ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula and spokesperson Mahlengi Bhengu-Motsiri addressed the media on the state of readiness for the 2019 Manifesto Review and the National Working Committee meeting that took place on August 28. Picture: ANC
The African National Congress (ANC) will hold its 2019 Manifesto Review this weekend in an effort to report back on its performance.
ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula addressed the media on the state of readiness for the 2019 Manifesto Review and the National Working Committee meeting that took place on August 28.
"We felt it is important to report back to the people about the performance of the ANC. We have not completed the term, but at the same time, we want to say what are the outstanding things and what are the obstacles we have to tackle going forward," Mbalula said.
The manifesto review, he said, aimed to achieve several objectives:
– demonstrate the ANC’s commitment to addressing its challenges and recognising its shortcomings
– rebuild trust between the ANC and society
– address critical issues such as service delivery issues, job creation, fight against crime, issues of corruption, and load shedding
– ways in which the party planned to accelerate job creation
"The manifesto demonstrates our willingness to listen to criticism and feedback and re-establish our connection with society. By doing so, we hope to improve our performance, refresh our mandate, and continue to work for our people," he said.
ANC President Cyril Ramaphosa is expected to deliver an address at the Dobsonville Stadium in Soweto this Sunday, marking the start of the ANC's 2019 Manifesto Review programme.
The manifesto review and report-back session will further be rolled out to different provinces as follows:
– Northern Cape on September 16
– Eastern Cape on September 16
– Free State on September 9
– Mpumalanga on September 16
– Limpopo on September 16
– Western Cape on September 16
– North West on September 23
– KwaZulu-Natal - to be confirmed
Reflecting on some of outcomes of the recent National Working Committee meeting, Mbalula said they received a report on Eskom’s issues and noted concerns about its privatisation "due to misinformation about the unbundling of Eskom into three public company utilities".
The NWC said it wanted to make it clear that all three public utilities will be owned by the State, with the generation utility competing against other producers to produce and sell power at competitive prices.
The transmission utility, he said, would enable competitive pricing of electricity for all producers, including private and public companies.
"This restructuring will systematically address power production constraints for South Africa, resulting in more independent power producers (IPPs) having equitable access to the transmission of their power production.
"All three utilities will be governed by the Labour Relations Act, the Companies Act, and the PFMA (Public Finance Management Act) to ensure workers’ interests are not negatively affected.
"These measures are designed to benefit all stakeholders and promote a more profitable and efficient energy sector," Mbalula said.
kailene.pillay@inl.co.za
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