RDP COUNCIL

ANNUAL REPORT - 1996

1. SUMMARY

This document constitutes an annual report of the RDP Council for 1996. The report covers;

1. highlights of the RDP Council's activities,
2. critical overview of the RDP Council focus areas and;
3. future planning

1.1 Highlights of 1996

Major Events
Rebuilding the Mass Democratic Movement:
Date : 19-20 March 1996
Participants : 80 delegates
Result : Annual Programme of Action

Revitalisation of Masakhane:
Date : October 1996
Participants : 90 delegates
Result : 18 months Plan of Action

Major Projects
Sectoral forums:
Health Sector (convened by NPPHC)
Media Sector (convened by NCMF)
Education Sector (convened by ANC)
Land Sector (convened by NLC)

Provincial RDP Council Launches:
Western Cape (1995)
Northern Province (1996)
Free State (1996)
North West (1996)
Northern Cape (1996)

< West (1996)
Northern Cape (1996)

Masakhane Two Year Plan of Action:
National MDM Campaign Task Team established

RDP Auditing Report:
Interim report released for Working Group
Plenary Session Planned in February 1997

RDP Council Internet Home Page:
On-line but still under construction

RDP COUNCIL ORGANOGRAM

* 1996 Plenary Sessions 9-10 March
6 July ** Meetings for 1996
5 January
22 January
5 February
12 February
26 March
19 April
16 May
20 June
22 August
12 September

2. CRITICAL OVERVIEW

During 1996, there has been a tight focus on developing more clarity on the nature and role of different RDP structures at a national, provincial and local level. The whole concept of the RDP Council was revisited: the role it should play and the form that it should take. In the course of these debates, clear consensus which identifies the RDP Council as a forum - with a networking capacity - of the democratic forces in South Africa who share a common commitment to a people-driven, people-centred development has been secured at the national plenary workshop held in March 1996. The RDP Council is now therefore understood as a strategic co-ordinating forum of a revitalised Mass Democratic Movement, rather than it being another organisation within the democratic movement that has its own leadership, offices and infrastructure. In short, the RDP Council should serve to enhance the capacitthe RDP Council should serve to enhance the capacity of the existing and emerging democratic formations so that they can participate effectively and decisively in the popular transformation and governance processes unfolding in our country. Therefore the role of the RDP Council is to harness the collective popular energies of all progressive organisations and institutions in our country which share the goal of a people-driven, people-centred society that is consistent with the vision espoused in the RDP original document. This would be achieved by working jointly with the ANC-led government to mobilise both mass participation as well as state and non-state resources around the transformation agenda of the democratic movement. Briefly, the role of the RDP Council, as defined by the participants will involve, among other things:

• helping to reinforce government efforts at national strategic policy co-ordination;
• helping to safeguard against tendencies towards bureaucratic and technocratic stifling of the RDP's
  transformatory vision;
• drive, strategically, a coherent transformation programme through a host of multi-party forums such as
  NEDLAC, BTFs, LDFs, CPFs, etc.;
• helping to strategically co-ordinate and build collective transformative capacity of progressive NGOs, community-based organisations and broad mass-based organisations of the Mass Democratic
  Movement to engage in transformation and govege in transformation and governance processes effectively;
• working together with international allies to fight for social and economic justice and share experiences
  in the areas of transformation, governance and people-driven development;

The RDP Council activities will focus on:

1. Building capacity in policy formulation and monitoring;
2. Mobilising grassroots action around people-driven development;
3. Cadre development;
4. Building communication capacity of the participants and
5. Building international linkages.

In all the five focus areas, the RDP Council current major projects - Masakhane campaign, RDP Policy Audit Report, International information exchanges and electronic communication - sufficient ground has been covered, as the report shall show later.

Energies and Focus of RDP Council in 1996

2.1 Policy formulation and monitoring processes

A lot of energy and time was spent on the policy form

A lot of energy and time was spent on the policy formulation and monitoring process. This is particularly true in the case of the RDP Council's Sectoral forums - health, education, land, media and arts and culture - which have, understandably, spent most of their time engaging in processes of formulating green papers, white papers and bills. It is in these legislative processes that the extent to which the RDP Council has been a useful forum for reaching meaningful consensus between ANC government officials and democratic formations, was put to test. In most instances, the Council provided a platform for policy debate and negotiation within the democratic movement which resulted in meaningful agreements, e.g. the Education, Housing and RDP NCFs. Other policy formulation processes such as the Communication Task Group investigation were more consultative and gave key structures of the RDP Council such as the Media Secthe Media Sector a meaningful role in influencing the proposals on the information policy in the new democratic society. The lesson to be learnt from the successes on the policy front is that the more contact and constant communication there is between our organisations and the government department there is, the more there is co-operation and progress in moving in the direction of the RDP policy goals. There are several instances wherein it was difficult to bring together sectors of the Council in direct contact with relevant government departments because of lack of co-operation on the part of such departments. For instance, the Health sector tried repeatedly without success, to meet the Department of Health during the Sarafina II saga. This unfortunate incident ended up clouding the progressive policy work that this Department has done in the past two years. The Arts and Culture sector tried very hard to hold discussions with the Department of Arts, Culture, Science and Technology during the Green Paper process. In such instances we saw serious tensions arising between our organisations and the some government departments. Some of the tensions stemmed out perceived shifts from original ANC policy by some government departments. The RDP Policy Audit Report identifies some of the shifts. The main failure of the RDP Council can be said to be its inability to take binding decisions on particularly where there are serious polthere are serious policy differences between government and organisations of the MDM, e.g. GEAR. This turned the Council into a loose network which in some instances has become a serious limitation.

One of the key challenges facing the RDP Council is that of having to realign its activities in line with the new policy alignment process that is currently unfolding in government since the closure of RDP Office. It is important to note that the closure of the RDP Office has affected the operations of the RDP Council severely because that was our centre of focus in assessing government policy. Organisationally, the closure had a major destabilising effect on our co-ordination with government structures. Despite the well-known political concerns raised by several participant organisations, the closure of the RDP Office also had negative impact on resources required by the RDP Council which - to a certain extent - relied on effective relationship with the RDP Office and Parliament's RDP Standing Committee. Strategic co-ordination within government is still a matter of debate - where exactly to locate development planning and policy co-ordinating function within the state? RDP Council participants strongly voiced their dissatisfaction with the manner this matter was handled. Many organisations within the RDP Council felt the need to evaluate the RDP policy direction at a government level, to establish whether the RDP is still on trae RDP is still on track. The RDP Policy Audit Report commissioned by the RDP Council Working Group serves to engage all MDM formations with regard to the national process of transformation, to asses the implications of the closure of the RDP Office, the on-going policy formulation process and more importantly the implications of these on the RDP Council itself. When the RDP Policy Audit Report has been discussed and adopted by the plenary session, the RDP Council needs to vigorously engage those government departments which have done badly in achieving RDP policy goals, whilst working with those that are moving in the right direction to consolidate the gains. This should be done at all levels of government. The RDP Audit Report will indeed constitute the 1997 Programme of Action for the entire democratic movement and guide us on where to focus our energies and resources.

2.2 Communication The other key activity which has absorbed most of our time has been the information dissemination function through electronic mailing system, faxing and the holding of sectoral and planning meetings. It has been difficult in the first part of the year to communicate effectively with participant organisations of the Council because of reasons which are largely administrative and infrastructure-related. Most member organisations of have their own problems which mainly related to lack of resources. The idea of buildinces. The idea of building a communication and networking capacity at the level of the secretariat is aimed at overcoming this hurdle. If the RDP Council can develop an efficient information exchange network that can reach all member organisations urgently and get responded to promptly, it could help alleviate some of the communication problems bedevilling individual participants. The RDP Council Home Page has been created on the Internet, which will add potential value in building effective communication and networking. RDP Council Home Page will become the central point for information exchange (most participants in the RDP Council are connected to e-mail and Internet) for RDP Council participants, especially for the Sectoral Forums.

2.3 International Links At the March plenary workshop there was a recognition of the need for exchanges with our international counterparts particularly the progressive social and political movements. However, to sustain this role we need to utilise our previous anti-apartheid contacts and communication capacity. This will require us to dynamically use existing International Departments/Desks of our Alliance organisations such as those of the ANC and COSATU. It is imperative that the ANC-led democratic government draws international lessons from other countries - particularly countries of the South - particularly with the legitimate deployment of state resources to strengthen civirces to strengthen civil society participation in state matters. The use of Internet and e-mail system has been the main area through which to establish contacts with our global counterparts.

The RDP Council once more has been very active during 1996 in its participation in some of the international and related forums where recognition for the forum has been built, particularly through information sharing or exchanges. The RDP Council is a participant member of the Fifty Years Is Enough Campaign and Third World Network. During the May of 1996, we have accredited to UNCTAD as a official NGO member. This position, will place new roles such as participation in global forums organised by UNCTAD Secretariat on issues of Trade and Development.

The most conspicuous weakness of the RDP Council on the international front is its failure to mobilise grassroots solidarity action against problems such the Nigerian and Indonesia military dictatorships. We need to revive the infrastructure that we built in the form of the anti-apartheid movement and redeploy it under new conditions our ongoing struggle for social and economic justice.

2.4 Mass Mobilisation

The dawn of a democratic dispensation in our country has largely demobilised most of the democratic mass formations on the ground. For the sustainability of our democracy, these organs of people's power need to be strengthened and revived through ened and revived through another wave of mass mobilisation for transformation and development. Such mobilisation can only be sustainable if we develop campaigns around issues such as crime and violence, literacy, Masakhane, etc.

At the March plenary workshop, RDP Council decided to focus its energies on the revitalisation of Masakhane Campaign as a programme to mobilise grassroots actions. Significant ground has been covered, in conceptualising Masakhane and developing concrete action plan for its implementation in 1997 and beyond. In fact, Masakhane as reconceptualised has a potential to revive the spirit of people's power, thereby allowing communities to charge of their own destiny and development. This campaign needs to become an overarching campaign of the mass democratic movement that mobilises all our people in their homes, workplaces, schools, universities, churches, s, churches, mosques and in their sports field.

2.5 Cadre Development

The March plenary workshop identified cadre development for the broad democratic movement as an important function of the RDP Council. In 1997, a focus on cadre development will even be more crucial as more and more activists of the MDM are getting disillusioned and confused by the complexities of the current phase of the national democratic revolution. Critical areas identified for cadre development are: theory of transformation; policy development; economic literacy; lobbying; networking; strategic planning, etc. The key challenge for cadre development is how we are going to use existing sites within the Alliance such as the ANC Political Education infrastructure and the SACP/NUM Political School, to develop cadres for transformation within all structures of the democratic movement. We need to use every resource available in every sector of the democratic movement optimally, so that the best political results could be achieved and felt throughout the entire MDM.

2.6 Provincial RDP Councils

The Provincial RDP Council processes have been less than perfect and always uneven. Whilst there has been progress in establishing these structures in most provinces, there has been no sufficient resources to sustain their co-ordinating role. In other situations they have been undermined by lackve been undermined by lack of political coherence and consistent co-ordination, particularly among the Alliance partners. These structures continue to operate without a budget. If we are to break out a cycle of lack of resources and therefore failure to implement our campaigns, we need to be more innovative in dealing with the funding of RDP Council campaigns. One way of doing this would to be to tap into existing organisational capacities. Another would to mobilise international and local donor funds for development programmes. In this regard, we need to conduct intensive training on networking skills for RDP Council co-ordinators.

2.7 Structure: National Working Group and Secretariat
As per resolution of the March workshop, the National Working Group serves as a steering committee of the RDP Council in between plenary sessions. The Working Group consists of Alliance Deputy Secretaries General/General Secretaries (4), Convenors of Sectors (5) and Provincial Representatives (9). The Working Group meets once a month. Most meetings of the Working Group have been plagued by the absence of key Alliance leadership because of organisational commitments. Provincial participation in Working group meetings has been consistent except for the permanent absence of KwaZulu/Natal. The March workshop agreed that the RDP Council will need to given the necessary infrastructure and co-ordinating capacity to can carry out all i to can carry out all its policy monitoring and campaign functions. The RDP Council is located in the ANC RDP Unit Office and it is convened by the Tebogo Phadu ANC RDP Co-ordinator as per decision of the July 1995 Plenary Session. Towards the

March workshop, the Working Group appointed David Makhura to help with the co-ordination of the RDP Council activities, particularly in organising workshops, meetings and communicating with member organisations. These two comrades constitute the secretariat and therefore attend to all day-to-day activities of the RDP Council. 2.8 Funding the activities of the RDP Council In thinking about the RDP Council's role, much care has been taken to avoid unnecessary duplication and wastage resources. One of the key issues that has plagued the RDP Council is the question as to where shall we get the funds to finance the co-ordination of campaigns? In the early days of the GNU when the RDP was still a buzzword for donors, it could be easier to raise funds to co-ordinate development work. It is in these context that it became possible to get some financial support from foreign donors like GTZ (German Agency for Technical Support). GTZ has been able to fund workshops and meetings of the RDP Council as well as the RDP Policy Audit Report produced by the national Institute for Economic Policy (NIEP). However, with the closure of the RDP Office, such funding is undergoing serious rg is undergoing serious review, with the likelihood that it may not be continued in 1997. This is dependent on the finalisation of the discussion of the relationship with the RDP Development Planning Unit in the Deputy President Office.

3. LESSONS TO BE LEARNT AS WE PLAN FOR THE FUTURE

3.1 Political co-ordination and strategic intervention Since the March 1996, there has been a broad political acceptance of the RDP Council. We have clearly defined the RDP Council as the forum of the Alliance and MDM formations committed to the RDP. The major projects such as the Masakhane campaign, policy formulation and monitoring, communication and international linkages, should be further consolidated in 1997. What is needed is to ensure that the leadership in general of the Alliance and MDM participates broadly in the programmes of the RDP Council without necessary being part of the formal structures. This is the way we can ensure the resolutions of the RDP Council are taken seriously across the movement. What we have failed to do is to link the RDP Council with the whole idea of a broad popular movement for transformation, which increasingly assuming the centre stage in the discussion around the transformation of our country. We have also failed to intervene in favour of transformation in cases where there is a serious war of attrition between an ANC Minister and anti-transformation fod anti-transformation forces. Equally, we have failed to intervene in critical policy debates such the debate around the macro-economic framework for the country.

3.2 Inter-departmental and inter-organisational co-ordination:
While administrative location for execution of these tasks is within the ANC policy department, the success of the RDP Council depends on mobilisation of the Alliance and MDM resources (both human and material) for co-ordination, particularly the Alliance structures and similar departments of our organisations which have similar programmes. As the Masakhane campaign shows, it requires the effort of Organising, Political education, Election department, DIP, Policy department for the campaign to become a success. The same applies to projects such as international exchanges with global social movements, this should involve international departments of Alliance and other MDM forces etc. Not enough contact has been kept with some of the participant organisations like the churches, environmental groups, youth and women's organisations, homeless people's federation and other such newly emerging formations which are not traditional MDM structures. All effort needs to be made to mobilise everybody behind the democratic movement's agenda for transformation.

3.3 Developing lobbying and networking skills of the co-ordinators: One of the major weaknesses with the RDP Coueaknesses with the RDP Council, is our inability - as co-ordinators - to utilise our minimum resources to our best ability for effective networking. Regular training of our co-ordinators with regard to how to network and lobby, use of information technology, ability to interpret changing situations is essential. We need to have capacity to work effectively with limited resources.

MEMBERS OF THE RDP COUNCIL CO-ORDINATORS

Participant Organisations

Internet and RDPed Organisations' Network

Internet and RDP Council Home Page
E-mail address : rdp@anc.org.za