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This book traces the economic debates in the ANC from the Freedom Charter, to Morogoro, to the RDP and to the present.

It shows that the shift to macro-economic stabilisation in the transition to democracy in 1994 was due to international pressure and how it changed the trajectory of ANC policies.

The government became frozen in the pursuit of cautious economic policies in the interests of fiscal prudence.

The commitment to development lost momentum, compensated partially by the provision of modest social services and social grants.

The book traces the revolt against economic orthodoxy at the ANC Polokwane conference which was pressed forward at the Tripartite Economic Summit in 2008. The book analyses the economic challenges that will face the new government in 2009 with original insights into what should be done to address the economic crisis. It sets out a framework for alternative development programmes based on a change of mindset about the centrality of development planning in a pro-people developmental state.

The analysis is based on 15 years work in parliament and in economic committees of the ANC which provided unequalled access to vast documentation and discussions with the top policy makers of the ANC and government.

The contents include extensive examination of the international conditions at the transition in 1994, the creation of the RDP, the switch to Gear, the distortions of BEE, the dual economy, the lessons from Africa and the reasons why  the productive sectors of the economy have stalled. There is a postscript on the decisions of the Tripartite Economic Summit in which the proposed changes to government policies are assessed.

Prof Ben Turok is a member of parliament in South Africa and visiting professor at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. He is a veteran of the ANC, Editor of New Agenda, and founder of the Institute for African Alternatives in the UK and Africa. He has published many books on development economics and politics in Africa.

NEW AGENDA (S A)

ISBN:  978-0-620-42565-0

Enquiries; Germaine, Tel: 021 403 2593/ 073 9559 473, Fax: 021 461 9390, Email bturok@anc.org.za , PRICE: R150

Bank: Standard Bank

Account number: 070394903
Account type: Business current account
Branch name: Cape Town
Branch code: 02 0009
Account name: NA Publications

CONTENTS

Introduction                                                                                          p11

Ch 1     ANC Economic Policy in the Struggle Years                             p18

Ch 2     The Political Context of the Transition 1990-1994                     p33

Ch 3     The International Context of the Transition                                 p49

Ch 4     Reconstruction and Development Programme                p75

Ch 5     The Switch to Gear                                                                   p111

Ch 6     Black Economic Empowerment (BEE)                          p139

Ch 7     The Dual Economy                                                                   p179

Ch 8     The ANC and Africa                                                                p211

Ch 9     Stalled in Orthodoxy                                                                 p245

Postscript                                                                                             p271

Acronyms                                                                                             p274

Index                                                                                                    p277

This classic text of writings by the foremost revolutionaries of our age, Marx, Lenin, Mao Tse Tung, Le Duan, Che Guevara and many others, has been out of print for many years. It has now been reprinted in response to much demand from activists and others who seem to feel that the book covers a legacy which should not be forgotten. (more…)

Andrew Feinstein has performed a valuable service to South Africa with his account of how the arms deal was processed through Parliament. There can be no doubt that what is now required is a thorough forensic audit which will identify whether there was any wrongdoing and by whom.

As a member of the Portfolio Committee on Trade and Industry I was a marginal  participant in the process and was bewildered by all the goings on and unable to come to any conclusion about what was going wrong. The Committee was informed about the offsets promised, and we had sight of the Auditor General’s report but, despite some misgivings, there was so much hullabaloo in the press and such a strong defensive wall by the Ministers concerned that we could not find fault. The Committee therefore approved the report, as far as my memory serves me.

What made it especially difficult was that there was so much whispering by the MP’s in Scopa, including Feinstein, with little hard information made available to the rest of us. ANC  MP’s in Scopa also blamed Feinstein for excessive secrecy and for not reporting fully to them. It all seemed to be a thorough mess. Perhaps the full story will now emerge as a result of Feinstein’s book.

But  other ethical issues that arise from Feinstein’s account. Membership of the ANC is a voluntary act, there is no compulsion whatsoever. Once in, however, the organization asserts certain disciplinary powers, especially over M P’s who are important elements of the public face of the ANC. Indeed throughout the world M P’s are brought to heel on policy matters by the Parliamentary party caucus, and failure to comply generally leads to disciplinary action, expulsion at the extreme.

So what options does a MP have when faced with a serious difference with the party line ? We have all faced this problem at some time. Do you vote against a measure in the House ? make a defiant speech from the podium ? Raise your differences with the leadership ?

It seems to me that Feinstein’s resort to the press in the HIV/Aids briefing by the President was not the right option, since it set him on a course of conduct leading inevitably to a break. Many M P s leak stories to the press, but to carefully record on his Psion, Mbeki’s speech in caucus and then give it verbatim to the Mail and Guardian was wrong.

Curiously, Feinstein’s whole conduct in government was the opposite of this action. As one who worked with Feinstein in various committees, I always felt that he was rather good at ingratiating himself with top people, winning their confidence and rising swiftly up the ladder. His book confirms that he was able to get close to Sexwale and Zuma easily. This was no doubt due to his ability and economic prowess, but  his outright support for Gear showed that  when an issue  was highly unpopular generally,  he was  not an anti- establishment person. Actually, Feinstein reveals that he went along with a great deal of  disguising the consequences of Gear and other stringent economic policies, aligning himself with conservative and cautious economic positions. ’ the movements historic language of revolution was utilized to make palatable an ostensibly neo-liberal approach to the economy.’ P70 . Of Gear, he says, “I was  supportive of this controversial approach.” P 66.

This makes him out to be a somewhat tragic figure. Many M P’s were far more critical of the leadership’s economic policies than Feinstein, yet we stuck it out, preferring to tackle the controversies in the arenas available. Feinstein made the fatal mistake of aligning himself wholly with  Gavin Woods, a member of an opposition party, “Gavin and I started to meet in more secluded places”, and becoming isolated from his ANC comrades. He seems to have decided that the integrity of Scopa took precedence over loyalty to the ANC.

No doubt there may come a time when each and every ANC M P will be faced with the same choice, Parliamentary integrity or ANC loyalty, and the choice will be hard for all of us. What emerges from the book is that Feinstein may have played out his personal tragedy for too long.

I hope, that if ever I may be placed in the same situation, I will first attempt to win over close comrades to share my burden, and then, if I see the writing on the wall, act swiftly.