In terms of the party constitution the national conference is the "supreme ruling and controlling body" of the ANC, and determines it's policy and programme. The ANC's policy conference at the end of June 2007 prepared draft resolutions, which were then discussed at the party's national conference in December. The resolutions were finally ratified at a meeting of the ANC's National Executive Committee (NEC) over the weekend, and published on Monday.

Since 1998 the ANC president has had the power to appoint the party's candidates for premier and mayor. President Thabo Mbeki was accused of using this, and his other powers of appointment, to ‘reward his friends, and punish his enemies' and as an instrument through which he consolidated his control over party and state.

The resolution curtails these powers. It states that when choosing mayoral candidates members of the Regional Executive Committee (REC) should forward "not more than three names of cadres in order of priority" to the Provincial Executive Committee (PEC). The PEC will then make a final decision by choosing one of these names. At provincial government level the PEC should forward not more than three names to the NEC for consideration as candidates for premier. Again, the NEC will have to choose from one of these names. The "provincial leadership, especially Officials, should be afforded space to make an input" on the premier's appointment of MECs.

The conference resolved that the power of the president, premiers, and mayors to hire and fire their executives should be exercised "after consultation with the leadership of the organisation."

The resolution also calls for a strengthening of the National Deployment Committee in order to ensure that there is greater collective decision making and consultation "on deployment of cadres to senior positions of authority."

In an apparent reaction to Mbeki's efforts to secure a third term as ANC president the conference resolved that, "The ANC president shall be the candidate of the movement for President of the Republic. There is general agreement that the ANC President should serve no more than two terms of office."

The resolution states that the NEC must strengthen the Secretary General's Office "so that it can carry out overall co-ordination and organisational management of the entire movement."

Senior "deployed cadres in various centres of power" will be required to attend "political classes to understand the vision, programme and ethos of the movement." Elected leadership will also have to attend "compulsory political education classes."

On the question of funding, the conference decided that the ANC should "champion the introduction of a comprehensive system of public funding" for political parties and "civil society organisations."

It also calls for the establishment of an "effective regulatory architecture for private funding of political parties" and "civil society groups" as well. This is necessary, it states, "to enhance accountability and transparency to the citizenry."

The section on funding also calls on the incoming NEC to "urgently develop guidelines and policy on public and private funding, including how to regulate investment vehicles."

(Click here for an analysis of the resolutions on the media, the Scorpions, and the judiciary.)