Statement of the ANC National Working Committee

The ANC National Working Committee (NWC) met at Chief Albert Luthuli House in Johannesburg yesterday (10 November 2008).

The NWC received a report on progress towards the development of the ANC's 2009 election manifesto. This is a thorough consultative process that will include a Manifesto Policy Conference of ANC structures on 28-30 November.

To ensure broader participation, the ANC will this week launch a popular campaign that invites members of the public to make suggestions as to what should be in the ANC's manifesto.

The NWC observed that the process to select the ANC's candidates for next year's election is underway and branches have been directed to start the process of making nominations.

The branch nominations will go to Provincial List Conferences, which must be completed by 7 December.

The national list conference will be held on 13-14 December.

With regard to the attempt of a group led by Mbhazima Shilowa and Mosiuoa Lekota to call themselves 'Congress of the People', the NWC decided that the ANC has a responsibility to protect the history of the organisation.

The ANC will therefore oppose any attempt by any persons to appropriate the political heritage of the ANC to advance their own political ambitions.

The Congress of the People in 1955 was the result of a call by Professor ZK Matthews, a stalwart of the ANC and President of the ANC in the Cape province.

The Congress of the People was where the Freedom Charter was adopted after ANC volunteers - together with volunteers from the South African Indian Congress, the Congress of Democrats and the Coloured Peoples Congress - had collected and collated the views of thousands of South Africans.

The ANC adopted the Freedom Charter at its own national conference as the central vision of the movement for a democratic society.

The Congress of the People is an important and iconic event in the life of the ANC. The treason charges brought against ANC leaders in 1956 derived from the decisions taken at the Congress of the People.

The current ANC generation has a responsibility to history, and to future generations, to preserve the symbols and political heritage of the movement.

Statement issued by Jessie Duarte on behalf of the National Working Committee of the African National Congress November 11 2008