When the question was put to me at a briefing to Sanef on August 14, I said the following: "A presentation on the National Development Plan was made to the plenary of the policy conference on the afternoon of June 26. The plan was not discussed in commissions because in the context of the ANC constitution, once proposals are put to commissions, the conclusions would be referred back to branches and the membership can amend or reject the proposals. After a national conference, such as the ANC will convene in Mangaung, such policy then becomes exclusive ANC policy."

The idea with the National Development Plan was always that it should have broad, national appeal and should be coherent. In its present form it certainly meets those criteria. If the plan were taken to ANC branches for detailed proposals, the resulting amendments could lead to complexities that might impact on the current balances and internal consistency. These facts are available officially from the ANC. My plea to Strydom is to stop propagating a falsehood that was first raised by the leader of a political party other than the ANC.