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THE ANC GREAT COMMISSIONING VERSE. AMEN

The idea that the ANC is a broad church is born from its support at its founding by Christian Church leaders. Its founding President, elected in absentia, was a practising clergyman, Reverend John Langalibalele Dube. 

Its character as a church raises the question: What is its great commission for its members?

“The primary task of the ANC remains the mobilisation of all the classes and strata that objectively stand to benefit from the cause of social change. The dictum that the people are their liberators remains as relevant today as it was during the days of anti-apartheid struggle”.

“For it to exercise its vanguard role, the ANC puts a high premium on the involvement of its cadres in all centres of power. This includes the presence of ANC members and supporters in state institutions. It includes activism in the mass terrain of which civil society structures are part. It includes the involvement of cadres in the intellectual and ideological terrain to help shape society’s value systems. This requires a cadre policy that encourages creativity in thought and practice and eschews rigid dogma. In this regard, the ANC promotes progressive traditions within the intellectual community, including institutions such as universities and the media”. 

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