Delegates attend the 5th ANC National General Council in Boksburg. In Part 1, we welcomed delegates to the 5th NGC and drew a clear line in the sand: this is not what we struggled for, and this NGC is not a stage for palace coups and factional whispering it is a decision-point for the Republic. Part 2 goes to the heart of the debate many comrades including comrade Dr Zamani Saul are raising: Will crime, enquiries and commissions eclipse our economic progress?
Crime is not eclipsing the economy. Crime is strangling the economy. Ending criminal sovereignty is our first economic reform.
If we do not fix that, every ratings upgrade, every G20 handshake, every “green shoot” will be temporary a headline today, erased by a scandal tomorrow. The official ANC NGC theme is clear: “The Year of Renewal to Make the ANC a More Effective Instrument of the People to Achieve the Vision of the Freedom Charter: The People Shall Govern! The People Shall Share in the Wealth of the Country!” Recent ANC Today editions, focusing on NGC2025, celebrate real progress: Dr Saul amplifies this: he warns that if we allow enquiries, commissions and scandals to dominate the narrative, the NGC will be eclipsed and the public will not see the gains.
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He is right about one thing: South Africans are emotionally stuck in fear not in policy. But here is the deeper truth: There is no economic recovery without criminal justice recovery.
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