From this it is clear that the Broad Front for Development which the January 8th Statement calls for, will and must essentially be built from below. This task will therefore fall especially on the shoulders of our local leadership collectives and branches. Of enormous help in this regard will be the work in which our local structures are already involved - the Imvuselelo Campaign. Our success in this regard will give us the possibility to interact with our local communities and community based organisations in an effective manner. At the same time, our structures will have to interact in a correct and constructive manner with our Municipal Councils, Ward Committees and Community Development Workers.
Similarly, our cadres deployed in all three spheres of government, at both executive and administrative levels, will have to ensure that they respond in a serious and sustained manner to the tasks contained in the January 8th Statement. In this regard, among other things, this Statement says:
"For those in government and in the legislatures, it requires that policies and programmes are effectively implemented and coordinated, continually monitored and evaluated, and always informed by the needs, interests and views of the masses of our people. It requires a mobilisation not only of the substantial resources and capacity of the state, but also the mobilisation of the most important resource within our communities - our people - behind this central task."
Everything we have said points to the increased responsibility that rests on the shoulders of the elected leadership collectives of the ANC, from the National Executive Committee (NEC), to the Branch Executive Committees (BECs). These will have to ensure that they give the necessary leadership, guidance and support both to our comrades deployed in the governance structures, as well as those working in ANC structures.
As the January 8th Statement reminded us, when we celebrated the 95th Anniversary of our movement at the highly successful rally at Emalahleni in Mpumalanga, we also began the last five years that will end with our celebration of the Centenary of the ANC in 2012. We are determined to ensure that when we hold these historic celebrations five years hence, having significantly changed the lives of our people for the better, we will be able to say - 100 years after it was born, the ANC can justly claim that the ANC lives!, the ANC leads! Among the heroes and heroines we will celebrate on January 8th, 2012 will be those among our members who will have served as our Cadres for Development, in the interest of all the people of our country.
Branches will be the starting point for discussions across the organisation on ANC policy, strategy and tactics, and organisational tasks and challenges.
As indicated in the January 8th Statement: "Our branches are uniquely positioned to reflect on which organisational strategies are most effective at grassroots level, and what policies and programmes have the greatest impact on the lives of the people. The branch is therefore the site from which the interaction of theory and practice is best observed.
Thabo Mbeki
But seriously, those statistics have little credibility with most people since the various moratoriums etc. especially since they differ to other privately compiled statistics which people place more credibility in. Even assuming those stats were 100% accurate it has becoming increasingly difficult to report crimes that do occur due to the general police incompetence, and due to that same incompetence the only reason most people report crimes to the police these days is to get a case number for insurance or when somebody is actually caught, usually by a private security company. Where that doesn't happen most people don't even bother informing the police, which would lead to a drop in stats.
