Speeches

Chairperson

Families and friends of our fallen heroes

Comrades from fraternal organisations

I am honoured to be invited to address you today to honour and remember our fallen heroes, executed by the apartheid regime on this day 60 years ago.

It is fitting that we remember them and the contributions they have made. It is also an opportunity to remember where we came from and the valiant struggles that past generations have waged to get us to where we are today.

The leaders we remember today, Wilson Khayingo, Vuyisile Mini, and Zinakile Mkaba, built trade unions, led the African National Congress and were fighters in uMkhonto we Sizwe.  The apartheid regime murdered them because they were valiant, they were brave, and they were dedicated to the cause of our liberation.

Cde Ben Turok, who was in Pretoria Central at the time when these comrades were executed, has written about how they went singing revolutionary songs to the gallows – including songs composed by Vuyisile Mini.  His most famous song was, nants indoda mnyama, Vorster.

Comrades, today, we see the same thing, and worse, happening in Palestine.  Execution in the street of innocent people – who want nothing more than to live in the homeland of their birth.  We see a world divided between peace-loving people and those who profit from waging war.

We are all holding our breath on the outcome of the United States election today – not for a good outcome but for the least bad outcome.  With the global balance of forces not tilted in favour of progressive forces, we must take advantage of any opportunity that may present itself.

As we remember our fallen heroes of the struggle against apartheid, let us express our solidarity with the people of Palestine. Their struggle is our struggle.

But comrades, our struggle is far from over. While we can be proud of our democracy, constitution, and rights, South Africa is not yet, in the words of the Freedom Charter, a place where the people shall share in the country’s wealth, and the land will be shared by all who work on it.

The democratic government ruled by the ANC has not made the kind of progress we would have liked due to many factors, some of which are in our control but not all. Who could have foreseen COVID-19 or climate change, although how we humans have treated our natural resources has contributed to them?

But comrades, we, as the ANC, the leader of society, have taken our feet off the pedals. We mostly have ourselves to blame for losing our majority position in the national government.

When the Veterans League analyses our situation, we recognise, as our Base Document on renewal says, that the National Democratic Revolution has been compromised by “a distant inward-looking ANC unable to be agents of change and connect with communities, the motive forces, and sectors of society.”

As a result, we have been forced to govern after 30 years of democracy with other political parties with whom we disagree ideologically.  We are fortunate that in the Eastern Cape, the ANC is the majority party at a provincial level, and I understand that the ANC has recently regained the mayorship of the Nelson Mandela Bay Metro.  But, we are far from being in a hegemonic position, supported by our people and being able to deliver quality services to our people.

Comrades, it is not a time to give up. The GNU and local coalitions are  sites of struggle, but we have to make them work.  In this new terrain, our public representatives need to continue to find ways to create jobs, ensure service delivery and end corruption and the looting of public resources.

To address this situation within the ANC, the ANCVL has been actively working to pursue its renewal since our national conference in July 2023. It is renewal or death, comrades. We believe that a renewed ANC, reconnecting with the people and being servant leaders, will be able to regain the support of the majority.

We have put together five pillars of the Renewal Programme, which we want the ANC to implement at all levels, starting with the branch.

The first pillar is compulsory political education for all members. Last week, the political education programme was launched at the level of the ANC NEC and PEC.  It is a systematic programme starting with a compulsory foundation course.

Since 1 September we have been actively involved with the roll-out of the Renewal Programme. Together with MKLWV and cde David Makhura, the head of the ANC Political Education Department, we have identified political instructors who will implement the Foundation Course in the provinces, regions and branches.

Many of the Political Instructors are from the Eastern Cape and this Region, which is a tribute to the calibre of the comrades here.  However,  we are still looking for more women as trainers. The second pillar is a new approach to recruiting members. Using the ANC’s seminal document “Through the Eye of a Needle, “members must meet the minimum criteria to remain in good standing. This will include a compulsory induction programme which includes the Foundation Course, mentioned above. Like in any organisation, individual comrades’ membership status must be regularly renewed.

The ANC has further improved its membership system to prevent the  harvesting of fake IDs so that a BGM meeting has been quorated. Thirdly, the role and structure of the ANC branch are being reviewed to reconnect with the people. The ANC branch must be the principal vehicle through which members lead the efforts of communities and citizens in advancing community development and service delivery.

Fourthly, we are placing ethics and integrity at the centre of organisational and governance work. This is to reclaim the key moral authority in the freedom struggle. We have taken an uncompromising attitude to corruption, forms of misconduct, and malfeasance.

As Veterans League we insist that the mother body must deal with all the wrongdoing in our midst. At the last ANC NEC meeting it was agreed that going forward there will be a standing item on Reports and Recommendations from the Integrity Commission. The same meeting will deal with all the previous Integrity Commission reports.

I was very surprised by the Gauteng Deputy Prosecutor’s withdrawal of corruption charges against Zizi Kodwa and his co-accused. And less than a day later, the national office of the NPA said they were appealing this ruling.

We believe that cde Zizi Kodwa was correct to resign his ministerial post and also to resign from Parliament, but there has to be a substantive reason given for withdrawing his case. Therefore the NPA must handle and finalise the case properly.

Fifthly, we are reasserting and practically demonstrating an unwavering commitment to unity, non-racialism, and non-sexism, as well as to a democratic and prosperous society.

It has been an uphill battle and will continue to be so.  But that is something that we have to do – to pick up the spear of the comrades we are remembering today.

Comrades in Nelson Mandela Bay, you have a huge responsibility to ensure that the ANC continues reviving, rebuilding and renewing. This Metro that is named after the icon of the liberation struggle and where the remains of so many of our struggle stalwarts lie, must be in the forefront of ensuring that we deliver the promises that our veterans lay down their lives for… for a free, united, nonracial, non-sexist society and an end to the poverty, inequality and unemployment plaguing our country.

AMANDLA!

Dr Snuki Zikalala
President of the ANC Veterans League
082 561 3900