KwaZulu-Natal ANC provincial chairperson ,Sihle Zikalala , has warned party members against being caught up in who should be elected at the party’s national conference. He says members should rather spend time discussing party policies including how the ANC should address challenges facing South Africans. This week, the party in the province will hold its provincial general council in Durban, to consolidate its views on policy position, and leadership nomination, ahead of the party’s national conference.
Issues such as how the ruling party should deal with matters of land in particular, the proposal of land expropriation without compensation, and proposed amendments to the ANC constitution including a proposed position of a second deputy secretary general are among the issues on the agenda.
Zikalala says party members should not narrow their minds discussing only about who is a better person to lead the ANC but they must rather focus mainly on discussing party policies and how the ruling party can address challenges facing the country.
“The policies that we must adopt at the 54 national conference should then place that agenda above anything. Now we seemed to be pre-occupied about leadership at the expense of policies. We should be saying currently we are engaged at the festival of ideas debating political landscape but also debating the situation in the country and be able to ensure that the policies we debated at the national policy conference are further advanced and finally endorsed at the national conference,” he said
Zikalala also warned against the tendency of members being loyal to individuals and not to the organisation. He also emphasised the importance of electing an inclusive leadership during the party’s national conference.
“Unity must firstly be expressed through accommodating all comrades in the leadership body, even if some would not be elected as officials, but they must feature as additional members and the programme of action for us entails three things – building unity of the organisation. Secondly restoring the image and the confidence of the people to the ANC. Thirdly advance Radical Economic Transformation, we know that the ANC has adopted Radical Economic Transformation. So unity must find expression through the leadership that is decisive in dealing with tendencies but also decisive in pursuing Radical Economic Transformation.”
The Provincial General Council will be attended by delegates who will be attending the party’s national conference.
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