11 April 2019
The South African Communist Party (SACP) in Gauteng Province is deeply concerned and worried about the new wave of community protests, commonly referred to as service delivery protests, in our communities.
Whilst we respect and affirm the democratic right of communities to protest and highlight issues pertaining to service delivery, the nature, pattern and timing of these protests are of great concern. We are reminded of the negative impacts of setting the City of Tshwane on flames on the eve of elections and how this severely affected voter sentiment and turnout in 2016 Local Government Elections.
We fully understand that the struggle for the eradication of the legacy of national oppression and Colonialism of a Special Type (CST) is not over and requires ongoing struggles by the revolutionary people.
We also strongly condemn the complete neglect of townships and working class communities by the Democratic Alliance (DA) – Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) run municipalities in our province and their dismal failure to promptly and swiftly engage working class communities. This proves beyond doubt their inability to govern and serve our communities.
We believe that stable, peaceful and socially coherent communities are in the interests of the province and its people. We also believe that the dialectics of time and space and how they impact strategy and tactics constitute a critical part of any serious revolution.
We are further concerned that the wave of tyre-burning, street-barricading and violent protests that have the potential of putting the province in flames on the eve of elections, is a negation of the momentum of hope and renewal unleashed by the leadership of President Cyril Matamela Ramaphosa.
We believe that continued series of flames in our province militate against the qualitative, positive shifts in voter sentiment made on the ground by the ANC-headed Alliance election campaign. We also believe that the renewed wave of protest and tyre-burning undermines the qualitative achievements made by the Gauteng Provincial Government to bring stability and peace in our province.
We continue to marvel, extol and appreciate the remarkable achievements of the Ntirhisano Community Outreach Programme unveiled in the early period of the current Gauteng administration, during the time when our province was dubbed the “home of protests”. We believe that the Ntirhisano Outreach Programme constitutes best practice in better managing and attending to community protests. Fundamentally, it remains the best available channel for all communities to address various grievances.
We therefore call on the leaders of our Alliance, at all levels, to unite and engage communities promptly and swiftly to ensure stability and peace in our province. Violence, flames, the blocking of streets and roads and barricades, on the eve of an election deepens confusion and creates an impression that elections are not a serious activity and may essentially be ignored by communities by abstaining from voting. We believe this is extremely dangerous, not only for the National Democratic Revolution, but the democratic project at large.
Issued by the SACP Gauteng Province
Contact:
Jacob Mamabolo – SACP Gauteng Provincial Secretary
Mobile: 082 884 1868
