STELLENBOSCH, South Africa, Dec 18 (AFP) - The ruling African National Congress (ANC) is positioning itself in post-apartheid South Africa as a social democratic party, committed to the interests of the poor, its policy document states.
"The ANC, as the leader of the national democratic struggle, is a disciplined force of the left, organised to conduct consistent struggle in pursuit of the interests of the poor," said South African President Thabo Mbeki, quoting from the party's strategy and tactics policy.
The document, to be adopted at a five-day national ANC conference being held in Stellenbosch outside Cape Town this week, is an updated version of one drafted at a conference in 1997.
"The ANC needs to define itself," Joel Netshitenzhe, spokesman for the strategy and tactics commission, told reporters Wednesday, adding: "In my personal opinion, the ANC comes very close to being a social democratic party."
The policy defines the party's nature in relation to neo-liberalism and ultra-leftism, saying it rejected both approaches.
Neo-liberalism is described as "a system in which formal democracy should be underpinned by market forces to which all should kneel in prayer, everyone for himself and the devil takes the hindmost."
Ultra-leftism is defined as: "A confusion of what is desirable with what is actually and immediately possible."
Alliance partners of the ANC, the Congress of South African Trade Unions and the South African Communist Party, have been described by Mbeki as leftists who should not try to impose their socialist views on the ANC.
Netshitenzhe said: "The ANC is a national movement, not fighting for socialism, but for a democratic society. We need an economy with macro-economic balances that serves the interests of the poor."
The document lists requirements to obtain the ANC's goal of creating a better life for all, which include the de-racialisation of property and control of wealth, affirmative action and access to management positions and skills.
The updated version also places more emphasis on HIV/AIDS than in the 1997 document, stating: "Given the progression of the AIDS epidemic, and the evolution of weapons to combat it, our programme of transformation should not only acknowledge this danger, but it must also campaign against it at the top of our agenda."
The policy document also speaks out against terrorism and "the pursuit of a militarised global agenda", saying it lead to global insecurity with the poor being the main losers.
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