The Ideological Base Behind The Renewal Agenda – By Litha Khwalo

This ideological incoherence within the movement is resulting in the polarisation of society and the splintering of forces that were part of the democratic movement. The values and principles of the movement are being compromised, and no longer form the bedrock foundation of decisions. This ideological incoherence has had profound negative consequences on the NDR project of building a democratic state and transforming the economy. What is required is a strategic reassertion of the ANC’s ideological base at this juncture.

Organisational renewal is not only structural; its roots reside in ideology. Ideology informs the strategic objective of the organisation and the tactical approaches that are required.  In the past ten years, we have witnessed the rise of new dangerous tendencies that need reversing. These tendencies could emerge because we have deviated from our ideological base.

The one is a tendency of anti-intellectualism. The other, a related tendency, is that of populism.  These two tendencies have redefined the objectives of the South African revolution by misrepresenting our rich theoretical and historical positions, as demonstrated by recent pronouncements that the enemy of the revolution is white monopoly capital and that a “new class” of black bourgeoisie built around government tenders is a motive force.

In its extreme articulation, this view attacks constitutional institutions like the judiciary and institutions vital to our democracy like the media. These institutions are viewed as anti-transformational and serving the interests of white monopoly capital. On the other extreme we have a third ideological misnomer; that of being neo-liberal, anti-transformation, and denialist of the ANC’s historic mission to liberate the black working class, and Africans in particular, hiding behind the “broad church” thesis.

Poorly theorised and populist iterations are extremely dangerous at our current conjuncture. Those advancing the “anti-white monopoly capital” agenda feed a racist interpretation of the National Democratic Revolution (NDR). Those denying the impact of Apartheid and colonialism of a special type on our economy denounce the importance of deliberate interventions to diversify, expand and deracialise our economy.  The different positions articulated by the leadership of the movement on the role of the Reserve Bank and on the phenomenon of state capture reveal these ideological contradictions.  Both tendencies undermine capital accumulation and industrialisation, thereby impacting negatively on job creation and state revenue generation, and consequently on the ANC’s capacity to deliver a better life for all.

This ideological incoherence within the movement is resulting in the polarisation of society and the splintering of forces that were part of the democratic movement. The values and principles of the movement are being compromised, and no longer form the bedrock foundation of decisions. This ideological incoherence has had profound negative consequences on the NDR project of building a democratic state and transforming the economy. What is required is a strategic reassertion of the ANC’s ideological base at this juncture.

Ideological and policy positions of the ANC are not static and should not be treated as some religious dogma. They remain subject to intense debate and theorisation, always consistent with the values and principles of the movement. These ideological and policy positions are determined at constitutionally assigned conferences.  Policy conferences of the ANC usually take place at particular moments in history, and respond to particular ideological issues and organisational challenges. Recently, however, these conferences have become preoccupied with factional leadership contestation, rather than policy. And even where policy is discussed, it often mirrors factional divisions, with very weak theorisation and real ideological contestation. It becomes important that we draw on lessons from Morogoro.

Recalling Morogoro’s ideological base

The Morogoro Conference provided an ideological framework for understanding the national and class question in South Africa.  One of the key conferences that paid serious attention to the ideological questions confronting the South African revolution was the Morogoro Conference. We focus on this conference, not to minimise the contributions of other conferences such Lobashe, Kabwe and those held inside the country. But rather to reflect on the emerging ideological incoherence that is currently prevalent in the movement.

The conference of the ANC that took place in Morogoro in 1969 was a watershed that provided a clear ideological framework the National Democratic Revolution could be conceptualised and executed.  It closed a heated ideological battle that started with the Freedom Charter assertion that South Africa belongs to all who live in it, black and white.

The Strategy and Tactics document concluded that South Africa is best characterised by Colonialism of a Special Type and not the classical form of colonialism where the coloniser is linked practically to the host colonial country. It is special in that the coloniser and colonised reside in the same space but with unequal access to political and economic power. Morogoro resolved that ours is fore-mostly a national democratic revolution and not a direct socialist revolution due to the primacy of the national question. The creation of a non-racial and democratic society remains the core objective of the current phase of our revolution.

The Strategy and Tactics document provided an ideological framework for understanding the relationship between the class and national question in the South African context. It asserted the centrality of the African working class in the leadership of the revolution based on the realisation that the Apartheid system was sustained through cheap migrant labor. The Strategy and Tactics adopted in Morogoro recognised in its analysis of the national and class question that the African majority is the most oppressed, but not a homogeneous class.

Africans, while largely constituted by the poor and working class, is also comprised of an aspirant bourgeoisie in the form of small traders and middle class. Africans and Blacks in general had an immediate common challenge of being excluded from the political and economic system of the country.

The primary objective of the national democratic revolution at the time was the creation of a non-racial and democratic society. It was only through the achievement of this objective that the foundation could be laid for dealing with class contradictions in society. This task was that of the South African Communist Party as the political home of the working class. This implied that an Alliance led by the ANC was required for the objectives of the national democratic revolution to be achieved, with the immediate objective being the creation of a non-racial and democratic society.

The articulation of the NDR implied that the membership of the ANC had to be opened to all races and non-racialism became a principle for mobilisation and participation in the struggle.  The adoption of non-racialism as a principle meant also that the various congresses that existed prior to its banning had to be liquidated. This included the Indian Congress, Colored Congress and the Congress of Democrats (which used to cater for white activists).

It is important to set out clearly the implications of the Strategy and Tactics as adopted by the Morogoro conference. The ANC placed the interests and material conditions of the African masses and blacks in general as the centerpieces of our organisational and campaigning strategy. At the same time, the ANC resolved to mobilise along non-racial lines to forge a broad coalition of forces to isolate and overthrow the apartheid state.

In this sense, the NDR represents a minimum programme around which the forces of national liberation could be mobilised on non-racial lines. It meant the resources and emphasis had to be placed on mobilisation and organisation of the African working class and blacks in general to swell the ranks of the ANC. Strengthening the South African Congress of Trade Unions (SACTU) and other sectoral organisations such as student, youth and religious organisations were prioritised as part of the broader strategy of executing the NDR.

Ideological coherence of the ANC: challenges and implications

We revisit the Morogoro Strategy and Tactics document because of the challenges facing the ANC today.  And to show the disjuncture between current tendencies in the movement and our historic principles and values. We have witnessed, especially since the 2007 Polokwane conference, a significant decline in ideological coherence of the ANC. This deterioration is manifesting itself in the political articulation and responses to a number of developments taking place in our country. Three features stand out.

1. Non-racialism is increasingly being de-emphasised as a core component of our strategy. The ANC is losing its hegemony and appeal to various sections of society along non-racial lines. Addressing the material conditions faced by the African majority does not imply the alienation of the non-racial character of our struggle. The task of the ANC in mobilising society along non-racial lines changes the material conditions of the oppressed black majority on a sustainable basis.
2. The African working class as a motive force is increasingly being de-emphasised, with the interests of a new parasitic bourgeoisie gaining prominence especially over the past decade. This class – in essence non-productive and non-innovative – accumulates capital through access to state power and resources, and in a very direct sense competes with the working class as state resources are redirected away from social wage spending.
3. The capacity of the ANC to play the vanguard role of the NDR has increasingly diminished as political patronage tied to the new parasitic bourgeoisie drives factionalism and division in the movement. Closely associated with these networks of political patronage is the emergence of provincial and regional leaders, who wield increased influence at ANC conferences. ANC conferences at all levels have become more about factional contestation than about defining strategy and tactics to execute the NDR.  This has been reinforced by recent tendencies of anti-intellectualism and populism within the movement.

As the struggle for liberation intensified, the ANC developed capacity and sophisticated its revolutionary tools of analysis to differentiate between an ideological tendency and a coherent revolutionary framework. Today the ANC is losing this strength that was premised on its vanguard role and superior ideological logic. Tendencies are becoming embedded and entrenched in the movement and society.

There are two principal tendencies that must be characterised as such instead of presenting them as genuine ideological perspectives.  The first tendency that the movement must deal with has a fundamentally flawed understanding of the both the national and class question. It seems to assume that the behavior of the capitalist class can be differentiated according to race. Black capitalists are supposed to be inherently progressive and not profit maximising. Whereas white capitalists are supposed to be reactionary and greedy. All capitalists irrespective of race want to maximise profits at the expense of the welfare of workers.

This tendency further confuses issues by arguing that there is something known as white monopoly capital. Capital in South Africa is dominated by white males and therefore needs to be diversified to include blacks and Africans in particular.  Even when it is diversified to include blacks and Africans it (capital) will seek to exploit workers and make super profits.

Monopoly behavior has no race. Monopoly behavior refers to a behavior where 1 or 2 firms create barriers to entry using market power and pricing tactics to collapse small firms. This behavior has no colour and is a logical development of capitalism where prices can be set at artificially low levels to ensure that new firms become unviable and collapse. Once the new firms have collapsed, they revert back to the normal market prices. They are able to exercise this power because of their market power and control of the full value chain.

The second tendency presents itself as the moral superiors and custodians of a clean governance. This tendency rides on the recent past where corruption was starting to be endemic in government and in some sections of the private sector. Genuine concerns about corruption were packaged to bolster this tendency. The core mobilising strategy of this tendency is its preoccupation with personality cults where some leaders of the movement are isolated and pitted against others on the basis of moral bankruptcy and superiority.

Fundamentally this tendency seeks to protect backward and feudalist rent-seeking behavior of some sections of capital who refuse to engage genuine productive activity in the economy. Typically, they would like to make super-profits through rent seeking behavior with minimal investment in the economy. Another key trait associated with this tendency is being fundamentally opposed to the transformation of the economy and the diversification of its ownership.

This dangerous tendency does not recognise that colonialism over centuries produced a socio-economy outcome of a massive and unsustainable under-class. The under-class in this context refers to the millions of unemployed youth, the lumpen proletariat and semi-peasantry. Failure to deal with the under-class through their participation in the labour market and the economy in general poses a real danger of South Africa becoming a failed state. The under-class will target the State and its organs as part of its revolt. The ANC must defeat this tendency by developing a coherence strategy of affirming the under-class in the economy through a coherent macroeconomic framework.

Conclusion

Populism and anti-intellectualism are uncharacteristic of the policy thrust of the ANC as particularly defined at Morogo and reaffirmed at consequent national conferences.  It provides a racist interpretation of the NDR and it justifies the creation of a parasitic, compradorial bourgeoisie that does not contribute to expanding the productive capacity of the country’s economy.  Likewise, the candid superiority of those who deem themselves champions of clean governance while wishing to retain historical structural capitalist patterns cannot be tolerated.

If the organisation and its leadership does not intervene, and root out these tendencies they have the potential of further polarising the organisation and society more generally. The consequence of this polarisation pose a risk of our country becoming a failed state as the tendencies harden and find root in the various organs of state and society. It is imperative that the organisational renewal process includes a restoration of our ideological base. Now more than ever, South Africa needs a united ANC that espouses integrity and is capable of championing its historic mission of advancing the creation of a non-racial, non-sexist, united democratic South Africa in which the African working class is its key motive force.