Part B
CHARACTER OF THE NATIONAL DEMOCRATIC SOCIETY
Building a
National democratic society: the best of human civilization
50. The 2007 Strategy and
Tactics of the ANC shifted focus from the tasks of the democratic transition
to that of political consolidation and the building of a National Democratic Society.
We reiterated that the character of a National Democratic Society (NDS)
remains
linked to the strategic goal of the NDR – the resolution of the three basic and
inter-related
contradictions of Colonialism of a Special Type – race, class and patriarchal
relations of
power. These antagonisms:
“…found expression in national oppression based on
race; class super-exploitation directed
against Black workers on the basis of race; and triple
oppression of the mass of women
based on their race, their class and their gender”.
(S&T, par 33)
51. The Strategy and Tactics affirms the main content of the
National Democratic Revolution
(NDR) as the
liberation of Africans in particular and Blacks in general from political and
socio-economic
bondage. It means uplifting the quality of life of all South Africans,
especially
the poor, the majority of whom are African and female.
52. The nature of the National Democratic Society we are
building is described as:
“…a society based on the best in human civilisation in
terms of political and
human freedoms, socio-economic rights, value systems
and identity.” (par. 35)
53. The expression ‘best in human civilisation’ suggests that
we will forge a uniquely South
African
national democracy, founded on our history and learning from experiences
elsewhere.
Political
consolidation towards a National Democratic Society
54. Strategy & Tactics 2007 assumes to a large degree that
the tasks of the political
transition –
the democratisation of the polity (laws, institutions, policies, personnel) –
have been
achieved, and that the next phase should therefore focus on consolidation
and
deepening. It recognises (as the quote from the 2012 January 8th Statement in par.
29 above
suggests) that the task of nation-building will be more difficult and yet
requires
ongoing
attention, especially in building consensus around a common national vision and
the role that
different communities and sectors play in advancing this vision.
55. Apart from the state-building and socio-economic aspects of
nation-formation, we must
also continue
to pay attention to the role of arts and culture, religion, language, media,
tradition,
and sports as they evolve and contribute to an emerging and diverse South
African
identity. These too remain terrains of struggle, because aspects of each of
these
may well
detract from our non-racial and non-sexist objectives, or even counteract our
democratic
goals.
56. It is further recognised that patriarchal oppression
remains embedded in economic,
social,
religious, cultural and other relations in society. The progress therefore made
in
setting the
constitutional, policy, legal and institutional framework for gender equality
is
but the first
step in building a non-sexist society. Therefore, transforming gender
relations,
the eradication of all manifestations and consequences of patriarchal
oppression,
and the creation of material and cultural conditions for women’s
emancipation
remain integral parts of political consolidation towards a NDS. Thus in our
Gender
discussion document we talk about the need for ongoing gender-mainstreaming,
as well as
the engendering of our polity and society.
57. The tasks of political and democratic consolidation also
focus on deepening political and
human
freedoms, the evolution of a value system appropriate to the type of society we
seek to
build, and the ongoing challenge of nation building. The bedrock of our
political
system is
therefore highlighted as:
• A
legitimate state that derives its authority from the people through regular
elections and
popular participation.
• The
mobilisation of the nation around a common vision of the kind of society
and world we
are building, acting in partnership with each sector for the
realisation
of the common good.
• The
means for citizens to exercise their human rights, and for checks and
balances in a
law-governed society.
• Building
the South African nation inclusive of the multiple identities based on
class,
gender, age, language, geographic location, and religion, as a united
African
nation, adding to the diversity and identity of the continent and
humanity at
large.
58. The concept of social cohesion is introduced in the context
of the values of a National
Democratic
Society. These include:
• Harnessing
the creativity, daring and energy of the youth, including providing
access to
social and economic opportunities, and encouraging youth activism
around
community solidarity.
• Protecting
the dignity of, and empowering, vulnerable sectors such as
children,
people with disability and the elderly.
• Building
social capital in communities and different sectors by supporting
community and
sectoral organisation and mobilisation to facilitate
participation
in development and nation-building, through supporting the
institution
of the family and the role of public media.
• A
value system based on human solidarity, that includes social activism,
respect for
an honest day’s work, social discouragement of conspicuous
consumption,
corruption and ostentatiousness. The building of such a value
system will
also require ongoing ideological engagement, involving both the
state and
civil society.
• A
society that can guarantee the safety and security of its people, with
special
attention to the fight against crime and corruption, against personal
violence and
for equitable access to the criminal justice system for all.
59. We must also add to these tasks of political and democratic
consolidation the deepening
of popular
participation in development of especially the poor and marginalised.
Discussion points
• What do we mean by a society with a value system based
on:
‐ human solidarity,
‐ social activism,
‐ respect
for an honest day’s work,
‐ zero tolerance of corruption?
• How do the ANC and its members promote and defend
these values?
The
socio-economic character of the National Democratic Society
60. Strategy and Tactics 2007 goes into considerable detail in
its description of the socioeconomic character of the National Democratic
Society. Firstly, it is based on the
resolution of
an historical injustice. Strategy and Tactics 2007 therefore calls for
‘corrective
measures’ beyond political rights, a systematic programme of affirmative
action aimed at those excluded on the basis of
race, class and gender in the process
eradicating
apartheid’s production relations. It recognises that the need for such
affirmative
action may decline over time as all centres of power and influence and other
critical
spheres of social endeavour become broadly representative of the country’s
demographics.
61. The approach to the eradication of apartheid production
relations in Par. 58 notes that
the NDS
should seek to transform the ‘specific relations of production that underpinned
the national
and gender oppression and super-exploitation of the majority’, but not to
eradicate
capitalist relations of production. Thus, in a National Democratic Society
class
contradictions
and therefore class struggle will remain. The role of the national
democratic
state (and by implication the ANC government) is “to regulate the
environment
in which such contradictions manifest themselves, in the interest of national
development,
including fundamental socio-economic transformation”.
62. The economy of such a National Democratic Society is
defined as a thriving, mixed
economy that reflects the natural endowments of
the country and the skills of its
populace. This
economy is further elaborated as:
• A
mix of private, state, cooperative and other forms of social ownership, with
the
balance
between social and private ownership of investment resources to be
determined on
the balance of evidence in relation to national development needs
and the
concrete tasks of the NDR at any point in time.
• De-racialisation
of ownership and control of wealth, management and the
professions.
• An
efficient market, free from racial and gender exclusions that characterised
apartheid
colonialism.
• Land
and agrarian reform and rural development, including land redistribution,
assistance to
emergent and small-scale farmers and cooperatives.
• Social
policy that includes a comprehensive social security system; social
assistance;
and elements of the social wage such as social grants, free basic
services,
free education, free health care, subsidised public transport and basic
accommodation
and integrated anti-poverty programmes that seek to integrate
individuals,
especially women, communities and citizens living in informal
settlements
into the economic mainstream.
• The
protection of workers rights, fair and balanced relations between employers
and
employees, and law-governed measures to ensure decent jobs, job security
and a living
wage.
• Cutting
edge technology, labour-absorbing industrial development, a thriving small
business and
cooperative sector, utilisation of information and communication
technologies,
and efficient forms of production and management all combine to
ensure
national prosperity.
63. The
immediate programme to achieve accelerated and shared growth must therefore
include:
• Macro
economic balances that support sustainable growth and development, not
to be treated
as things-in-themselves, but as requirements that ensure higher
rates of
growth, labour-absorption and poverty reduction.
• An
industrial strategy to build an economy with high levels of manufacturing
activity,
modern services, expanding trade, cutting edge technology and a vibrant
small
business and cooperative sector.
• The
mobilisation of investment towards these ends, including state, private and
community
investment.
• The
achievement of shared growth by focusing on the creation of decent jobs and
ensuring an
improving quality of life for workers.
• The
implementation of programmes to eliminate economic dualism and exclusion,
including
specific attention to industries in marginalised communities, rural and
agrarian
development, access to micro-credit, small business development, public
works
projects and the promotion of sustainable livelihoods at community and
household
level. This also requires the intensification of broad-based black
economic
empowerment programmes, and balanced and sustainable spatial
development.
Discussion questions
• Are we succeeding in building a mixed economy and why
the slow process with
economic transformation over the last 18 years?
• Does our macro economic and industrial policy support
higher rates of growth,
labour-absorption and poverty reduction?
• How can our social security system, rural development
and food security
programmes, small business support, and cooperatives
help to build sustainable
communities and livelihoods?
• What role should the ANC play to achieve this and what
community institutions do
we need to make this a reality?
A democratic
developmental state
64. For a truly inclusive and prosperous national developmental
society to emerge, we need
a state that
is developmental in its objectives and
capabilities. A developmental state is
defined as a
state that develops the capabilities to guide national economic development
through
fiscal redistribution, mobilisation of domestic and foreign capital and other
social
partners,
utilisation of State Owned Enterprises (SOEs), industrial policy and
regulation.
65. The uniquely South African developmental state is defined
by S&T as a state:
• with
capacity to intervene in the economy in the interest of higher rates of growth
and
sustainable development;
• with
effective and sustainable programmes that address challenges of
unemployment,
poverty and underdevelopment with requisite emphasis on
vulnerable
groups; and
• that
mobilises the people as a whole, especially the poor, to act as their own
liberators
through participatory and representative democracy.
66. Strategy and Tactics therefore singles out the attributes
of such a developmental state
as follows
(a) its strategic orientation premised on people-centered and -driven change
and sustained
development based on high growth rates, restructuring of the economy
and socio-economic
inclusion; (b) its capacity to lead in defining a common national
agenda and in
moblising all sectors of society towards its implementation; (c) its
organisational
capacity and macro-organisation that is geared towards the
implementation
of this national agenda of economic and socio-economic development;
and (d) its
technical capacity to translate broad objectives into programmes and projects
to ensure
their implementation.
67. Thus the
ongoing transformation of the state is meant to ensure that these capacities
are attained,
including through new doctrines, culture and practices, as well as ensuring
that the
state institutions reflect the demographics of the country. This applies to the
public
service as a whole, as well as the judiciary, the legislatures and the security
forces.
Discussion questions
• What are the strengths and weaknesses of our
post-apartheid state, at national,
provincial and local level?
• What should inform the relationship between the state
and the people, and how
do we strengthen this relationship?
• Is it truly developmental in its orientation and what
aspects of the capabilities
listed in par. 66 should be strengthened?
A democracy
with social content
68. In the concluding paragraph of this chapter, Strategy and
Tactics 2007 nails it colours to
the mast by
stating that the National Democratic Society the ANC seeks to build is “a
democracy
with social content”, which primarily draws from elements of the best
traditions of
social democracy:
“The ANC therefore seeks to build democracy with
social content. Informed by our own
concrete conditions and experiences, this will, in
some respects, reflect elements of the
best traditions of social democracy, which include: a
system which places the needs of
the poor and social issues such as health care,
education and a social safety net at the
top of the national agenda; an intense role of the
state in economic life; pursuit of full
employment; quest for equality; strong partnership
with the trade union movement; and
promotion of international solidarity.” (Par. 60)
69. The characterisation of the National Democratic Society in
Strategy and Tactics 2007
lays an
important foundation for the discussions we need to have at the Mangaung
Conference
this year on the strategic direction of the country and our movement into the
next
Centenary.
70. Before we embark on this discussion, we must review the
balance of forces since the
start of the
transition in 1994, as well as in this year of the Centenary.
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