Draft Strategy and Tactics Document of the Convention

Introduction

1. In the light of the imminent launch of the new political party in South Africa, here in referred to as the Convention, we express our strategy and tactics that outlines our characterisation and our objectives.
2. The Convention can be characterised as part a splinter from the ANC and its Alliance partners and part a converging of various other groups and individuals in the South African society who share some or all of the concerns of the leaders of the Convention or who have their own concerns that are not related to those of the leaders of the Convention.
3. Our strategic objectives can be broadly defined as the strengthening of democracy through the weakening of the ANC. Our view is that since some of our leaders were not elected into the leadership of the ANC, the ANC has become too strong and thus presents a threat to our democracy as enshrined in our constitution.
4. The reason the ANC is strong its because of its history and its current policies. Since we cannot do better we will have to copy from them and hope that some of its members will be foolish enough to follow us.
5. We believe the time is ripe for the Convention to be launched.

History of the Convention

6. Obviously we do not have a history of our own. We will selective select from the history of the ANC all that suits us and define it as our history. To avoid contradictions, we will omit parts of the ANC history that talk about unity, ill-discipline, democratic centralism, traitors, democracy, deployment and other related phenomena.
7. From the ANC we will mainly copy the parts that talk about the Freedom Charter, freedom, liberation, freedom of speech, and related stuff.
8. Maybe in this way we can avoid peoplw noticing our explicit hypocrisy.

Character of the Convention

8. Ours is a Convention of the concerned. No matter what you are concerned about, you are welcome to the Convention.
9. According to us, the National Democratic Revolution is over. The outdated language of a Revolution is no longer relevant. It’s like some people are politicising everything. As a country we need to chill.
10. We are tired of the ANC talking about the poor, the working class and all those things. We just want a stable country.
11. A stable country is where rich people have space to get richer and poor people can get poorer. Those leftist in the ANC do not understand that the reality is that the poor will always be poor. Actually poor people are not welcome in the Convention as they will scare the investors with their poverty.
12. In fact all the concerns we have expressed about the ANC are mainly based in their use of political language. They should lighten up. Stop singing Umshini Wami and play nice gospel CDs like Lundi at the rallies.
13. Even though we say we leave the ANC because it is not doing the Freedom Charter we welcome all people even those who do not know what the hell is the Freedom Charter. It’s ok. All that counts is your vote not your knowledge of the document.
14. If you support us, you are likely to be alone in your ward, so you definitely will be our candidate for the Mayor in your area. If you are lucky you can even be a Premier, a provincial minister or a national minister. The ANC has too many members, you will never get anywhere with it.
15. Worse if you have poor leadership skills. However as the Convention we do not mind. We won’t need your leadership skills in a long-term anyway.
16. We are aware that in terms of the ANC, joining the Convention amounts to ill-discipline, but we suspect that once you join the Convention you will no longer be ill-disciplined. You will have to respect the decisions of the upper structures just as you did in the ANC, if you were an ANC member when Lekota was Chairperson.
17. We are going to hold a lot of rallies now until the elections. Unfortunately after that we will have to focus on our work in Parliament as leadership to represent your concerns.
18. In this was the Convention will disintegrate due to differing of views. Luckily as leaders we are guaranteed jobs for the next 5 years.

Vision and Mission

19. As stated earlier, we mainly want to weaken the ANC. It is too strong. It also has too many good leaders, that is why we were not elected. The same applies to our fellow losers in provinces, regions and branches. Including those who are still going to lose in the list process.
20. Although we doubt that the ANC will ever be weak, at least we join the DA, UDM, IFP, ID and others in pretending to be doing something.
21. Our strength is that unlike the ANC, we can promise people anything including that which we cannot do. We know we will never win so we won’t have to do it.
22. So we do not have a comprehensive vision because that is rhetoric, our mission is clear; members must elect us back into Parliament where we belong. What else can we do besides that?
23. Our mission is to provide psychological relief on a short-term basis for all those who are stressed (concerned about petty things politically or personally). Really now, some of us have been members of the ANC for a long time what else do you expect us to offer in a long-term.
24. We must appeal to capitalists so that they can fund us. Poor people are of no use. Maybe we can give them T-shirts so they can vote for us.
25. Since we are launching on the basis of ill-discipline and anger. We will have to elect the angriest into leadership in order to sustain ourselves at least until the elections.
26. Perhaps when this anger dies down some people will go back to the ANC. We need to make sure that by the time they are sober, we already got their votes.

Conclusion

27. We won’t pressure our members to go through the eye of the needle to become leaders they have to go through the eye of (an open) boom gate.

Responses to Lekota et al

I kept thinking someone will take an initiative to respond to Lekota et al, including today's newly found energy by Shilowa to suggest a new electoral system. Here I will respond to all the issues that I know of which they have raised. Please let me know if I leave something out. Mainly I will derive these from Lekota's letter, his media briefing and Shilowa's media briefing.

Red is for Lekota et al's concern. Green is for my response.

1. "For instance, those who express views that are contrary to popular opinion in meetings and conferences of the organisation are later hounded out and purged from organisation and state structures. This is contrary to the ANC's democratic culture." (Lekota letter)

It is not easy to respond to this shallow statement without being shallow. It would be better if Mr Lekota had provided examples of those people. I can assume that he refers to Eastern and Western Cape Premier plus the country's former President. Even on this assumption, it is not clear which contrary view did they express to warrant the hounding and purging.

A sober analysis of the individual cases of recall/redeployment will reveal that Lekota's allegations (if my assumption is correct that he refers to them) are unfounded. All comrades who have been recalled have been given reasons why. I can't comment on Shilowa's resignation.

Until Lekota substantiates this allegation it remains complicated to respond rationally to it.

Bayanda Mzoneli has explained at length in his blog on the ANC tolerates differing views.

2. Sectoral and individual interests other than those flowing from the people's interests expressed in the Freedom Charter are elevated to levels of national priority. Thus we are expected to show up at criminal court cases or carry shoulder high individuals convicted of crimes unrelated to the demands in the Freedom Charter. (Lekota letter)

In most instances, comrades support each other out of common brotherhood and sisterhood plus sheer friendship. For some comrades, comradeship goes beyond politics. This does not mean taking something away from politics. It is voluntary for comrades to attend other comrade's funerals, weddings, birthday parties, court appearances and many other non-political activities. This does not in any way belittle the pursuit of the Freedom Charter. It is not true that there is an expectation that people should show up at court cases, it is purely voluntart and mainly based on the individual's belief. For example I believed Cde Jacob Zuma to be innocent during his rape case, so I showed up at court to support him and eventually the court acquited him. There is absolutely nothing wrong in this. Maybe Lekota need to improve this allegation as well in order for it to grow legs.

Instead of instilling respect for institutions of democracy, our leaders issue threats that if judicial proceedings do not result in outcomes they prefer, the country will be brought to a standstill. (Lekota letter)

The ANC have instilled respect in all institutions of democracy. It is a lie that those institutions are disrespected. Nothing have been done, IN PRACTICE, to disrespect the courts. This is despite the court having found against Cde Zuma in the case of 'search and seizures' and the country is not in standstill.

However leaders have a right to participate in the public discourse even if it includes the Executive, Legislature or Judiciary. None of the institutions of democracy are immune from public scrutiny. If one of the institutions of democract was to be exempt from criticism or scrutiny, it would be the end of democracy. Or if leaders were to be prohibited from participating in the public discourse just because it involves a certain institution of democracy, it would infringe on the leaders' democratic rights.

3. Lately, the leadership has taken a direct and unadulterated departure from the Freedom Charter by calling for a political solution in the matter of the National Directorate of Public Prosecutions vs the President of the ANC. What happened to "There shall be equality before the law?". Or are we now to have political solutions to every citizen's criminal case? (Lekota letter)

Nothing happened to "equality before the law". The ANC still pursues it as oultlined in the Freedom Charter. A political soultion was suggested by some leaders after concluding that the case is political. Justice Nicholshon confirmed that the case had political elements. Indeed people are equal before the law. Hence no one should be investigated and be approximately prosecuted on a perpertual basis based on political reasons. Equality means a political problem should have a political solution and a legal problem should be solved by the law. I need not remind Mr Lekota about Justice Herbert Msimang's judgement on the same case. So there is no contradiction there. The leadership has not departed from the Freedom Charter.

4. Blatant threats to kill for certain individuals if desires other than their own are not satisfied are made with impunity. When democracy-supporting institutions intervene to stop such delinquent behaviour, more of our leaders come out in loud support for threats to kill. (Lekota letter)


Cde Malema and Cde Vavi explained, individually, the context in which they made those remarks. People who perceive their statements, even when taken literally, fail to realise that human life is equal. These comrades declared that they are ready to die for their beliefs. It is myopic of Mr Lekota to be selective in recalling what they said. Immediately when their readiness to die is acknolwdged, it logically brings forth the context of their statement.

The context was the expression of the passion and commitement which they have in defence of their beliefs. People should therefore not be prohibited from expressing their passion. Cde Malema later excused his language, saying he understood that it was open to various interpretations. Mr Lekota should not celebrate such petty points and pretend that they are adequate for her to leave a party he has led for many years to lead a new one. He did not leave when someone said "Kill the boer, kill the farmer" even though that was more explicit and directed to a particular group.

5. Wearing of Zulu Boy T-Shirts and/or implied condoning of tribalism. (Lekota Media Briefing)

The ANC denounces tribalism and all other forms of discrimination. The T-Shirts are a product of the tribalist e-mails that circulated within the ANC leaders (now known as 'hoax emails'). These e-mails contained extremely tribalists remarks which refered to Cde JZ as a 'Zulu Boy'. Some members elected to cite these e-mails in expressing their support for Cde JZ. The ANC cannot ban citation or reference, that would be undemocratic. In fact such reference have grown to be used even in other channels including social networking websites.

If Lekota had taken the time to ask any of the ANC members who were those T-Shirts whether they were for tribalism he would have got the answer. ANC members understand the ANC. They are not in anyway promoting tribalism by wearing those T-Shirts.

6. Singing of revolutionary songs, in particular the song "Awuleth' umshini wami". (Lekota Media briefing)

It is very petty of Mr Lekota to raise this as a concern. There are many revolutionary songs that continue to be sang long after the policy positions they were advocating have passed. Singing of revolutionary songs in not neatly labelled with expiry dates that refer to each epoch. ANC members sing many songs randomly. If Mr Lekota had attended a funeral of any of the MK veterans he would have had the song "Thina bafana bomkhonto sizimisele uku....", he knows how the song continues (ask a friend if you don't know).

I would love to listen to the epoch specific songs that his new party will sing, if it will ever sing. They will have to develop a hymn book that will be updated occassionally to ensure the members only sing approved songs.

7. Practice of democracy and putsch of former President Mbeki. (Shilowa media briefing)

The practice of deployment and redeployment in the ANC and the Alliance is very old. It is strange that when it applies to former President Mbeki, Mr Shilowa finds it neccesary that the constitution should be amended to allow for directly elected leaders.

Mr Shilowa was part of the Polokwane Conference. This conference had a lengthy document on the electoral system and more on the sphere of government, I wonder if he was as enthusiastic about change in the discussions in his branch as he is today. Maybe he would have proposed changes to the constitution in another clause about the maximum terms had the Polokwane Conference elections turned out another way.

Mr Shilowa remarks at his media briefing were surpringly of a very liberal democracy. It is not clear whether he has always haboured those views or they are newly thought following certain events.

This concludes my responses to Lekota et al. I am going to label these as Part One just in case there are follow-up questions or there are other points that emerge which I may have left out by accidental omission.

ANC Membership - Part 2 : Is this the beginning of the Quadratite Alliance?

Note to the loyal reader: This is a sequal to Bayanda's ANC Membership - Part 1. He might write Part 3, but we have agreed that I write Part 2.

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The bubble, that has been inflating for some time, have burst. Cde Lekota et al are going to form a new political party in a few weeks (he said 2 to 3 or 4 weeks).

As I a member of the ANCYL and ANC this is the account of what I make of Cde Lekota's announcement today.

Cde Lekota has been a member of the ANC for many years. Serving, recently, as its National Chairperson and deployee to government as Defence Minister. From the this I can safely deduce that he subscribes to the Freedom Charter, the ANC Strategy and Tactics, the RDP and other related documents outlining the policy positions of our movement. The same applies to most of his associates.

[For convenience please allow me to name the new party the National Congress of Africa (NCA)]

How then is the NCA going to be different from the ANC. Cde Lekota et al point the following as reasons for leaving the ANC;

1. Opposition to the purge of dissidents (the recall of premiers and/or RSA President).
2. Opposition to singing of revolutionary songs advocating violence (Umshini wami).
3. Opposition to certain statements by President Malema of the ANCYL ("Kill for Zuma").
4. Opposition to a proposal of a political solution to the State vs JZ case.
5. Opposition to insults/threats hurled at courts and other institutions supporting democracy.
6. On the basis of the above Cde Lekota et al believe the current leadership is leading the ANC further away from its adopted policies and programmes.

Here I do not wish to argue the merits or demerits of these issues. I think these beliefs are so embedded in Lekota et al in the same way that Bayanda believes in Catholic Church. Trying to argue these issues away from them would be a waste of time at this stage (or I could leave it for Part 3).

I believe, besides the matters listed above, Cde Lekota et al agree with all the other ANC policies and programmes.

As I grew in the ANC, I learned about the Tripartite Alliance. I was told that the ANC, SACP, Cosatu and SANCO are all autonomous organisations with different constitutions. I was told that they in an Alliance to defeat the Apartheid regime and transform South Africa into a non-racial, non-sexist, democratic and prosperous society.

I was also told that the Freedom Charter is the glue that holds the Alliance together and that any organisation that adopts the Freedom Charter as its guiding document can be accepted in the fold of the Mass Democratic Movement. This is the reason why SASCO, launched on 6 September 1991, is part of the Alliance even though it an autonomous organisation.

Cde Lekota et al's NCA would most probably adopt the Freedom Charter and other ANC documents as a guide to their transformation programme. Unfortunately for them, they do not have the formal support of the ANC Alliance partners even though they may tap in to the likes of Jaras, Dexters and Madishas of this world.

This leads me to believe that the NCA, at its first Convention/Congress, can decide to be part of the Tripartite Alliance thereby extending the alliance to become a Quadritite Alliance. They can either support an Alliance Pact like Cosatu to have a quota in deployments or swell the ranks of the ANC like the SACP in order to get deployment. I know Lekota mumbled something to the effect that they will constest the elections. I think he did not mean that literally. He is not that stupid.

In any case the NCA will have to draft a Manifesto is it wanted to stand alone. Its manifesto will have to claim the successes of the ANC government just like the ANC manifesto will be. The NCA Manifesto will have to promise the same things as the ANC manifesto. The 6 points of difference with the ANC are not enough to draft a parallel manifesto.

The NCA's alliance into the Quadritite Alliance will help it attract more ANC members who might grow disatisfied with certain things over time. When the NCA accumulates enough muscle in about 2044 it can then propose the realignement of the Alliance to have NCA leading the Alliance instead of the ANC, that is if the SACP had not succeeded in doing that by that time.

Article G of the ANCYL constitution which talks about membership, in subsection 6, says;

"6. Dual or multiple membership by individuals shall be welcome provided the policies and programmes of those organisations to which they belong or may wish to belong, are not hostile to those of the ANCYL." (http://www.e-tools.co.za/anc/youth/documents/constitution/constitution2004a.pdf)

My view is that the policies and programmes of NCA are not going to be hostile to those of the ANCYL. I am looking forward to joining this new organisation while maintaing my membership of the ANC. I do not agree with the 6 reasons for Lekota et al departure, but I think I can help them inside their new party to realise their mistake and repent.

I just hope that I won't be refused membership by the new party on the basis of having different views. I hope I won't be purged once I am a member and I express my views in public about us (the new party) not standing for elections but instead become part of the Quadritite Alliance.

Eventually this Quadritite Alliance partner will grow irrelevant as the 6 griveiances get addressed. The new party will eventually fade away and every one, who might be misled/angry for now, will return to be a disciplined member of the ANC. The good side to it is that the ANC would have attracted other voters by then.

Viva Comrade Tutu

Note to the loyal readers: I am no longer writing about resignations. Bayanda has said a mouthful about that. Read his blog. It contains my views.
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Some of my comrades have reacted negatively to what Cde Tutu have said about not voting in next year's election if the ANC does not get its house in order.

I am a member of the ANC. I will be the first to admit that the ANC house is not in order. It has not been in order since before the 52nd National Conference in Polokwane 2007. If it was in order the current NEC would not be fixing things by recalling premeirs, recalling the President of the country, auditing Chancellor House and so on.

My suspicion is that the ANC house will remain out of order at least until the ANC list process is complete. I am basing this on the likely posibility of competition for positions during the list process upon which we might witness strange behaviour from some ANC members, even though they will be a minority.

Now Cde Tutu says he is not going to vote if the ANC house is not in order. This implies that Cde Tutu is a loyal ANC voter. He says he is saddened by his current observation, at his age I would be sad as well.

I can safely assure Cde Tutu that the ANC house will be in order by the time the country goes to the elections. The list process and the manifesto process would have long finished by then. If someone "ongabhadlanga" wants to start a political party they would have done by then. So definitely the ANC house will be in order. I have a lot of confidence in the ANC NEC and respective provincial, regional and branch structures.

I know some stubborn reader is thinking "but you have not addressed the issue of Zuma Presidency". Yeah I know what Cde Tutu said. For your convenience here is it. By the time we get to the next election Cde Tutu would have realised the difference between suspicion, allegation and guilt. He would be able to distinguinsh between a subjective view of an allegation and an objective view. He will know, by then, that there is no amount of allegation(s) that can grow to be guilt just because it is repeated 2634 times. He will know what innocence means. So the issue of the Zuma presidency is not an issue at all. I have confidence in the intelligence of Cde Tutu.

I kindly request members of the media to visit him just before elections to ask him if he will vote. If his statements were genuine and not about hypocrisy or seeking cheap media points, he will tell them that he is going to vote. His vote is no longer secret. Despite having many political parties he opts not to vote if he is not voting ANC. As he changes his mind, he will be voting ANC.

My comrades should have confidence in Cde Tutu. He is certainly not a hypocrite. He also knows what Charles Dempesey's abstinence cost us.

PS: Lazola I wrote about this before you did. How nice.