ANC affirms stance against monopoly capital in report

Johannesburg – The ANC is still taking a strong stance against monopoly capital across the board.

This is included in its Provincial General Council report dated December 1-3 2017, which was released at the ruling party's 54th national conference on Monday.

In the report, the ANC affirmed its position on the concept of monopoly capital, which it says should not be automatically combined with a particular race.

“We should avoid conflating the concept of monopoly capital with the inescapable reality of white dominance in the economy in terms of assets, income, management and the professions,” the report read.

“Our attitude to monopoly capital applies across the board, irrespective of the colour of the owners of such capital, including institutional and other entities.”

READ: White monopoly capital not the enemy - ANC

The Provincial General Council did not agree with the phrases “racial capitalism” or “neo-colonialism of a special type”, and chose to refer to the phrase "colonialism of a special type".

The ANC highlighted that although there had been progress since 1994 in transforming the country, features of colonialism of a special type remain. These include low levels of industrialisation, economic ownership and control still predominantly in white hands, and the fact that poverty, unemployment and inequality are still racialised.

During his address at the Progressive Business Forum breakfast on Saturday, Finance Minister Malusi Gigaba said extreme income inequality, deep poverty and youth unemployment are challenges that reflect the features of apartheid colonialism.

READ: Economic growth must be #1 priority for next ANC leadership – Gigaba

“The call for radical economic transformation is relevant; it is a stepping stone towards inclusive growth. There can be no other way forward for the country.”

Radical economic transformation should be achieved by ensuring that ownership, management and the worker profile at all levels reflect the racial composition of broader society, said Gigaba. 

Secondly, it can be achieved by transforming the sectoral composition of the economy to one built on a base of a skilled middle class, rather than one which is capital intensive and built on mineral resources, he explained.

The ANC also acknowledged the need for investment from multinationals to support much-needed economic growth. At the same time, the economy needs to grow while transforming. 

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