27 November 2019
The mainstream media space is abuzz and littered with advertisement of massive sales and purported discounts linked to the so-called “Black Friday”. The expectation of the owners of the retail enterprises is that consumers will fall for their allurement and spend big, especially through the use of credit, during this Black Friday euphoria. There is reason for consumers to be extremely wary of this Black Friday fanfare because at the core of it is a drive by capitalist forces for the maximisation of profits at the expense of consumers, in particular the working class, who are forced into uncontrolled indebtedness.
Historically, it has been recorded that Black Friday was coined to describe the connivance and collusion by cartels of investors and financiers who manipulated the gold market with ransacking intentions. However, their ill-fated actions backfired and caused an economic depression that spiraled out of control on Friday, the 24th of September 1869 in the United States of America. Essentially, Black Friday is a day that should remind us of the clandestine grand heist by financiers and their ilk, meant to steal from the wealth of societies. Over the years, grand propaganda efforts have been used, largely through media advertisements, to whitewash and give new meaning to Black Friday, whilst at the same time opening space for the pursuit of its original intent of ransacking and clandestine accumulation on a grand scale.
In South Africa, most people, especially amongst the working class, and the middle strata in particular, still fall prey to these well-orchestrated and psychologically tailored advertisement campaigns around Black Friday. People end up buying various commodities en masse and mostly on credit. This often results in far-reaching negative financial consequences, often high indebtedness, down the line and even dispossession of their assets when they battle to service these debts.
As the SACP in the Free State Province, we caution the people, especially the working class and poor, against the enticement initiatives around Black Friday. They must use their hard-earned resources sparingly and optimally, based on their needs rather than hyped-up consumerism. In this regard, we also welcome and support the efforts by the National Credit Regulator to create awareness and reinforce consciousness among our people with regard to the negative implications associated with unplanned spending and use of credit during Black Friday. These efforts reinforce the purpose of the National Credit Act, which the SACP campaigned for its enactment in order to safeguard the interests of the country, the working class and poor.
Black Friday is nothing but a well-orchestrated campaign to siphon and swindle the consumers of their hard-earned money and must be rejected in favour of planned exercise of consumer purchasing power. The SACP in the Free State Province also calls upon the National Credit Regulator to audit the veracity of advertised amounts on various commodities, especially the amounts purported to be prior-prices from which advertised discounts are claimed.
Issued by the SACP Free State Province
Contact:
Bheke Stofile – SACP Free State Provincial Secretary
Mobile: 071 600 4899
Phillip Kganyago – SACP Free State Provincial Spokesperson
Mobile: 071 896 0157
SACP’s response to the National Treasury’s ‘... economic Strategy for South Africa’: https://www.sacp.org.za/sites/default/files/documents/SACP-response-to-t...
ISSUED BY THE SOUTH AFRICAN COMMUNIST PARTY (SACP)
Dr Alex Mohubetswane Mashilo
Central Committee Member and Spokesperson
FOR INTERVIEW ARRANGEMENTS, MEDIA LIAISON & CIRCULATION SERVICES
Hlengiwe Nkonyane
Communications Officer: Media Liaison Services, Digital and Social Media Co-ordinator
Mobile: +27 79 384 6550
OFFICE, WEBSITE, TWITTER, FACEBOOK, USTREAM TV CHANNEL
Office: +2711 339 3621/2
Twitter: SACP1921
Website: www.sacp.org.za
Facebook Page: South African Communist Party
Ustream TV Channel: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/sacp-tv
