A basic guide to the Reconstruction and Development Programme
- Authors: African National Congress
- Date: 1994
- Subjects: Reconstruction and development programme (South Africa) , South Africa -- Economic policy , South Africa -- Social policy , African National Congress
- Language: English
- Type: text , book
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/75927 , vital:30483 , 1874902062
- Description: The RDP is a plan to address the many social and economic problems facing our country — problems such as...violence, lack of housing, lack of jobs, inadequate education and health care, lack of democracy, a failing economy. The RDP recognises that all of these problems are connected. For example, we cannot successfully build the economy while millions do not have homes or jobs. And we cannot provide homes and jobs without rebuilding the economy. We need policies and strategies to address all of the problems together. The RDP aims to do this. The RDP is a programme to mobilise all our people and all our resources to finally get rid of apartheid and build a democratic, non racial and non sexist future. The RDP was drawn up by the ANC-led alliance in consultation with other key mass organisations and assisted by a wide range of nongovernmental organisations (NGOs) and research organisations. This inclusive approach to developing and implementing policy — involving as many organisations as possible — is unique in South Africa’s political history. The ANC — because it is a liberation movement and based on the traditions of the Freedom Charter — is the only political organisation which can bring together such a wide range of social movements, community-based organisations and numerous other sectors and formations. This widespread and broad-based support throughout South Africa will allow the ANC within a Government of National Unity successfully to implement the RDP.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1994
- Authors: African National Congress
- Date: 1994
- Subjects: Reconstruction and development programme (South Africa) , South Africa -- Economic policy , South Africa -- Social policy , African National Congress
- Language: English
- Type: text , book
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/75927 , vital:30483 , 1874902062
- Description: The RDP is a plan to address the many social and economic problems facing our country — problems such as...violence, lack of housing, lack of jobs, inadequate education and health care, lack of democracy, a failing economy. The RDP recognises that all of these problems are connected. For example, we cannot successfully build the economy while millions do not have homes or jobs. And we cannot provide homes and jobs without rebuilding the economy. We need policies and strategies to address all of the problems together. The RDP aims to do this. The RDP is a programme to mobilise all our people and all our resources to finally get rid of apartheid and build a democratic, non racial and non sexist future. The RDP was drawn up by the ANC-led alliance in consultation with other key mass organisations and assisted by a wide range of nongovernmental organisations (NGOs) and research organisations. This inclusive approach to developing and implementing policy — involving as many organisations as possible — is unique in South Africa’s political history. The ANC — because it is a liberation movement and based on the traditions of the Freedom Charter — is the only political organisation which can bring together such a wide range of social movements, community-based organisations and numerous other sectors and formations. This widespread and broad-based support throughout South Africa will allow the ANC within a Government of National Unity successfully to implement the RDP.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1994
ANC policy guidelines for a democratic South Africa : draft for discussion
- Policy Unit of the African National Congress
- Authors: Policy Unit of the African National Congress
- Date: 1992-04-27
- Subjects: South Africa -- Politics and government -- 1989-1994 , Social planning -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: text , book
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/66055 , vital:28891
- Description: The basic objectives of ANC policy are threefold: * To overcome the legacy of inequality and injustice created by colonialism and apartheid, in a swift, progressive and principled way; * To develop an economy and state infrastructure that will progressively improve the quality of life of all South Africans; and, * To encourage the flourishing of the feeling that South Africa belongs to all who live in it, to promote a common loyalty to and pride in the country and to create a universal sense of freedom and security within its borders. These are not mutually exclusive goals. On the contrary, the future of our country depends on the harmonious and simultaneous realisation of all three. The advancement of the majority of people will, in the medium-and-long-term, release hitherto untapped and suppressed talents and energies that will both boost and diversify the economy. Developing the economy will, in turn, provide the basis for overcoming the divisions of the past without creating new ones. Finally, the achievement of a genuine sense of national unity depends on all of us working together to overcome the inequalities created by apartheid. The beacons guiding these advances are equal rights, nonracialism, non-sexism, democracy and mutual respect. A broad, inclusive approach, free of arrogance or complexes of superiority or inferiority, is fundamental. We have to develop a truly South African vision of our country, one undistorted by the prejudices and sectarianism that has guided viewpoints on race and gender, in the past. We have to rely on the wisdom, life experiences, talents and know-how of all South Africans, men and women. There can be no apartheid in finding solutions to the problems created by apartheid. This document does not present a rigid ANC blue-print for the future of South Africa, to which our supporters will be expected to rally and our opponents required to submit. Rather, the document represents a set of basic guidelines to policies we intend to pursue. These ideas will be developed through discussion within the ANC, and through consultation with the broadest spectrum of South African public opinion. The policies will be adapted according to these processes and on the basis of experience. Our problems run deep It is necessary to dwell on the problems which will be faced by the first government which is elected under a new democratic constitution. It will help create an understanding of the magnitude of the tasks involved in transforming our country into one where everyone can enjoy a reasonable standard of living combined with peace and security. It will underline the fact that there are choices to be made and priorities to be established. The nationalist government has pursued active political and social policies which, amongst others things, have led to: extreme levels of poverty and disease in the rural areas; the creation of urban ghettos where people have been denied access to even the most basic means of survival as a result of severely limited access to decent homes, electricity, water-borne sewerage, tarred roads, and recreational facilities; an education system preparing the majority of South Africans for lives of subordination and low income wage jobs; a social security system geared almost entirely to fulfilling the needs of the white minority; a health system that has seriously neglected the wellbeing of most South Africans; the social and political marginalisation of the majority of people, the African community in particular, their exclusion from public life and decision [ making as well as the denial of their culture. Gender discrimination has either excluded or subordinated the nature of women's participation in all socio-economic and political institutions. Combined with apartheid, this has resulted in African women being the most exploited and poverty stricken section of the South African population. Both the political system of apartheid and the pattern of economic development in our country, have been responsible for these developments. The white minority have used their exclusive access to political and economic power to promote their own sectional interests at the expense of black people and the country's natural resources. Black people have been systematically excluded and disadvantaged economically with the result that South Africa has one of the most unequal patterns of income and wealth distribution in the world. Since the mid-1970s, the South African economy has stagnated. An average growth rate of 6% in the 1960s declined to 3% in the 1970s and is now below 1%. Unemployment is estimated at over 40% of the economically active population. For over forty years, economic strategy was based on expanding industry through the substitution of hitherto imported manufactured goods for the wealthy minority. There has also been an emphasis on strategic industries such as arms and petrochemicals. This led to the emergence of a significant manufacturing sector in our country, but one which is generally uncompetitive in terms of international costs and prices. The alienation of land from the indigenous people and the denial of the African majority's rights to land and political power in our country are intimately connected. The agricultural sector in South Africa is currently experiencing a deep crisis. Debt levels of white farmers have reached R14 billion. These problems have led to rapidly increasing unemployment and a serious decline in living standards. Our people remain divided. We do not know each other. We are prevented from developing a national vision, in terms of which, we would see our country through the eyes of all its citizens, and not just one group or another. We live apart, physically separated, spiritually alienated, frightened of getting too close, knowing that we have different life-chances and different views of what change means. We are ruled by a multiplicity of fragmented departments, boards, councils and ministries. Apartheid has left us apart. Policies for transformation In this context it is vital that the ANC develops a clear response. This response must be aimed both at establishing a new and democratic political dispensation that replaces the racist and undemocratic apartheid constitution and addresses the legacy of apartheid in the broader socio-economic sphere. This document is a direct response to the above challenges. It sets out for discussion a comprehensive set of guidelines highlighting the ANC's broad policy response to all the major areas of political, social and economic life. The document is structured so as to highlight the strong relationship between the creation of political democracy and social and economic transformation. It is critical, however, that we honestly face up to the extent of the problems confronting our country. They are not going to be solved overnight and there are no easy or quick solutions. The problems run deep and resources are limited. Accordingly, the policies proposed here represent our broad vision. These policies highlight, our ultimate goals, which will need to be transformed into effective and realisable programmes in the short-term. In other words, we will need to establish priorities both within each of the different policy areas and between these broad areas. These priorities must be arrived at through democratic discussions and decision making processes and we must establish just and efficient mechanisms for implementing these decisions. Progress will also depend on involving as many sections of our society as possible in finding solutions.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1992-04-27
- Authors: Policy Unit of the African National Congress
- Date: 1992-04-27
- Subjects: South Africa -- Politics and government -- 1989-1994 , Social planning -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: text , book
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/66055 , vital:28891
- Description: The basic objectives of ANC policy are threefold: * To overcome the legacy of inequality and injustice created by colonialism and apartheid, in a swift, progressive and principled way; * To develop an economy and state infrastructure that will progressively improve the quality of life of all South Africans; and, * To encourage the flourishing of the feeling that South Africa belongs to all who live in it, to promote a common loyalty to and pride in the country and to create a universal sense of freedom and security within its borders. These are not mutually exclusive goals. On the contrary, the future of our country depends on the harmonious and simultaneous realisation of all three. The advancement of the majority of people will, in the medium-and-long-term, release hitherto untapped and suppressed talents and energies that will both boost and diversify the economy. Developing the economy will, in turn, provide the basis for overcoming the divisions of the past without creating new ones. Finally, the achievement of a genuine sense of national unity depends on all of us working together to overcome the inequalities created by apartheid. The beacons guiding these advances are equal rights, nonracialism, non-sexism, democracy and mutual respect. A broad, inclusive approach, free of arrogance or complexes of superiority or inferiority, is fundamental. We have to develop a truly South African vision of our country, one undistorted by the prejudices and sectarianism that has guided viewpoints on race and gender, in the past. We have to rely on the wisdom, life experiences, talents and know-how of all South Africans, men and women. There can be no apartheid in finding solutions to the problems created by apartheid. This document does not present a rigid ANC blue-print for the future of South Africa, to which our supporters will be expected to rally and our opponents required to submit. Rather, the document represents a set of basic guidelines to policies we intend to pursue. These ideas will be developed through discussion within the ANC, and through consultation with the broadest spectrum of South African public opinion. The policies will be adapted according to these processes and on the basis of experience. Our problems run deep It is necessary to dwell on the problems which will be faced by the first government which is elected under a new democratic constitution. It will help create an understanding of the magnitude of the tasks involved in transforming our country into one where everyone can enjoy a reasonable standard of living combined with peace and security. It will underline the fact that there are choices to be made and priorities to be established. The nationalist government has pursued active political and social policies which, amongst others things, have led to: extreme levels of poverty and disease in the rural areas; the creation of urban ghettos where people have been denied access to even the most basic means of survival as a result of severely limited access to decent homes, electricity, water-borne sewerage, tarred roads, and recreational facilities; an education system preparing the majority of South Africans for lives of subordination and low income wage jobs; a social security system geared almost entirely to fulfilling the needs of the white minority; a health system that has seriously neglected the wellbeing of most South Africans; the social and political marginalisation of the majority of people, the African community in particular, their exclusion from public life and decision [ making as well as the denial of their culture. Gender discrimination has either excluded or subordinated the nature of women's participation in all socio-economic and political institutions. Combined with apartheid, this has resulted in African women being the most exploited and poverty stricken section of the South African population. Both the political system of apartheid and the pattern of economic development in our country, have been responsible for these developments. The white minority have used their exclusive access to political and economic power to promote their own sectional interests at the expense of black people and the country's natural resources. Black people have been systematically excluded and disadvantaged economically with the result that South Africa has one of the most unequal patterns of income and wealth distribution in the world. Since the mid-1970s, the South African economy has stagnated. An average growth rate of 6% in the 1960s declined to 3% in the 1970s and is now below 1%. Unemployment is estimated at over 40% of the economically active population. For over forty years, economic strategy was based on expanding industry through the substitution of hitherto imported manufactured goods for the wealthy minority. There has also been an emphasis on strategic industries such as arms and petrochemicals. This led to the emergence of a significant manufacturing sector in our country, but one which is generally uncompetitive in terms of international costs and prices. The alienation of land from the indigenous people and the denial of the African majority's rights to land and political power in our country are intimately connected. The agricultural sector in South Africa is currently experiencing a deep crisis. Debt levels of white farmers have reached R14 billion. These problems have led to rapidly increasing unemployment and a serious decline in living standards. Our people remain divided. We do not know each other. We are prevented from developing a national vision, in terms of which, we would see our country through the eyes of all its citizens, and not just one group or another. We live apart, physically separated, spiritually alienated, frightened of getting too close, knowing that we have different life-chances and different views of what change means. We are ruled by a multiplicity of fragmented departments, boards, councils and ministries. Apartheid has left us apart. Policies for transformation In this context it is vital that the ANC develops a clear response. This response must be aimed both at establishing a new and democratic political dispensation that replaces the racist and undemocratic apartheid constitution and addresses the legacy of apartheid in the broader socio-economic sphere. This document is a direct response to the above challenges. It sets out for discussion a comprehensive set of guidelines highlighting the ANC's broad policy response to all the major areas of political, social and economic life. The document is structured so as to highlight the strong relationship between the creation of political democracy and social and economic transformation. It is critical, however, that we honestly face up to the extent of the problems confronting our country. They are not going to be solved overnight and there are no easy or quick solutions. The problems run deep and resources are limited. Accordingly, the policies proposed here represent our broad vision. These policies highlight, our ultimate goals, which will need to be transformed into effective and realisable programmes in the short-term. In other words, we will need to establish priorities both within each of the different policy areas and between these broad areas. These priorities must be arrived at through democratic discussions and decision making processes and we must establish just and efficient mechanisms for implementing these decisions. Progress will also depend on involving as many sections of our society as possible in finding solutions.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1992-04-27
Workshop package on discussion document on economic policy
- ANC Department of Economic Policy
- Authors: ANC Department of Economic Policy
- Date: 1990?
- Subjects: South Africa -- Politics and government -- 1989-1994 , Social planning -- South Africa , South Africa -- Economic policy
- Language: English
- Type: text , book
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/66065 , vital:28896
- Description: This package was prepared by the ANC Department of Economic Policy to assist branches to discuss the discussion document on economic policy. It serves as a guide to discussion and is not a replacement for the document. The package contains ideas for inputs, illustrations and guide questions for discussions. The illustrations can be made into WALL CHARTS or TRANSPARENCIES and used with an overhead projector. We suggest that a group of people (the political education committee) come together to plan a workshop for branch members. Read both the package and the discussion document before planning. The ANC is in the process of setting up ANC Economic Associations in each region. If you need help, contact members of the Association through the regional office.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1990?
- Authors: ANC Department of Economic Policy
- Date: 1990?
- Subjects: South Africa -- Politics and government -- 1989-1994 , Social planning -- South Africa , South Africa -- Economic policy
- Language: English
- Type: text , book
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/66065 , vital:28896
- Description: This package was prepared by the ANC Department of Economic Policy to assist branches to discuss the discussion document on economic policy. It serves as a guide to discussion and is not a replacement for the document. The package contains ideas for inputs, illustrations and guide questions for discussions. The illustrations can be made into WALL CHARTS or TRANSPARENCIES and used with an overhead projector. We suggest that a group of people (the political education committee) come together to plan a workshop for branch members. Read both the package and the discussion document before planning. The ANC is in the process of setting up ANC Economic Associations in each region. If you need help, contact members of the Association through the regional office.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1990?
Conference for a democratic future
- Conference for A Democratic Future (CDF) Organising Committee
- Authors: Conference for A Democratic Future (CDF) Organising Committee
- Date: 1989-12
- Subjects: Anti-apartheid movements -- South Africa -- Congresses , Apartheid -- South Africa -- Congresses , National liberation movements -- South Africa -- Congresses , South Africa -- Politics and government -- Congresses , Democracy -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: text , book
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/66502 , vital:28956
- Description: This booklet is intended to serve as a report-back to those organisations which were party to the Conference for a Democratic Future (CDF) and to those who were unable to be present. It is also intended to act as a guide to action for 1990 and beyond. The CDF was a historic gathering of the forces for change represented by 4600 delegates from over 2100 organisations. These range form Bantustan parties on the one end of the political spectrum to ultra leftist groups on the other end. But perhaps the most significant presence was from organisations like Five Freedoms Forum, NAFCOC, the Hindu Seva Samaj, that of traditional leaders and the hundreds of other community organisations which are rapidly becoming an active component of the mass struggle for change. Also significant was the strong worker representation from a range of trade unions, including eight affiliates of NACTU whose leadership had turned down the invitation to be part of the Conference. The Conference for a Democratic Future was a major step in the overall process of building unity in action and maximising the isolation of the regime. It was, in this sense, not an isolated event. The year 1989 had taken unity in action to new heights with the Defiance Campaign and the mass marches. The process leading up to the CDF was intended td be more important then the Conference itself. Likewise, in the post-Conference period, the follow-up process should be given the importance it deserves. At the end of the day, it is this follow-up process which would determine the actual success or failure of the CDF exercise. The Declaration adopted at the Conference represents the strategic orientation of the broad forces for change. It calls for the intensification of the struggle and for the placing of the question of political power on the agenda of our united mass action. The Conference resolutions collectively contain the elements of a programme of action. Without exception, each resolution is a call to action. The task of all participants of the Conference is to translate these resolutions into Mass United Action. The adoption of the Harare Declaration should act as the starting point of a process which takes its content to the masses of our people in all comers of the country. The demand for the Constituent Assembly should become a popular demand of the people. By adopting the resolution on international pressure, the Conference sends an unambiguous signal to the world community on how the people of South Africa view their role in the struggle to end apartheid. The follow-up to the Conference should also be a continuing search for whatever common ground exists between the broad forces for change. This search must take place not only at a national level, but mere importantly at a regional and local level. Let us bear in mind the words of the Declaration: “The moral appeal of the Democratic Movement has never been greater”. by an MDM delegate on the CDF Convening Committee. , Includes the Harare Declaration: declaration of the OAU Ad-hoc Committee on Southern Africa on the Question of South Africa (Harare, Zimbabwe, August 21, 1989)
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1989-12
- Authors: Conference for A Democratic Future (CDF) Organising Committee
- Date: 1989-12
- Subjects: Anti-apartheid movements -- South Africa -- Congresses , Apartheid -- South Africa -- Congresses , National liberation movements -- South Africa -- Congresses , South Africa -- Politics and government -- Congresses , Democracy -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: text , book
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/66502 , vital:28956
- Description: This booklet is intended to serve as a report-back to those organisations which were party to the Conference for a Democratic Future (CDF) and to those who were unable to be present. It is also intended to act as a guide to action for 1990 and beyond. The CDF was a historic gathering of the forces for change represented by 4600 delegates from over 2100 organisations. These range form Bantustan parties on the one end of the political spectrum to ultra leftist groups on the other end. But perhaps the most significant presence was from organisations like Five Freedoms Forum, NAFCOC, the Hindu Seva Samaj, that of traditional leaders and the hundreds of other community organisations which are rapidly becoming an active component of the mass struggle for change. Also significant was the strong worker representation from a range of trade unions, including eight affiliates of NACTU whose leadership had turned down the invitation to be part of the Conference. The Conference for a Democratic Future was a major step in the overall process of building unity in action and maximising the isolation of the regime. It was, in this sense, not an isolated event. The year 1989 had taken unity in action to new heights with the Defiance Campaign and the mass marches. The process leading up to the CDF was intended td be more important then the Conference itself. Likewise, in the post-Conference period, the follow-up process should be given the importance it deserves. At the end of the day, it is this follow-up process which would determine the actual success or failure of the CDF exercise. The Declaration adopted at the Conference represents the strategic orientation of the broad forces for change. It calls for the intensification of the struggle and for the placing of the question of political power on the agenda of our united mass action. The Conference resolutions collectively contain the elements of a programme of action. Without exception, each resolution is a call to action. The task of all participants of the Conference is to translate these resolutions into Mass United Action. The adoption of the Harare Declaration should act as the starting point of a process which takes its content to the masses of our people in all comers of the country. The demand for the Constituent Assembly should become a popular demand of the people. By adopting the resolution on international pressure, the Conference sends an unambiguous signal to the world community on how the people of South Africa view their role in the struggle to end apartheid. The follow-up to the Conference should also be a continuing search for whatever common ground exists between the broad forces for change. This search must take place not only at a national level, but mere importantly at a regional and local level. Let us bear in mind the words of the Declaration: “The moral appeal of the Democratic Movement has never been greater”. by an MDM delegate on the CDF Convening Committee. , Includes the Harare Declaration: declaration of the OAU Ad-hoc Committee on Southern Africa on the Question of South Africa (Harare, Zimbabwe, August 21, 1989)
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1989-12
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