Introduction

This year, 2021, has been declared the year of unity, renewal and reconstruction in honour of our struggle icon Mme Charlotte Maxeke. As we draw inspiration from the founding icons of our movement like her, we are faced with the massive task of preserving and renew- ing the African National Congress such that it lives and leads beyond our lifetime. In order to drive this renewal program, we have to revisit our founding values and principles. The subsequent paragraphs represent an attempt to unpack the concept of democratic centralism, discuss its utility and limitations, its history and future as well as propose that if correctly understood and applied, it can help us to begin to renew the culture and traditions that have preserved the ANC for the past 109 years.

The concept of Democratic centralism is a ubiquitous phrase in the daily vocabulary of ANC members, yet it is also often misunderstood. Some interpret it as meaning only that the “majority rules” while others interpret it to mean that decisions of higher structures are binding under all circumstances and without questioning by lower structures. In extreme situations, some in higher structures may pursue actions that are counter-intuitive to a healthy internal democracy wrongly believing that such actions or decisions are consistent with democratic centralism. On the other hand, many liberal commentators have either inadvertently or mischievously gone on to provide a “dictatorial” meaning to this concept and to associate it with a lack of internal democracy (Gumede, 2005).

This necessitates a continuous reflection of the true meaning of the concept and how the ANC as a unitary organization with multiple horizontal and vertical structures and a vibrant internal democracy has used democratic centralism to guide its political and ideological operations over the years of its existence. Moreover, how can democratic centralism – properly implemented in its truest sense- help us reorientate the African National Congress and bring about unity in action while promoting diversity of perspectives and robust debates?

Defining and locating democratic centralism within a historical context

Democratic centralism is better explained by the principles underpinning its application, namely that firstly, decisions of the majority shall prevail. Secondly, decisions of higher structures are binding to the lower structures and thirdly, that elected leaders will be responsible and accountable in the exercise of their power (Lenin, 1921). In terms of this definition, which is consistent with the ANC’s approach, all members have an opportunity to freely debate all matters and decisions before they are adopted as policy and resolutions(ANC, 2005).

Once the majority adopts these positions, everyone is bound by them and is expected to support the decisions and not define themselves outside of the party line. Furthermore, the decisions of higher structures are binding on lower structures, meaning that decisions of the National Conference are binding on the NEC and all other structures. Decisions of the NEC in between conferences are binding on all other structures and so on and so forth. All this takes place within a broader framework of accountability and free debate, where every member has sufficient opportunity to canvass for their views before decisions are taken.

The concept of democratic centralism is closely associated with Vladimir Lenin and can be traced from the efforts of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union at countering factionalism.

Whereas the pamphlet What is To be Done? (Lenin 1902) Is widely treated as the basis of Democratic centralism,

On Party Unity (Lenin,1921) more practically outlines the prevailing conditions impacting on Party unity at the time and resolves on measures to combat the emergent tendencies of that time by applying what the document does not expressly describe as Democratic Centralism: effectively giving a binding force to decisions of higher structures while entrenching a culture of free debate within the structures.

Democratic Centralism cannot be properly understood as a static device independent of historical circumstances ( Von Beyme,1975). In its earlier formulations, it was necessitated by conditions of factionalism and infiltration in the Party, both in the Soviet Union and in China. It became necessary to centralize decision making, as a mechanism to both take decisions quickly and to close ranks against opportunistic and divisive tendencies. On the other hand, to democratize sufficiently to allow for participation. It is reported that the division between the Mensheviks and the Bolsheviks was also aided by their differences on the extent to which decision-making could be centralised or democratized (Schapiro, 1959). Ultimately, on July 26, 1917, Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party resolved as follows (Nogee,1972) :

• All directing bodies of the Party, from top to bottom, shall be
• Party bodies shall give periodical accounts of their activities to their respective Party
• There shall be strict Party discipline and the subordination of the minority to the
• All decisions of higher bodies shall be absolutely binding on lower bodies and on all Party members

By the late 70’s the practice of democratic centralism had been integrated into the workings of the State in the Soviet Union and the Constitution itself stated that “the state is organized and functions on the principle of democratic centralism, namely the electiveness of all bodies of state authority from the lowest to the highest, their account- ability to the people, and the obligation of lower bodies to observe the decisions of higher ones” ( Sorokowsky,1978).

The ANC’s democratic centralism in theory How is the concept understood articulated today in the ANC? How does it find expression in the organization’s Constitution? In Rule 3 of the ANC Constitution, the Character of the ANC is also described thus: “ Its policies are determined by the membership and its leadership is accountable to the membership in terms of the procedures laid down in this Constitution” (ANC,2017) In Rule 4, the oath taken by all members states that:

“ I… solemnly declare that I will abide by the aims and objectives of the African National Congress as set out in the Constitution, the Freedom Charter, and other duly adopted policy positions, that I am joining the Organisation voluntarily and without motives of material advantage or personal gain, that I agree to respect the Constitution and the structures …”( ANC,2017). In Rule 5, members of the ANC have a right, on the one hand, to “ Take a full and active part in the discussion, formulation, and implementation of the policies of the ANC;” as well as “offer constructive criticism of any member, official, policy program or activity of the ANC within its structures;”(ANC,2017). On the other hand, members also have a to “Observe discipline, behave honestly and carry out loyally the decisions of the majority and decisions of higher bodies;”

The ANC’s democratic centralism in practice Firstly, there are those who may feel that the concept of democratic centralism makes it possible for the organisation to adopt a top-down leadership approach where members are merely passive implementors of the decisions taken by the top leadership (Gumede, 2005). However, the ANC, in its conceptualization of Democratic Centralism, adopted a contextual approach, which means that all other principles such as collective leadership, consultation, criticism, and self-criticism are to operate alongside the requirement that majority decisions, as well as those of higher structures, are to be binding.

I propose that the questions we should all be asking are; does the ANC in practice represent in its different structures a culture of open and robust debate? Are members empowered sufficiently to contribute to both strategic and tactical matters the movement has to make decisions on from time to time? What is the implication of the real or

perceived low levels of political education on the capability of ANC members to meaningfully participate in decision-making processes? If indeed the diagnosis stated in successive documents on an organizational renewal is a true reflection of our subjective conditions, does this not complicate the application of democratic centralism by leaving the basic units of the movement out of depth?

Secondly, there are those who may feel that they require that decisions of the majority are binding can stifle debate and lead to the dictatorship of the majority in our structures. Where those who enjoy popular support can pass motions without thorough assessment and debate. Again here I propose that the thinking of the ANC was not to create conditions where decisions are taken arbitrarily through the force of numbers. The principle of free debate and unity in action is precisely designed to encourage internal debate where the best ideas can be adopted even if they were initially supported by a minority. This is arguably one of the greatest tests of the maturity of our internal democracy- where we can move beyond the idea that any decision can be taken, despite its political appropriateness, so long as it enjoys popular support.

Even Lenin, a proponent of the democratic centralist model of organizing sponsored a decision of the Party in 1905 which effectively gave those in the minority what was called “the unconditional right, guaranteed by the Party Rules, to advocate their views and to carry on an ideo- logical struggle”. Similarly in China, the Party statutes of 1973 did allow members to hold dissenting views and appeal to higher structures right up until the Central Committee ( Der Ex, 1973), Of course, the ANC position is that the minority views will be subordinated to the majority views post the consultation and debate processes – but this is just to emphasize that the subordination of minority under majority was never designed in the spirit of stifling debate. The ANC’s approach to democratic centralism is essentially about ensuring that free debate and discussion occur before a decision is made, followed by unity in action.

Conclusion

ANC members are expected to abide not only by the aims and objectives of the African National Congress as set out in the Constitution and the Freedom Charter but also all “other duly adopted policy positions”. It is stated in its Strategy and Tactics document that the ANC should exercise maximum political discipline among its members, and ensure that, after ideas have been exchanged and decisions are taken, all its structures and members pursue the same goal In all areas, including parliament and the executive. ANC members, leaders, and public representatives, having explored all internal channels and debated issues sufficiently, must fulfill the prevailing party line. They should account for the ANC and seek its broad guidance. As a matter of political principle, and in our structures and our style of operation, we proceed always from the premise that there is one ANC, irrespective of the many and varied sectors in which cadres are deployed ( ANC, 1997).

Our understanding of the relationship between democracy and centralism and a consistent application of these in a balanced manner will help us be and appear to be coherent across all our structures. If we revisit and internalize the concept of democratic centralism will not contradict one another on policy matters whose appropriate platforms remain the internal fora and not the mainstream and alternative media platforms to which we have turned lately. An ideal sequence of debates and discussions should be first horizontally at the basic unit which is the branch and then vertically along with the structures right up until our National Policy and Elective conferences ( such conferences should ideally be festivals of ideas and sites for ideological work, factories for producing coherent strategies and tactics required to navigate any given epoch in our journey to a national democratic society).

This coherence and adherence to party line per democratic centralism will however require certain preconditions. Firstly, members of the ANC ought to be sufficiently empowered through political education and training to be able to meaningfully participate in policy debates and hold leaders accountable. Secondly, structures from branch to the highest should be in good standing both in terms of minimum subscription and programs, so that power is evenly distributed between lower and higher structures. Thirdly, there has to be a consistent and uniform mechanism for consequence management so that situations, whereby the organisation is brought into disrepute by comrades defining themselves outside the party line even after all channels have been exhausted, can be remedied.

“This necessitates a continuous reflection on the true meaning of the concept and how the ANC as a unitary organization with multiple horizontal and vertical structures and a vibrant internal democracy has used democratic centralism to guide its political and ideological operations over the years of its existence. Moreover, how can democratic centralism – properly implemented in its truest sense- help us reorientate the African National Congress and bring about unity in action while promoting diversity of perspectives and robust debates?

This coherence and adherence to party line per democratic centralism will however require certain preconditions. Firstly, members of the ANC ought to be sufficiently empowered through political education and training to be able to meaningfully participate in policy debates and hold leaders accountable.