Statement of the Alliance Political Council, 13 October 2009

The Alliance Political Council, comprising of the National Officials of the African National Congress (ANC), the South African Communist Party (SACP), the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) and the South African National Civic Organisation (SANCO), held its ordinary meeting yesterday, the 12th October 2009, in Johannesburg at Luthuli House, ANC Headquarters.

The meeting reviewed the implementation of the Alliance Programme of Action and mapped a way forward on key issues relating to transformatory matters within the South African context. The programme of action contains the ANC 52nd National Conference Resolutions, which reaffirmed the centrality of the alliance. The meeting reconfirmed the following:

• the relevance of the alliance, and confirm that the alliance will act in united action for the joint programme of social transformation. It will use its collective strength to continue to search for better ways to respond to the new challenges. To achieve this, the Alliance must continue to enhance coordination amongst alliance partners, and to strengthen the organisational capacity of each individual component.
• that the Policy Conference assertion that we should respect the right of individual Alliance partners to discuss and arrive at their own decisions on how they seek to pursue their strategic objectives. Consistent with this principle, the ANC will continue to determine, in its own structures and processes, how best to advance its own strategic objectives.
• that the leadership role of the ANC places on it the primary responsibility to unite the tripartite alliance and all the democratic forces.

The Alliance Political Council declared its commitment to the previous Alliance Summit resolutions to strengthen the ANC led Alliance as a strategic political centre that will act together as a revolutionary formation to advance the objectives of the revolution.

It was noted that there has been significant improvement in the manner in which the alliance has operated at national level, but that this unity and strength has been replicated with varying degrees of strength at sub-national level. The meeting agreed to pay much more attention to the functionality of the alliance at sub-national level including prioritizing joint organizational work in areas where there are still challenges.

The meeting further took stock of the progress made in the implementation of the Alliance Economic Summit Resolution to bolster the capacity of the state and build its developmental agenda. In this regard, there has been restructuring of the Cabinet to deepen our capacity to systematically implement our priorities as outlined in the Manifesto. The meeting further received a report from the work undertaken by alliance partners in interacting with both the Green Papers on National Planning and Monitoring and Evaluation. It was agreed that the Alliance has reached a stage where it should now align the work undertaken by various components and allow for better synergy and clarify itself on key strategic issues on planning.

The Alliance Political Council further agreed to hold an Alliance Summit in November that will focus on giving practical coherence to the implementation of our five priorities as contained in the manifesto, i.e Education, Health and in particular the campaign on the NHI, fighting crime and corruption, rural development and creation of decent jobs. Furthermore, the summit will deal with the challenges confronting local government and discuss practical means to strengthen that sphere of government.

Bilateral meetings amongst alliance partners will precede the summit in order to allow for further and targeted discussion on issues of specific mutual interest amongst the allies.

Issued by:

Jackson Mthembu

ANC National Spokesperson

Enquiries:

Ishmael Mnisi 0823335550