LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT
Register now to vote for a better life for all. This week we buried the mortal remains of one of the country's stalwarts in Comrade Billy Nair, and we will also be laying to rest two other outstanding veterans and stalwarts of our struggle in Professor Eskia Mphahlele, a world renowned author, educationist, intellectual and an African humanist, as well as Ma Vuyiswa "Tiny" Nokwe, a leader and the veteran of women's struggles in our country, and the wife of the late General Secretary of the ANC, Duma Nokwe. They all played a critical role in leading our country to where we are today. We salute them and pay our tributes and lasting respects to them, and wish to convey our condolences to their families and friends. The ANC has a history, a present and a future. Its history guides us and ensures that we do not go astray. Part of our history and tradition is the non-racial character of the ANC. Our non-racial character stems from the fact that we are an organisation that is deeply rooted in human rights, humanity and ubuntu. Our diversity defines our character and unifies us in a most unique way. In 1923 the ANC became the first political organisation on the continent to adopt a Bill of Rights. In 1943, the ANC adopted the African claims, a bill of rights which asserted the right of African people to self-determination and human rights. This Bill of Rights laid the basis for the development of the human rights perspectives in the liberation struggle. It created the condition for broadening the base of the liberation movement with the signing of a co-operation pact in 1947 between the ANC and the South African Indian Congress known as the Xuma-Dadoo-Naicker Pact, which eventually led to the formation of the Congress Alliance in the early 1950's. The principle of humanity and the non-racial character of the ANC informed the formation of the Congress Alliance that translated to the adoption of the Freedom Charter at the Congress of the People - at Kliptown in 1955. This was the first such fully representative gathering in the history of South Africa. The Freedom Charter became the cornerstone that guided the policy and practices, and the strategy and tactics of the ANC after its adoption and today still forms the core guiding principles of the ANC. The delegates that met at Kliptown responded with a call that "South Africa belongs to all who live in it, black and white, and that no government can justly claim authority unless it is based on the will of the people". The ANC will never stray from the culture and traditions of our movement. We confirm that we will continue to draw inspiration from the lessons gained from the lives of Comrades Walter Sisulu, Govan Mbeki, Joe Slovo, Beyers Naude, Braam Fischer, Chris Hani, Dorothy Nyembe, Florence Mophosho, Billy Nair and many others. In memory of these heroes of our struggle, we urge all ANC members to remain steadfast in the principles and traditions of the movement. They must not be swayed into negative action by the anger arising out of the new phenomenon of some ANC members who are calling a so-called convention to discuss the formation of a new political party. We wish the adventurists luck, and are pleased that many are coming out and are resigning from the ANC. We expect the convention to unmask many others who will hopefully also leave the ANC in peace without any further delay. The ANC lives, it leads, it is strong, and it will lead this country for decades to come, depending on the will of the people as expressed in the Freedom Charter. We remain unfazed by the occurrences of the past few weeks. The ANC is not for the faint-hearted. If it were, it would not have had leaders of the calibre of Comrades Albert Luthuli, Oliver Tambo and Nelson Mandela. In 2009 South Africans are going to vote in the democratic elections for the fourth time. These elections are essential for taking forward the ANC process of transformation. The ANC is on the ground mobilising people to register to vote in the coming elections. The ANC is the only party with a vision, plan and policies to ensure the creation of a better life for all. The record of this government is the record of the ANC. It has been able to maintain this role because of its democratic nature and practices and its ability to balance diverse views with united action. We should therefore celebrate the achievements of our fifteen years of freedom and democracy, and the opportunities it has provided for millions of our people. We are continuing with our programme of building and strengthening our structures. We will continue with the programme of unity, organisational renewal and action to heal the ANC. We are determined to build a caring ANC, and will listen and address the grievances of all members who wish to engage the movement constructively. We are also engaging our people and our outreach programme is giving the minority communities space to engage directly with the ANC. We also held a very successful alliance economic summit. The resolutions that came out the summit talk to intention of improving our ability to deliver. Giving content to the concept of a developmental state, we have come up with concrete proposals on the enhancement of planning, evaluation and monitoring capacity. Industrial and trade policy has been brought to the centre. Central to this shift is the emphasis put on creating decent work opportunities. This is in recognition of high unemployment, poverty and growing inequality being the pre-eminent problems in society today. The ANC will go to the electorate in 2009 to seek popular approval to implement the resolutions of its Polokwane conference on the steps needed to develop our country further to create decent jobs, to mobilise the resources and capabilities of the state, to stimulate higher levels of economic growth, and to tackle poverty. We will seek the electorate's approval of our assertion that education and health should be at the centre of the country's social-development programme for the next five years. It is an assertion that we need to make a concerted effort now to develop our human potential, developing the skills and creating the conditions for South Africans to respond to the needs of a changing society and world. This is central to improving the lives of all our people, and finally eradicating poverty and underdevelopment in our country. The ANC will seek a mandate to continue work to establish a comprehensive and sustainable social-security system that responds to the immediate needs of the poor, advancing from survival interventions to ones that enable the poor and vulnerable to enter the mainstream of economic activity. Agrarian reform and rural development have to focus on food production and food security. Complementing these efforts, the ANC will seek a mandate to intensify the fight against crime. Not only does crime undermine the right to life and dignity, it also weakens efforts to tackle poverty and grow the economy. The democratic breakthrough of 1994 placed the future of all South Africans in their own hands. By registering to vote, South Africans will have a say on their own future by determining the direction the country should take. The Independent Electoral Commission will open all its voting stations on the 8th - 9th November 2008. We appeal to all our members and to all patriotic South African citizens to go and register in their voting stations and to check their registration details. The voting stations will open from 08:00 to 17:00. The voter registration and checking of names in the voters' roll will continue in all municipal offices until the election date has been declared by the State President of the Republic South Africa. Have your say. Shape your future. Act now to make sure that you will be able to vote in the 2009 election. Jacob Zuma --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You are subscribed. This footer can help you. Please POST your comments to [email protected] or reply to this message. You can visit the group WEB SITE at http://groups.google.com/group/yclsa-eom-forum for different delivery options, pages, files and membership. To UNSUBSCRIBE, please email [EMAIL PROTECTED] . You don't have to put anything in the "Subject:" field. You don't have to put anything in the message part. All you have to do is to send an e-mail to this address (repeat): [EMAIL PROTECTED] . -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
