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LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENTOnly a united ANC can meet the needs of the poorOur country has gone through eventful and puzzling fewdays. We have seen members of the ANC calling mediaconferences to outline problems they have with theorganisation or to announce their resignation from themovement.This has been carefully choreographed to give a picture ofa crippling crisis of sorts in the African NationalCongress.Granted, there have been organisational challenges withinthe ANC for years and we have never hidden this fact. Wehave acknowledged that the build up to the Polokwaneconference had been robust but also very bitter andpainful. Preferences for certain candidates were sopronounced that some members whose candidates were notelected at the conference might have felt that they havelost their home in the ANC. Such thinking is alien to themovement. The ANC belongs to all its members equally.Conference instructed the ANC leadership to engage membersin every Province in a process of organisational renewal,to heal the rifts and re-unite the organisation afterPolokwane. The difficulties in some of the Provinces pre-dated Polokwane, and had not been attended to over a periodof time. We had to revert to old tried and testedtraditions of the movement, to re-open the space forinternal debate which had been closed for years, so thatmembers could talk and help to heal the rifts.The National Working Committee have since January 2008 beenmeeting in various Provinces on Mondays to work with ourstructures to resolve differences and unite the ANC, inline with the 1912 mandate from the founding fathers andmothers of our movement.
 
It has been an uphill battle in some provinces due toentrenched positions as matters had been left unresolvedfor too long. It has been a difficult exercise also becauseit became clear that some of our senior members had decidedto challenge the authority of the new leadership, either ingovernment or in some structures of the organisation. Thedemocratic notion of accepting the choice of the majoritydespite one's own preferences appeared to have been thrownout of the window.We found ourselves with members who had dubious agendas andwho clearly did not want to be led. We are pleased thatthey have now come out into the open instead of operatingclandestinely within our structures. We urge others who areactively working behind the scenes to also declare theirintentions and allow the ANC to move forward in unity.It is interesting to note that such a challenge is nothingnew, judging by what our icon Isithwalandwe Nelson Mandelasaid during a Presidential address to the Transvaal ANCcongress in 1953 entitled: No Easy Walk toFreedom"."In Congress there are still many shady characters,political clowns, place-seekers, saboteurs, provocateurs,informers and policemen who masquerade as progressives butwho are in fact the bitterest enemies of our organisation.Outside appearances are highly deceptive and we cannotclassify these men by looking at their faces or bylistening to their sweet tongues or their vehement speechesdemanding immediate action. The friends of the people aredistinguishable by the ready and disciplined manner inwhich they rally behind their organisation and theirreadiness to sacrifice when the preservation of theorganisation has become a matter of life and death.Similarly, enemies and shady characters are detected by theextent to which they consistently attempt to wreck theorganisation by creating fratricidal strife, disseminatingconfusion and undermining and even opposing important plansof action to vitalise the organisation".
 
 We respect the right of anybody to form political partiesof their choice and to resign from the ANC. This is a freecountry and membership of the ANC is voluntary. No seriousliberation movement would allow factionalism within itsranks and permit people to undermine it openly from withinas this will halt the progress the ANC is making to speedup change in its effort to create a better life for all.That is why we have suspended factionalist members in orderto unite and refocus our organisation. It is only a strongand united ANC that can unite the nation to meets the needsof the poor. They factionalist members will undergodisciplinary processes as outlined in our ANC Constitution.We also have disgruntled members who are willing to workwith the leadership to resolve differences. These aremembers who joined the ANC not for leadership positions butbecause they believed in its values, policies, itsConstitution, proud history and traditions. These are thecadres and members of the ANC and who want it to succeed.We have a duty to listen to these members so that they canhelp us improve the way the ANC is run and to solve theoutstanding issues which cause concern. The NEC memberswill visit all parts of the country to meet with themembership and discuss the current situation and any otherissues.Some members may be angry at the recall of the formerPresident of the Republic in the same way that others werefurious with the dismissal of the former Deputy Presidentof the Republic in 2005. Others are angry about certaindecisions taken by local leadership. These are all some ofthe issues we must manage working together with ourmembership. It is all part of the culture of the ANC as itsmembers speak out when things go wrong, but within thediscipline of the organisation.
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