Regional Office Bearers

REC Members

Our Deployees from the PEC

The Leagues,

Lekgotla Review

This year we held, and successfully concluded, our Lekgotla on a virtual platform as a response to the times we have been confronted with. I wish to thank you all for responding to this call, and further extend my gratitude for all the constructive inputs that have shaped the direction of the Lekgotla.

The COVID-19 pandemic has not only had a devastating effect on lives and livelihoods but has also radically changed the way we perform our socio-cultural activities. If times were simpler, we would be raising one another in song, chanting in unison to the songs that bind us together as comrades.

Nevertheless, comrades, we have made it this far; and most importantly, we have achieved this within a safe distance of one another. It is my hope that the tide of medical innovations will continue to be in our favor, and that we will go back to the glorious times of human contact and interaction.

Over the past four days, we have deliberated on how best to achieve the theme we adopted this year. Particularly the factors that would otherwise impede our realization of Unity, Renewal, & Reconstruction Towards a Decisive Victory in the Year of Charlotte Maxeke.

Charlotte Maxeke was a force of a woman who broke through incredible barriers at a time where women were expected to know “their place” in society. She was the first black woman in Southern Africa to obtain a Bachelor of Science degree in 1901. She was the only woman in the room in 1912 when the South African Native National Congress (now known as the ANC) was founded in Bloemfontein.

Not to mention in 1918 she was the initiator and the first President of the Bantu Women’s League. Her achievements not only lie in being a woman of many firsts but in ensuring that more women after her had a seat at the table and were part of the solution-driven ideas that our society so desperately needed at the time. In this way, she embodied the principles of Unity, Renewal & Reconstruction.

It is therefore fitting that we chose to commemorate and incorporate her principles in the year of elections.

Comrades,

On the first day of the Lekgotla, under the theme of Organisational Review, we received a political overview of the term.

The Lekgotla was reminded that in terms of long-term trends, we entered the 21st century with a number of key drivers of change continuing to shape our world as we know it today. These are technology and digital transformation, discoveries in medical science, movement of people, the shifts in global production, and human security threats such as climate change.

It was emphasized that Africa, and by extension, African cities, have the responsibility to be active participants in the midst of changing global opportunities and threats.

The discussion of the national balance of forces was followed by that of the local balances of forces. Both identified the 2016 wake-up call as an important factor that necessitates unity in the region. This setback taught us that we ought to individually and collectively, make it our mission to never repeat and see it our space again.

If we do not make it our mission to be united, coherent, and consistent, the setbacks of 2016 may be unavoidable.

Furthermore, in mapping the future of Johannesburg and its leadership dynamics, we spent the better part of Day 2 engaging robustly on the central theme of unity. Comrades were brutally honest with each other with the aim of strengthening the ANC. The session was that of criticism and self-criticism. We agreed that the unity of the ANC is sacrosanct and non-negotiable. We all agreed to work towards unity.

On the third day, under the banner of ‘strategy and tactics, the Lekgotla received Comrade Senzo Mchunu, who took us on a detailed discussion on gearing our minds up for elections as well as how we can begin to look at the project of organizational renewal. Various organizational issues were raised such as branch membership and the image of the party; issues which were clarified accordingly by the comrade.

We were encouraged by Comrade’s Senzo and the NEC comrades’ pride in us as a region for taking back our City from the anti-black and anti-poor Democratic Alliance. The unity with which we took back our City should be the same energy we channel into winning the upcoming elections decisively, comrades. We should not take our eyes off this goal.

The Regional Secretary’s Organizational Report showed the worrying state of branches zones, and revealed the frustrations emanating from the reconfiguration of wards. It is important comrades, that we clean up the issues in the zones speedily; this is a political as well as an organizational imperative.

The governance report sought to lay bare the governance achievements and challenges in the City of Johannesburg’s coalition-run municipality. Not only that but to highlight programmes in the ANC-led portfolios that can be used as so-called ‘quick wins’ to galvanize support and regain confidence in our communities.

The issues that emanated from here were the persistent challenges of unemployment, poverty, and inequality and the institutional capacity to respond to these challenges; the issue of youth entrepreneurship and making sure more young people have access and participate in the various municipal functions; and of course, the very important issue of accelerating the delivery of basic services in those municipal regions that need them the most.

Coalition governance issues were also raised. Here we spent a great deal of time unpacking the politics of the coalition, and the internal issues that confronted us and threatened to destabilize our strategic direction. The RS further unpacked some of these dynamics in the Assessment of the GLU presentation.

The outcomes of these discussions necessitate us to move in the direction of an outright majority victory in the upcoming local government elections. Therefore, we ought to use everything in our political might to ensure that we are seen, heard, and felt; and that our political and administrative reach is so pervasive that it translates to more votes.

Other issues worth mentioning that were raised as important additions to our state of governance were the pandemic of Gender-Based Violence and femicide. The Health & Social Development portfolio has promised us Shelter Activations as part of our developmental programs for the last few months of the term.

There was also the issue that brought forward food security and agricultural support for women, the stabilization of boards, and the various service delivery backlogs that permeate communities.

On the last day, we received a report on “ngomhla sibuyayo” by the Regional Secretary. The report provided us with a political strategy towards outright winning the upcoming elections. The report essentially supported the view that we ought to use all resources available to us to ensure victory. The victory not for us, but for the residents of Johannesburg who have been patiently waiting for the transformation we promised in 1994.

All of this is to say, comrades that we spent four days working on the building blocks for a decisive win in the upcoming elections. It is important that we use these blocks to rebuild ourselves internally too, instead of using them against one another. We also ought to channel our energies into rebuilding our zones, branches, and wards. Where opportunities are, we ought to unashamedly channel available resources for electoral growth.

Given the presentation by the Elections Head, we will undoubtedly have to build the capacity to launch a research-based, voter-focused campaign to coordinate our efforts to mobilize our people to the polls.

Equally, we must segregate our messages to appeal to various strata and sectors of society.

Johannesburg profile

In Johannesburg, the role of metropolitan local government has had to shift from the traditional role of local service delivery and administration to local socio-economic development. The City of Johannesburg’s spatial transformation agenda incorporating Corridors of Freedom is one approach that has a pivotal role in promoting labor absorbing growth as well as social and economic development.

This, coupled with the conceptual dimension of transformation encompasses the vision of a non-racial, non-sexist, democratic spatial order where different forms of geographic space, socialized through a specific configuration of social relations/experiences of work, residence, recreation, and cultural heritage, amongst others, are readily accessible to most citizens. Hence, the policy implications of such a ‘multihued’ understanding of social change need to be examined with special reference to what we can call post-post apartheid governance principles such as holism, capacity building, self-reliance, community integration, participatory democracy, and so forth.

In finding ways to bring about change in the present to avoid the past continuing in the future, there is a need to speed up change by considering appropriate interventions to advance the agenda of socio-economic transformation. The responsibility is thus to move beyond intentions – to articulating in clear terms what this post-apartheid period might yield, and what these programs and changes are that are needed. This also includes moving beyond discussing the need to transform the state, to actually leading a transformed state capable and with the capacity to drive this agenda.

Comrades, cities in all parts of the world are facing mounting challenges such as population shifts, water shortages, air pollution, inadequate or aging infrastructure, sprawl, the spread of informal settlements, and traffic congestion linked to the spread of the Covid-19 contagion. But our cities are also our best hope. They are also increasingly viewed as the best vehicles for achieving sustainability because they represent the public institution closest to the people and the problems facing them.

Meeting these mounting challenges and negotiating the path to sustainability in the coming decades will require significant advances in urban governance. The Joburg 2040 Growth and Development Strategy notes that “city strategies must navigate the uncomfortable tension between defining a chosen development growth path and accommodating uncertainty.”

The Politics of Unity

But none of this is possible without a unified leadership structure. In my political overview, I quoted Cde Makhura’s emphasis on the effects of disunity. Indeed, who benefits from divisions? Certainly not the electorate. Certainly not the Joburg residents who still await the transformation we promised in 1994. Certainly not the informal traders who were severely affected by the lockdown regulations, most of who are still waiting for City interventions. And certainly not us. Because of these comrades, we have no choice but to unite.

If there is a misdirection of energies on our part, let it not be because we were preoccupied with narrow, in-ward-looking issues that have absolutely nothing to do with what we promised the residents of Johannesburg.

When we agreed to be deployed of this glorious movement, we agreed to use everything at our disposal to realize our transformation agenda of 1994. When we then turn against this ideal by competing with one another essentially for scraps, we are betraying our mission and we are making the already ugly face of the ANC even uglier.

On coalition: As I highlighted in both my political and governance reports, political parties by their nature are created from a need to be in power. They wish to advance their interests on a broader scale, and the only way to do that is to garner as much support for these interests. This is no different from political parties in a coalition. The reports presented by myself and This is no different from political parties in a coalition. The reports presented by myself and the Regional Secretary have highlighted the ugly side of coalition governance in the City. But I implore us to look at the more strategic side: that coalitions are just but a bridge to reclaim power. And this should be our only focus going into the last push of the political term.

Fifty-two years ago, the National Executive Committee, at the Morogoro Conference highlighted the need for unity and accelerated change. This message still finds meaning today as we aim to create a democratic, united, non-racial, non-sexist, and prosperous South Africa batting through the toughest period in our history since democracy.

I as chair commit myself to continue to advocate and work for unity. The privilege given to us as regional and zonal leadership by branches and members should not be taken for granted. The privilege given by the ANC and the electorate to all employees in Council should not be taken for granted. In fact, should be respected. As it was said in the Lekgotla; this power and privilege are borrowed.

I for one do not take the responsibility given to me to shepherd and lead the City on behalf of the ANC to benefit our people for granted. I am fully aware that this responsibility is to take the ANC to electoral victory by acting in the interest of the residents of Johannesburg and nothing more. It branches who will determine whether the collective did a good job or not and the final arbiter will be the electorate.

No one should work against this mission, no matter what we think of each other, we need each other.

Keeping this in mind, we also need to always talk the truth; we should never overplay our roles in this revolution. The ANC has taught us humility. We should desist from saying untruths about one another and overplaying our roles.

In the elective conference, the ANC must be a winner, not Geoff, not Dada, or anyone else. If we take a different posture, posterity will judge us harshly. Future generations will emulate us, and the ANC will fall into a toxic downward spiral of infighting and narrow interests. Questioning, suspecting, and even contesting one another before correct times determined by the ANC is unhealthy and will further add to this downward spiral.

The lessons from the Western Cape shared by Comrade Rasool at the beginning of our term should serve as a wake-up call. The PEC’s growing internal disintegration, which was playing out in public, made it difficult for the comrades to perform their duties. As a result, the province, where the ANC support was already dwindling, is finding itself with an ideological vacuum. The promise of transformation will miss the people of the Western Cape, and their lives will remain unchanged.

The lesson here is that narrow factional infighting benefit no one. Except of course our enemies, who will use them to further their own political gains. In this way, we would be assisting them in this mission.

As we conclude this Lekgotla, we commit ourselves to unite our glorious movement. We note that as a divided organisation we will not be able to implement the adopted program of action.

We, therefore, declare that as delegates to the Lekgotla will spare no energy to implement our decisions. We will do that as a united and committed organisation to bring a radical socio-economic transformation to Johannesburg to create a better life for all in the year of Charlotte Maxeke.

Thanks to all the attendee’s

Thanks to the technical team

Thanks to the administrative team that put the Lekgotla together

Thanks to Cde Senzo Mchunu for the keynote

Thanks to Cde Mike Sutcliff

Pass gratitude to Cde Mohammed Dangor for facilitating a difficult session

I thank you, comrades.

I officially close the meeting.