UDM hails call for economic convention

Filomena Scalise

The ANC in KwaZulu-Natal's call for a national economic convention was welcomed by the United Democratic Movement on Tuesday.

“We urge other African National Congress provinces to support KwaZulu-Natal in its call for an economic Codesa,” party president Bantu Holomisa said.

The UDM had consistently called for an economic convention to end economic policy confusion by ensuring a core perspective on the kind of economic policies the country should pursue, he said in a statement.

Holomisa said the economic indaba should, among other things, assess the effectiveness of the African National Congress's economic policies since 1994 in dealing with the imbalances caused by apartheid.

“It also should establish the extent to which the political resolutions taken at Codesa in the 90s facilitate or hinder the economic emancipation of the previously disadvantaged communities.”

On Monday, ANC KwaZulu-Natal secretary Sihle Zikalala said in Durban: “We call for the government to convene a national convention on economic transformation, which should develop binding agreements and programmes on the comprehensive economic transformation.”

The convention would be like the Convention for a Democratic SA (Codesa), which brought together political parties and interest groups between 1990 and 1993 to negotiate a political solution for the country.

He said there was a need for the convention because certain sections of the private sector were resisting transformation.

“There are challenges which have hindered development,” Zikalala said.

“Among those are certain sections of the private sector whose interest is to continue to generate maximum interest and economic benefit through the exploitation of poor workers. This includes industries and those who own land,” he said. - Sapa