EDITORIAL: Hark the ANC’s radical roars
The real issue is what the policy calls say about who is winning in the leadership stakes — which makes this conference pivotal
Business people are going to need to brace themselves for the ANC’s policy conference, which begins on Friday. As the economy declines and revelations about the looting of state resources increase, the self-proclaimed "radical" element of the ANC has dual incentives to amplify the revolutionary rhetoric. First, they need to try to win back popular support and particularly, outmanoeuvre the EFF. And second, they need to divert attention from the runaway corruption that is increasingly becoming a huge political issue. So, expect dramatic headlines and fiery speeches in which speaker after speaker endorses the notion of "radical economic transformation" and all its affiliated ideas. Yet it is important to note that the conference is not, in fact, a decision-making entity. It merely proposes policy that may or may not be adopted at the ANC’s elective conference at the end of 2017. The history of the conference provides little guidance as to what the ANC will actually do. For example, th...
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