The Alliance
the way forward
The Alliance National Office Bearers
met on 21 November 1999 to address core problems at a senior level between
the partners.
The Alliance Secretariat identified
these issues as:
- our shared understanding
of the current context within which transformation is taking place and what
is realistic to expect under these circumstances;
- our commitment
to the programme for accelerating change.
- the role of
each partner in this current conjuncture;
- our modus operandi
in this situation; and
- the context,
objective, agenda and state of preparation for the alliance summit.
Due to time constraints, substantial
discussions did not take Place at the meeting. However, the meeting agreed
that the Secretariat has identified the real issues. The National Office Bearers
will hold further discussions before they convene the summit.
In preparation for a meeting on
10-11 December 1999, the ANC President was asked to prepare an input on the
local and international context within which transformation is taking place.
Each Alliance partner was asked to prepare position papers on the other issues.
Differences
There was no concrete way forward
on the issues that have bedevilled the relationship between the Alliance partners,
particularly on the economy. Until there has been sufficient discussion on
this matter and areas of disagreement have been identified - including how
differences will be managed publicly - there will always be frustrations on
both sides. We are currently seeking a meeting with the ANC President to drive
this point home.
The agreement (see box) is a significant
step forward, as it resolves one major problem facing the alliance - the failure
to have regular meetings that matter.
Agreement reached
at the Alliance Extended Officials Meeting (10th-11th December, 1999)
- The ongoing
co-ordination of the Alliance requires the strengthening of the existing
Alliance Secretariat and the elaboration of a clearer set of strategic
tasks.
- The Alliance
Secretariat plus the Presidency (ASP)will meet regularly.
- The ASP
should avoid the danger of creating too many additional structures,
while reinforcing the dynamic connection between the existing Alliance
Secretariat and Government.
- The main
strategic tasks of the ASP will be to:
- maintain
broad oversight over policy, programmes, organisational work and
tools to ensure that there is strategic coherence across the Alliance;
- audit
strategic policy and review key decisions of the alliance over the
last five years;
- pro-actively
identify areas of likely disagreement between Alliance partners;
- develop
pro-active Alliance processes and monitor these;
- act
as a timely clearing house and networker on a range of sectoral
and other specific areas.
Tasks
The ASP should, where appropriate:
- Ensure
that a relevant minister/portfolio committee, etc, is in dynamic contact
with, for example, a COSATU affiliate on areas of policymaking.
It should avoid a mechanical
'three-legged' approach in which there would be bureaucratic insistence
that it should always represent the three partners formally. Rather,
the ASP will seek to foster practices which see our cadres and organisational
structures as a collective resource to be deployed according to the
relevant circumstance.
- Play
the leading role in co-ordinating the political work of the Alliance.
It should ensure that the
Alliance partners do not fall into the habit of seeing themselves
as 'shadow governments' or as structures trying to 'second guess'
government (and therefore inevitably tailing behind it).
The broad strategic framework
within which government policy and programmes are made must be within
the mandate of the ANC-led Alliance policy.
The ASP will begin its
work this year by co-ordinating the implementation of the Programme
of Action(POA) agreed upon at the Extended Alliance Executives meeting
last December.
ASP-type structures, with
the relevant adaptations, should be developed at the provincial, regional,
and even district levels, when possible.
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