THE PEOPLE HAVE SPOKEN; NOW, LET US DO THINGS BETTER, FASTER AND DIFFERENTLY
May 11 2014
NEHAWU congratulates the African National Congress {ANC} on winning the 2014 national general elections. The ANC has received an overwhelming 62% majority victory, winning 249 out of 400 seats in the National Assembly and 276 out of 427 seats in the nine provincial legislatures. Thus, the movement has silenced its detractors and debunked the manufactured and self-deceptive narrative that dominates the public discourse.
The ANC has once again proven that it is a beacon of hope for the majority of our people. The immediate responsibility now is to unite the people of South Africa across racial, gender and class divides.
The movement should reflect on the outcomes of these elections and work hard to renew its internal systems and processes. It must deploy people in positions, whose integrity and passion to serve our country is unquestionable. We all need to do things better, faster and differently.
The biggest challenges facing the country like poverty, inequality and unemployment can only be resolved by committed, focused, selfless and disciplined cadres. The ANC and government should provide political and moral leadership to our society. They must act firm against corruption, maladministration and inept leadership across all levels of government.
The work to implement the manifesto should begin as soon as the national and provincial cabinets are established. The country does not have the luxury of time because the mandate from the people is clear. This decisive mandate ushers in the second phase of our democratic transition and the masses of our people want to see and experience a fundamental transformation of the economic and social structures of our society.
The people have endorsed the need for a radical second phase and are clear that they want a flexible monetary policy regime, aligned with the objectives of the second phase of transition and also a monetary policy that takes into account other objectives such as employment creation and economic growth.
The majority wants decent work and demand that the structures of production and ownership should be transformed. The people have endorsed the re-opening of the process of land restitution and the abolition of the "willing buyer and willing seller principle".
There are also lessons to be learnt from these elections. The ANCYL should be revived and the movement should deal decisively with ill-discipline and factionalism in its ranks in order to reclaim its historical character and traditions. It must restore its revolutionary and democratic principles such as collective leadership, criticism and self-criticism, democratic centralism, selflessness, humility, and revolutionary morality.
As well as steadily improving the lives of our people, the past 20 years have provided important lessons for this more than hundred year old movement and we are confident that it will not disappoint the millions of people, who have entrusted it with the future of the nation.
NEHAWU shall remain vigilant and will monitor the implementation of the ANC manifesto. We urge our members and public servants in general to roll up their sleeves in order to improve service delivery and build a better country for all.
Statement issued by NEHAWU, May 11 2014
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