Launch of Red October 2003 SACP campaign in the Western Cape

13 October 2003

The South African Communist Party (SACP) succesfully launched the Western Cape leg of the Red October Campaign in Langa township yesterday. SACP national deputy general secretary, Jeremy Cronin and provincial chairperson, Leonard Ramatlakane led local Party activists in a visit to the Langa Old Age Home, and later addressed a public meeting in the Langa Sports Centre. The focus of the Red October 2003 campaign is on marginalised workers and other marginalised groups.

The Langa Old Age Home is run by the Cape Town City Council. The SACP delegation interacted with staff and with residents. Concerns were raised regarding basic maintenance, and also around safety issues, there are no staff after hours and there is no security. The delegation also noted that there are no fire extinguishers. The delegation has already contacted relevant officials in the Metro Council, and a follow-up visit will be conducted by the local SACP branch in the coming weeks.

At the Langa Sports Centre public meeting, comrade Cronin explained why the SACP is focusing on marginalized workers. He said that the ANC government has introduced many important worker-friendly measures since 1994. "However, the bosses have responded by doing everything to duck and dodge these measures. There have been mass retrenchments, casualisation, contracting out and the shift to replacing workers with machines. We cannot allow this to happen", he said. "We must organise the unorganised."

Comrade Cronin also briefed the meeting on progress made in the Red October financial sector campaign, launched in October 2000. In particular, he briefed the meeting on the Financial Sector Charter. "The publication of the Charter is a direct result of three years of campaigning", he said. "For the first time banks will be reporting annually not just to wealthy share-holders about profits, but to us, the broad public", comrade Cronin noted. "This is an important weapon, it gives us collective leverage. We must use the score-card information to influence the decisions as to where our churches, our union affiliates, our municipalities, our government departments make their deposits."

In closing the meeting, comrade Ramatlakane called on all SACP activists and supporters in the Western Cape to take forward the Red October campaign.

CONTACT

Mazibuko Kanyiso Jara (surname Jara)

Department of Media, Information and Publicity

South African Communist Party

P.O. Box 1027, Johannesburg, 2000

3rd floor, COSATU House, 1 Leyds Street, Braamfontein, 2017

Tel - + 27 11 339 3621, Fax - +27 11 339 4244/6880

Cell - +83 651 0271

Email - mazibuko@sacp.org.za