Despite the challenges, progress has been made, alliance partners tell ANC

Despite mounting challenges that threaten the ANC's return to power in the upcoming general elections, progress has been made by the party in fulfilling its mandate to South Africans, its alliance partners said on Saturday.

Breakaway parties, rampant capitalism, unemployment and load-shedding are some of the threats highlighted by the ANC's alliance partners at its 112th anniversary in Mbombela, Mpumalanga.

Cosatu president Zingiswa Losi said despite criticism, progress had been made by the ruling party.

“The challenges are many — from unemployment to load-shedding, the crises affecting Transnet, Prasa, other state-owned entities, municipalities, crime and corruption. It is therefore natural for people in this country and its workers to feel despondent, but we must be honest that there has been progress.”

However, despite the challenges, she maintains the liberation movement's historical status remains intact.

“No matter the challenges the ANC faces, its place in history as the leader of the struggle to free South Africa and build a nonracial, non-sexist democracy is assured. There is no political party in South Africa that can make this claim. Since they've come into office, the ANC has made many strides, breaking down the legacies of apartheid and colonialism and ensuring public services are made available to all communities.”

Losi called on President Cyril Ramaphosa and legislators to prioritise bills that cater for the expansion of the rights of workers.

“Progress is being made as alluded to in the NEC statement on the laws that are expanding the rights of workers, including the national health insurance and the Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Act, including the two-board pension system for workers that is being alluded to. Today 60% of all expenditure is spent on poor communities. Unemployment has been slashed by 5% over the past year. But there's still a lot to be done,” she said.

The Cosatu president called on Ramaphosa to roll out the infrastructure programme and fill vacant posts for public servants.

“We want you to make decisive intervention on the 36 municipalities that are failing to pay municipal workers what is due to them. We want you to rescue our state-owned entities. Let's deal with load-shedding. The ANC must heal the wounds experienced by public service when they were robbed of their 2018 resolution one-wage agreement. The reality is that owes workers, despite what the court says.

“We are not in alliance with the courts; we are in alliance with the ANC and we want you to come back to the table at the bargaining council and resolve the crisis that was created by government and the courts regarding public servants and their wages. We want you to improve the lives of farmworkers.”

Losi acknowledged much has been gained under the leadership of the ANC and that the ruling party is not perfect.

“It has made its mistakes but it has also worked over many years to champion and deliver working class demands. The ANC is the product of the workers' struggle, we dare not abandon it when the challenges facing workers are immense. We have resolved to mobilise workers in our numbers to ensure that the ANC is returned to office on election day and they continue to work to improve the lives of all South Africans.”

Solly Mapaila, general secretary of the SACP, hailed the ANC for its decision to refer Israel's alleged genocide against the Palestinian people to the International Court of Justice.

“As the SACP we support the Palestinian struggle for fundamental rights to freedom and self-determination and against apartheid Israeli occupation. We stand against imperialist forces led by America and European countries that support the Israeli regime to continue the oppression of Palestinian people,” he said.

Mapaila congratulated the ANC on its 112th anniversary but warned that the state and country is under threat of a counter revolution being “brewed from inside and outside the liberation movement.

“The outside threat comes from monopoly capital that seeks to maintain compatibility at all cost against the wellbeing of our people. The time has come for this revolution to no longer compromise and continue to guarantee profitability of capital at the expense of our people without reckoning with its own mortal demise or ultimate collapse in the revolution.

“The masses of our people are expecting too much from our liberation movement and its ideals and therefore we must stand with them and deal with populist forces who want to divide our movement and the direction of our revolution. 

“Through the ANC, the revolution in our government must temper with this continued profitability of capital and respond decisively to the needs of our people as a whole.”

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