Mbeki tackles Afrikaans fears

2005-06-30 13:27

Pretoria - President Thabo Mbeki on Thursday cited fears about the "diminution" of Afrikaans as an issue that the ruling African National Congress should address in leading the country's social transformation.

While many may contest the assertion that the language was being marginalised, "we have to recognise the fact that it is a matter of concern to some of our people, and must therefore be addressed," he told the opening of the ANC's national general council (NGC) meeting at the University of Pretoria.

He pointed to an ideal in the ANC's Freedom Charter that all people should have equal rights to use their own language and develop their own folk culture and customs.

"It may very well be that the Afrikaans issue is arising in the way it is, as a nascent protest movement, because of our failure to address it as we should, consistent with the vision spelt out by the Freedom Charter."

The language issue, affecting all languages in the country, was an important part of the "national question" that had to be put on the NGC's agenda, Mbeki said.

It related directly to the challenge of creating a non-racial society.

"We have to engage the language issue more vigorously and systematically as an important part of the profound process of social transformation which our movement leads."

Another matter singled out for urgent action was socio-economic transformation -- problems with which recently came to the fore with country-wide protests against perceived slow delivery of services like housing and sanitation.

"Whether rightly or wrongly, the municipal demonstrations have been inspired by the grievance among some of our poorest communities that they have been excluded from access to (a) better life."

Progress

This suggested the country had not made as much progress as it should have, the president said.

"We must therefore treat these demonstrations as a challenge to us, actually to give concrete expression to our undertaking to work within communities and within government, playing our part in forging the 'People's Contract for a Better South Africa'."

Mbeki stressed the importance of communities themselves becoming involved in the effort.

The four-day NGC meeting is to review ANC policies and tactics ahead of its next national conference in 2007.

It would focus on progress with achieving a non-racial, non sexist society; eradicating poverty and under-development; and boosting social cohesion. It would also focus on what needed to be done to strengthen the party to achieve these goals.

The meeting got off to a slow start, as problems with accreditation resulted in the late arrival of many delegations.

Some of the delegates used the waiting time at the conference venue to show their support for ousted former deputy president Jacob Zuma, chanting "Zuma for president" in Zulu. Some wore T-shirts with the words "Innocent until proven guilty".

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- SAPA