Johannesburg – Radical socio-economic transformation is taking centre stage once again for the African National Congress (ANC) as it said on Monday that it wanted to shift the economy by implementing pro-poor policies and make the state empower the disadvantaged instead of the rich.
This comes after the ANC held a three-day National Executive Committee (NEC) legkotla from Wednesday to Friday last week. The lekgotla called to deliberate on and outline the priority programmes of the ANC-led government for the current year was attended by members of the NEC, the leagues, alliance partners, veterans and government representatives.
In a post-NEC lekgotla media briefing on Monday, ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe said the lekgotla had identified various arms of the state for redistribution as the tools at the disposal of the developmental state to advance radical socioeconomic transformation.
These include the Constitution, legislation and regulations, licensing, BBEEE and transformation charters, the national budget and procurement, state-owned companies and development finance institutions, as well as government programmes.
"Economic growth, accelerated radical socio-economic transformation, land reform and redistribution, the funding of higher education, fighting crime and corruption as well as building the capacity of the state were identified as the key priorities of the ANC government for the current year," Mantashe said.
"Achieving this requires a fundamental shift from a pure capitalist state to a state-managed developmentalist economy underpinned by a developmental public service."
Mantashe said the ANC NEC lekgotla directed that these priorities must guide and inform the forthcoming government lekgotla. The ANC will hold its national elective conference from 16 to 20 December at a yet-to-be disclosed venue in Gauteng.