29 September 2014
Issued by the Office of the Eastern Cape Provincial Secretary
Today, the Eastern Cape and Free State ANC Provincial Chairpersons, Phumulo Masualle and Ace Magashule led their Provincial Working Committees to a Bilateral held in Aliwal North this morning.
The purpose of this bilateral meeting was to discuss working relationships between the two provinces both at the ANC and at the provincial government level.
Through this meeting we set in motion formal engagements on a number issues of common interest between the two provinces, which will include MECs learning best practices from each other on improving service delivery, development, Agriculture and Economic transformation, amongst other priorities.
Owing to the historic political heritage that binds the two provinces, the meeting resolved to ensure improved unity, keeping the shape, form and content characterizing the movement.
Realizing the importance of the ANC in shaping the relevance and epoch making political development waged and led by the ANC, the bilateral meeting mutually engaged frankly on the matters of political coherent strategies, cohesion and political education as key guiding principles.
With the ANC’s growing support, the bilateral meeting agreed to improve the pace of delivery, facilitating human development and transformation of society to continue the legacy of the ANC.
Key decision agreed include the following:
- The two provinces will intensify campaigns to reconnect with the masses by ensuring that bilateral programmes of servicing the branches will be the duty of both leadership structures which will be borderless in character with strong unitary posture on the values of the ANC.
- The bilateral meeting took a strong resolution to defend the ANC and it’s entire leadership from liberal ideological onslaught aimed at delegitimizing the ANC as the representative organization of the people. This campaign will also consolidate the groundswell support of President Zuma as the face and Head of state of democratic Republic of South Africa against silly efforts trying to distract us from implementing our manifesto.
The bilateral meeting agreed that the two provinces are going to work in unison in defense of the ANC, its entire leadership, including President Jacob Zuma against the ideological onslaught trying to delegitimize the ANC. We identified this as the core fundamental reason for more unity.
President Zuma remains the legitimate elected President of both South Africa and the ANC, which both passed a vote of confidence in his leadership and that of his collective.
- This bilateral session cemented political understanding and is destined to unlock socio- economic upliftment between these two critical provinces.
- All the leagues, including the ANC military veteran associations will be arranged to concretize the programme of action and implementation between the two provinces.
- A political committee led by ANC Chairpersons offices will oversee the implementation of the agreed resolutions and they are further mandated to ensure that bilateral sessions are convened with all other provinces to create a climate of trust building, shared political growth, improved political capacity and literature of political education as we move towards the National General Council 2015.
- The bilateral meeting agreed, in principle, to further create an opportunity of state-to-state relationship, shared governance experiences, with MECs and Mayors learning best practices from each other.
- A key programme anchored on human development and transformation of society has been mooted on the banks of Orange river, to ensure shared economic growth in both provinces as a monumental sign of their long standing relationship.
- Eastern Cape sighted the preparation of University of Fort Hare’s centenary celebrations in 2016 as not only an Eastern Cape heritage but that of Africa and the world. As a result thereto, the Eastern Cape through it’s legislature will move a motion in respect of University of Fort Hare centenary which will be tabled to African Union (AU) as this will mark a significant gigantic step placing education as a critical instrument in Africa’s developmental and reconstruction agenda.
- The bilateral meeting recommended the leadership and escalation of services to people in the first 20 years of freedom and democracy, with scores of quantifiable statistical affirmations that the two decades changed the socio- economic and political landscape of South Africa permanently.
The bilateral meeting resolved that the public engagement, unmediated communication with the masses of our people must continue to form part of accountability and information sharing mechanisms in both provinces. Furthermore, the bilateral resolved that the respect of the rule of law must be maintained at all cost.
In the same vein, the bilateral meeting noted with concern the down right deplorable conduct of the EFF and DA coalition of demeaning the stature and standing of our National Assembly.
We support the call that, all our members of parliament must remain vigilant and be more frequent in conducting community Imbizo to transmit information to all South Africans about the work we are doing both in government and in parliament. The ugly scenes, outbursts and rude behavior false disguised as robust and militant form of engagement are nothing but disrespectful acts trying to demean the decorum of Parliament.
- The bilateral meeting agreed to meet more frequently to in order to address all the issues of common interests, particularly those that will be emanating from ANC and government engagements following this bilateral meeting.
Ends…
The statement must be attributed to Mlibo Qoboshiyane ANC Eastern Cape spokesperson 082 559 9008.
