ANC Today
*ANC Political School kick-off* *Fébé Potgieter-Gqubule, ANC Today, 4 June 2010* Febe Potgieter-GqubuleThe ANC resolution on founding a Political School dates back twenty-five years ago. As a recommendation from the Commission on Cadre policy and ideological training, it was adopted by the Kabwe National Consultative Conference of 1985 and reaffirmed in subsequent national conferences.
The Kabwe commission talked about the Political School in the overall context of a cadre policy, which it contended consists of five components: recruitment, political education and training, deployment and redeployment, promotion and accountability and cadre preservation.
The Political School is seen as part of rolling out political education programmes, which should include political, ideological, academic and moral training. Political education must thus enable ANC members and cadres to be organisers and exercise leadership wherever they find themselves, in the interest of liberation and transformation. In addition, political education and training must inculcate ANC values, including the primacy of service to the people, raise political consciousness and contribute to ongoing ideological renewal of the movement.
The 52nd National Conference in Polokwane in 2007 took the Political School concept forward, by urging the National Executive Committee to regard its establishment as 'amongst the organizational priorities' leading up to 2012. It further called for the institutionalization of the Political school.
*Institutionalising the Political school*Since Polokwane, the NEC Political Education Committee, chaired by Cde Tony Yengeni, has spearheaded a two-pronged approach towards the institutionalization of the Political School. Firstly, it has initiated the process of setting up an ANC Political School as an institution - with a permanent location in the Free State. This project is in its first phase, and will take 3-5 years to complete.
The second approach is to develop a national ANC Core Curriculum, which can be implemented through different methods of delivery and adapted for different layers of the organization. The core curriculum outline was adopted at a national political education breakaway session in October 2009 and consists of ten modules: history; tools of analysis; economics; theories of development; organizational theory and practice; the state, governance and constitutionalism; African and international relations; and revolutionary ethics. A curriculum committee was established, responsible for the development of these modules.
*History module kick-off, 17-21 May 2010*In May 2010 over seventy-five (75) carefully selected cadres from all nine provinces gathered in Johannesburg for a weeklong course on the History module. This Political school course was opened by Deputy President Kgaleme Motlanthe, who emphasized the importance of politics and political consciousness as part of the organizational renewal of the movement. Political consciousness, he said, "is the ability as activists and leaders to always make the link between what we say or do, and the possible consequences thereof."
Historian Luli Callinicos introduced the importance of history, quoting late President OR Tambo when he said in 1981: "For the revolutionary movement, anniversaries cannot only celebrate the past. We must recall and acclaim our history, but more importantly, we must use the past to arm ourselves for the future: to learn lessons and to strengthen our resolve and commitment."
The ANC History module is therefore aimed at tracing present-day ANC policies in their historical context; tracing how society, organizational approaches and values evolved over time and to ensure that cadres grasp the concept of "agency" in history, what she calls "the resourceful and creative capacity of men and women to bring about social transformation." Thus, the module further seeks to develop cadres grasp of theories and concepts to better engage with policy debates and to enlarge perspectives beyond the current and national issues we deal with today. It does this by cultivating a culture of reading and critical thinking, and the ability to understand, evaluate and therefore analyse different arguments and perspectives.
During the week-long Political school course, the seventy-five participants engaged with South Africa's pre-colonial history, colonialism and the trans-Atlantic slave trade, the struggles against it and the processes leading up to the Union of South Africa Act of 1910. This was followed by an in-dept expose by Cde Thabang Makwetla on the background and context of the formation of the ANC in 1912.
Presentations on the different historical periods provided in-depth analysis on key developments of the time, but also first-hand accounts by participants in these historical events. Thus, political educators had the privilege to listen to Mam Bertha Gxowa on organizing women in the 1950's; to Cde Squire Henry Makgothi on the establishment of the ANC as an exiled movement; and to comrades Zweli Sizane on the 1976 generation of Soweto; to Paul Langa on the experiences of prison; Jessie Duarte on the formation of the United Democratic Front (UDF) and Enoch Godongwane on the formation of Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) in the 1980's; to Valli Moosa on the Convention for Democratic South Africa (CODESA) and the negotiations of early 1990's, and finally Cde Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma on the aftermath of the negotiations.
The rather packed programme also included presentations by Ditsela Workers Education College on the early history of the trade union movement; by Cde Malusi Gigaba on the formation of the ANC Youth League in the 1940's and Cde Jeff Radebe on key apartheid laws and policies. Delegates were also able to engage in the debate on the Freedom Charter clause on 'the mineral wealth beneath the soil', at a seminar held during one of their free evenings. The panel at the seminar consisted of Comrades Joel Netshitenzhe, Floyd Shivambu (ANC Youth League) and Madoda Sambatha of National Union of Mineworkers (NUM).
*Way forward and evaluation*All participants agreed that the week was a worthwhile experience and armed them to take the programme to their different provinces. Gauteng, Free State and KwaZulu-Natal have already started their provincial political schools, and will use the History module training to build on this. During June-July 2010, Limpopo, Eastern Cape, Mpumalanga and Northern Cape will be assisted to start their provincial schools, with training of provincial political educator teams.
All participants are looking forward to the next Political school, which will be from 26-30 July 2010 and will focus on the modules on Tools of analysis and the Theory and practice of organization.
*Learning from history*Participants and facilitators alike were mindful that the Political school builds on a long tradition of political education and consciousness-raising in the country, dating back to the night schools and classes ran by the unions, South African Communist Party (SACP), the ANC and other organisations throughout the twentieth century. It further builds on traditions of adult education, with its methodology that must of necessity include learning from own experience, exposure to new information, analyzing and thinking about new information and applying the knowledge in concrete situations.
All in all, the whistle has blown and the Political school has left the tracks!
*From: http://www.anc.org.za/ancdocs/anctoday/2010/at20.htm#art3* * * -- 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] .
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