ANC's long-term strategy not clear as each party leader has own policy

08 March 2018 - 12:29
By Reader letter
Image: PHILLIP NOTHNAGEL/ DAILY DISPATCH

For the past 24 years that the ANC has been in power, it's been almost impossible to be certain what exactly is the ANC growth strategy. To be fair, the country has moved forward economically and it is evident that a lot of their policies have been implemented and have worked.

But my biggest concern is the lack of a long-term strategy aligned with the party vision and mission, not an individual-aligned policy. Former presidents Nelson Mandela gave us RDP, while Thabo Mbeki gave us Gear and Asgisa and Zuma had the NDP, although it is thin on implementation.

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And now Cyril Ramaphosa is talking about a new beginning and a 10-point plan for the country. It seems the party is more focused on individuals than the bigger picture. They hardly have concrete 10-year plans not aligned to the party president.

When Mbeki came, RDP was put aside for a more business friendly Gear, and later Asgisa. Then Zuma came and unleashed his then praise singers (Blade Nzimande, Zwelinzima Vavi and Julius Malema) to discredit Gear. After the 2007 ANC conference in Polokwane, the phrase "gear class of 96" was used loosely to refer to those who supported it. Now with Ramaphosa settling in at Mahlamba Ndlopfu it is not clear which policy direction he will take. Though he was NDP's chief architect, he hasn't really come out strongly in support of it.

Kiekie Mboweni, Nkowankowa