The ANC has a role in responding to political instability, but the country's economic woes also need to be explained in terms of minority influence over the economy, Nomvula Mokonyane, Minister of Water and Sanitation said on Friday.
Responding to media questions at the ANC's 5th National Policy Conference about the issue of political instability and its connection to recent ratings downgrades, Mokonyane said ANC leadership needs to respond to criticism of political instability by "reassuring the public about its internal democratic processes ... that you can be deployed and redeployed," she said.
"Every member of the ANC can lead and also be led. As long as the policies of the ANC remain, we must give an opportunity to those who are deployed. It is those things we need to communicate," she said.
However, she added, there is also a crucial role for the party's leadership to "be consistent in explaining our own dynamics because our South African situation is very unique [relative] to most of the other developing nations".
"We once have spoken of colonisation of a special type and you can see it worse when it comes to the economy. It's only a few minority [sic]... very white, male, very chauvinistic and backward who are actually having influence over our economy including financial institutions," she said.
Radical economic transformation, as a result, must "also mean tampering with those that have found comfort over the years", she said.
'Bring water into the control of the state'
Asked by HuffPost SA about the kind of recommendations Mokonyane would like to emerge from policy discussions that will affect her department in specific, she said a key issue for the water sector is property rights and water use rights.
"All institutions that exist in terms of water use including licensing of water must actually now reflect the intention to contribute towards equality, to alleviate poverty, and giving an opportunity to those who are coming into the mainstream economy so they can have access to water," she said.
"We must bring water into the control of the state", she said.
The ANC's 5th National Policy Conference will continue until Wednesday 5 July 2017.