ANC targets poverty and jobs

2011 would be a year of job creation as the ANC government was committed to addressing continuing poverty and unemployment, President Jacob Zuma has announced. In his address at party's 99th anniversary celebration in Polokwane, he said the country's unemployment and poverty levels were still unacceptable. State owned enterprises were crucial to economic growth but the way it had been managed so far would need to change and become more efficient, he said. "We need a social partnership between government, business and labour."

To rousing applause at the Peter Mokaba stadium, Zuma announced that government hoped to introduce a scheme that would benefit students who passed their final year of studies. The scheme entailed having their student loans converted into bursaries that would not need to be repaid. He said the country needed media that was "independent of economic and political control" and that the ANC would continue to fight for media independence. "We will also continue to fight for fair and balanced reporting."

On local government, Zuma said the majority of municipal councillors were doing a sterling job but found that there were problems. "We acknowledge that in certain municipalities there are problems. The African National Congress was convinced that elected councillors should not hold senior positions in political parties, he said. Referring to the upcoming local government election expected in May or June, he urged the party to improve its results in municipalities it controlled and in those it did not control. Zuma said the party supported the tripartite alliance but that its other members, the SA Communist Party and the Congress of SA Trade Unions, also had to defend the alliance. "We must not allow ourselves to introduce tendencies that are foreign," said Zuma, highlighting the need for alliance partners to resolve their differences and not publicise them.

At the beginning of his speech, he drew supporters attention to the resolution on discipline taken at the party's National General Council held in Durban in September 2010. "Discipline is non-negotiable. It must be enforced without fear or favour," he said as the skies opened with a downpour. ANC Youth League leader Julius Malema looked on during Zuma's address while being seated behind him on stage. Moments earlier Malema said the only way to free the country from poverty was to implement a programme of nationalisation. "Nationalisation is the solution to the problems we are facing," he said. He took aim at big business, especially white business owners. "We cannot accept the economy being in the control of white males," said Malema. (SAPA)