one person was hurt and no one was killed.
ù On March 28, the IFP held a march in Johannesburg and a bloodbath ensued, both at the Library Gardens and around Shell House. Tragically 53 people were killed - many of them innocent bystanders. The loss of life is always tragic.
ù Why is this? Largely through the different manner in which the police handled these events. In Durban they guarded the march route zealously. In Johannesburg there were bands of marchers taking over the streets from early morning followed and directed by traffic cops. No areas had been cordoned off. There was no enforcement of the march route. Where were the police preparations? Police were informed beforehand about both of these events.
ù The ANC, when organising a demonstration or march is always willing to discuss the procedure and discipline with police monitors.
ù The inconsistency in police motivation and action in these two events is stark and troubling.
ù There is a difference between mass action and mass destruction. The Zulu warrior history that the IFP has pushed has come full circle: when an IFP impi tries to exercise its right to demonstrate, people flee in fear. This is inconsistent with the need for peace.
ù The hostels at Thokoza are sites of death and destruction. They once again, maintain the consistency of being places of fear. Innocent people are under fire with the all too familiar loss of life. Why haven't such places being cleaned out?
ù Why does De Klerk not make the findings of the Steyn report public? In a time where transparency is paramount, what does he fear?
ù Is his police force still hiding evidence and information from the Goldstone Commission? Take the skeletons out of the cupboard!
The ANC is committed to Peace and Security
ù We will tackle the poverty and deprivation that leads to crime.
ù We are committed to a new form of policing that will be visible and, as far as possible, preventative rather than allowing situations to develop that require harsh and armed responses.
ù We have sent people on training courses in other countries to explore alternative methods of policing.
ù Had preventative policing been used in Johannesburg on that fateful day of the IFP march, lives would have been spared and violence and fear averted.
ù The people who were held in our PWV offices have been released and the person/s responsible have been suspended. Justice will be served. We will ensure this in our own backyard and everywhere else.
The future dispensation of this country enshrines the right to disagree, to openly and freely express opinions. It protects fundamental human rights. There is no longer any need for political violence and loss of life.
The actions on 25 and 28 March were the actions of the government's police force - notorious for acts of violence against the people. the time has come to stop blaming each other, to end the finger pointing and for all to take responsibility in ensuring peace. OUR COUNTRY WANTS IT! OUR COUNTRY DESERVES IT!
3. The ANC has a plan for a better life for all.
It gives hope because it puts the people first.
ù ANC policies are not empty slogans.
ù None of the other parties offer a plan. The NP claims experience, but we remember that their experience is unemployment, a poor education system, poverty and disease.
ù Our plans for jobs, education and health are realistic answers to the crises in the economy, in education and in the health sector that we inherit.
ù The ANC plan is not just a set of election promises or a list of wishes - it is backed by extensive research and planning about allocation of resources in the future budget, practical details of implementation.
ù Our plan for houses, schools, jobs and peace and security are feasible and achievable.
ù The public works programme will create 2.5 million jobs over the next five years.
ù Ten years of free and quality education will be provided for all children.
ù We will ensure that 1 million houses are built in the next 5 years.
ù We will build infrastructure and services in all areas, rural and urban.
4. Financing our plan The NP have been saying that the country cannot afford our plan, that we are creating expectations that cannot be met. They are telling the voters that we are going to milk the tax-payers and bankrupt the country.
The key issues here are:
ù The ANC has a plan which has been discussed and canvassed widely with organisations of business, labour, women, youth and civics. We have also discussed our plan with civil servants responsible for state expenditure.
ù We are convinced that the goals are correct and achievable.
ù We are committed to a sustainable macro-economic framework and a partnership between government and the private sector in reaching our goals. We have have made a careful study and are confident that our goals can be achieved within that framework.
ù People can cost such programmes and come up with a variety of figures - we are still finalising our funding strategy and working on detailed figures. It is not surprising that the NP, who are not interested in improving the quality of life of ordinary people, will come up with exaggerated figures to create hostility to the ANC plan for a better life for all. How will the new government finance the RDP plan?
The bulk of the RDP can be financed out of the normal budget. It is also important to note that services such as water supply, electrification and telecommunications are self-financing and do not require much expenditure from the budget. The question is how to find money over and above the current budget.
ù We will improve the management of the country's existing budget and public resources by:
1. Cutting the wasteful spending and duplication involved in the multiple bureaucracies set up by the NP government. We are committed to a lean and clean administration.
2. Increasing the powers for the Auditor-General to oversee government departments, to make sure that tax-payers know exactly how their money is being spent.
3. In the words of our president, Cde Nelson Mandela, the ANC government will not be staffed by FAT CATS. Salaries must be in line with those of ordinary people. The days of the parliamentary gravy-train are over.
ù We will ensure a more effective use of South African investment resources by: 1. Creating a climate of stability needed for investment and growth.
2. Working with business to see that more of this country's investment resources are used to create jobs and meet basic needs.
ù We enjoy the respect of the international community which is ready to assist the ANC-led government with new investments and better loans.
1. The ANC's guarantee of the independence of the Reserve Bank, enshrined in the constitution, is the strongest signal to the investor community of our commitment to stability.
South Africa does not need higher taxes. It needs a government that will use our resources for the good of everyone.
5. on minorities and affirmative action. The NP is vying for votes from so-called minority groups and telling them that the ANC will only represent the views and aspirations of the African majority. In the Western Cape and other regions they have fuelled racial tension and suspicion by saying that our policy of affirmative action means replacing Indian, "Coloured" and white workers with African workers. This gross distortion shows us that the NP has not really changed, that it is still bent on divide and rule by manipulating the fears and concerns of minority groups.
Affirmative Action:
ù Is not Jobs for Pals or ANC members
ù Is not punishing any people who were better off under Apartheid
ù Is not another system of racial discrimination
The ANC is committed to:
ù Nation-building: Our goal is to meet the needs of all South Africans and to move away from the racial classification of people.
ù A civil service that reflects the composition of our society. In rectifying the imbalances, however, we will respect the conditions of service of all current civil servants.
ù Education and training programmes That will open up opportunities for all people disadvantaged by the years of Apartheid, irrespective of their colour or gender.
ù Ensuring that resources are directed to: - creating opportunity and jobs in neglected rural areas - creating a fairer distribution of new jobs. - empowering women and youth to participate fully in the economy and society. 6. FREEDOM.
ù The ANC wants you to feel secure and know your rights. - To feel free to express your views. - To be secure in your homes. - To be confident about the quality of education and the flourishing of your language and culture.
ù Above all, the ANC wants every South African to know that all our children will have the opportunity to realise their potential, secure in family life in a peaceful and thriving society.
ù The ANC wants to take you, the people, into a future that is free of racism and hatred. We have espoused this for the last eighty years and not just for the past three years. We are not the 'new' ANC. People know that we have always stood for the right to free expression, equal rights and justice.
ù To achieve all we have set for ourselves, we need the support of the people of this country.
ù Through the unity of an ANC government and the people we will build our houses, jobs, schools.
ù Let our respect and concern for one another be the very thing that pulls us together so that we can at last work together as a nation.
We are one country and one people. Let our children, grandchildren and future children inherit a peaceful and prosperous country. They deserve it.
On the 27th of April, you buy shares in this country's future by voting for the ANC It is an investment and a future that you can have confidence in.