By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Former ANC president Thabo Mbeki has called on the party to put renewal at the forefront of its policy agenda.
Mbeki was addressing an ANC election gathering in Parktown, Johannesburg,on Thursday, where he touched on the party’s manifesto which aims to attract voters ahead of the municipal elections on 1 November.
He said the ANC faced the challenge of leadership where it could not be fully confident of the leaders it put forward for people to support.
An example of how unconfident the party was of its leaders, it decided to involve communities in its candidate selection process for the 2021 elections.
The party has not undertaken public involvement before.
Mbeki said instead of this reflecting that the ANC was attempting to cushion its image, it reflected the party’s declining quality of leadership.
He quoted former ANC president Nelson Mandela’s 1997 speech which raised concerns about the impact of membership and careerism in the party.
Mbeki told hundreds of people gathered that the need for a social compact between government and business was contained in the ANC’s manifesto as the only measure that would address the lack of proper roads, sewerage, housing and jobs.
He added that the manifesto was calling on all social partners to work in unity to deliver services to South Africans.
According to Mbeki, local governments, especially small municipalities were unable to deliver basic services and it was therefore incumbent on the big players to do their part.
Mbeki added that in July last year, local businesses established a plan that would see them invest R1 trillion in the country’s economy as well as a contribution of R100 billion towards revenue.
“The business people also said that the government must contribute R2.4 trillion to reconstruction and recover the economy,” Mbeki said.
Mbeki maintained that President Cyril Ramaphosa also produced a reconstruction and economic recovery plan in October 2020 when he addressed the joint sitting of Parliament.
He said Ramaphosa’s plan was aimed at creating over 3.4 million jobs over the next 10 years and was also aimed at propelling the economy of the country at the growth rate of 3%.
Mbeki, however, indicated that Ramaphosa’s plan, though very positive in outlook, was unlikely to drastically reduce the high level of unemployment in the country.