The ANC in the Western Cape is convinced the party will regain control of the province in 2014, saying it is more prepared than ever to take on the DA.
Songezo Mjongile, the party’s provincial secretary, said delegates who attended the ANC’s provincial general conference at the weekend have been given a “fresh mandate” to strengthen branches and “grow numbers” before the 2014 elections.
He said the movement was “more united than ever” in the Western Cape and “ready to take on Premier Helen Zille and her all-male cabinet” over the next year and a half.
“A mandate has been issued and we are ready. We will take back the Western Cape,” said Mjongile.
“The branch leaders and delegates have called for a renewal of the ANC in the Western Cape.
“There was a period of more than a decade, before the conference at which (Marius) Fransman was elected leader, during which factionalism and infighting was rife. This has all changed and members are working towards 2014. We will accept nothing less than a win.”
Fransman, the ANC’s provincial chairman, said the purpose of the provincial general council was to reflect on the party’s performance, assess its strategies and tactics and engage with its draft policies.
“The significance of the Western Cape is that it is the last outpost of conservatism, racism and backwardness, all of which is encapsulated in the DA, who are in control of the provincial and city administrations and many smaller towns,” Fransman said.
“That this is the case is not due to the DA’s strength or popularity. It is due to our own historical weaknesses and failures as an organisation since 2005 until 2011.
The sooner we come to grips with this reality, the sooner we can fix it and return the ANC to power in this province. Our strategy seeks to guide us in exactly that challenge.”
In an interview with the Cape Times as the ANC’s two-day provincial general council came to a close on Sunday, Fransman said regaining the Western Cape included reaching out to coloured people scarred by apartheid and recognising how Africans had been alienated in the Western Cape, said Fransman.
The ANC would open itself to all communities, particularly a “fragile” coloured community, and lead campaigns against the tot system, guns and drug abuse, he said.
The party would also take the lead in having the Khoi and San’s need for land placed before the provincial government, Fransman said.
Special attention would be given to limited services in poor areas, a high incidence of foetal alcohol syndrome and unacceptable school drop-out rates.
“We’ll unleash the biggest campaign around the dispossession of land. We’ll take up this issue and the issue of farm evictions right up to the MEC. We’ll go from farm to farm and area to area to speak to people,” Fransman told the Cape Times.
Closer relations would be forged with Muslims, he said.
“We recognise there are at least 1.3 million Muslims. It is very important to have a strong relationship, not for their voting, but because they were part of the fight for liberation,” said Fransman.
It was noted the provincial government had a “close” relationship with Israel while the plight of Palestinians was dear to local Muslims.
“We are concerned about this relationship with Israel,” he said. The provincial general council had decided to hold meetings “with a cross section of communities” on the matter.
Part of the ANC’s objective was strengthening itself at grassroots level.
“We’ve got to stop gatekeeping in the ANC. It is a demon which had let us down before.”
According to the Cape Times report, Fransman rejected a DA allegation that his party was behind violence during protests over services. He said recent protests in Grabouw, Bot River and elsewhere were related to land reform and, while there was enough state owned land available, the DA provincial government refused to acknowledge this.
“In other provinces the DA says violent protests are about real issues. But here they say it is ANC strategy.
“What nonsense. There are no proper services in places like Khayelitsha and Manenberg because the city budgets… not for poor areas.
“We’ve noticed the discontent among people. All ANC structures must go to battle, go to every household, every community and every area. We’ve stopped the fall and must now regain the 46 percent (ANC votes in the 2004 national elections). The DA is under pressure and makes more mistakes. The message to ANC members is “go to work and stay focused”, Fransman said.
Opening the conference on Saturday, ANC treasury-general Mathews Phosa also launched a full-scale attack on the DA, branding it a “racist party”.
He said the DA had “tried to steal the ANC’s identity” during last year’s local government elections.
“They almost said (Nelson) Mandela was their president,” Phosa said.
Cape Argus with additional reporting by the Cape Times