28 March 2021

The South African Communist Party (SACP) in Western Cape and the South African National Civic Organisation (SANCO) in Western Cape convened a Ten Aside bilateral meeting on Friday 26, March 2021 under the theme “Towards a reconfigured alliance driven and ANC headed local government Elections – Putting People Before Profits”.

The two organisations met at a time when the SACP is celebrating the centenary anniversary of its existence in the fight against capitalist greed through the deepening, advancing and consolidation of the national democratic revolution-our direct route to socialism and ultimately a classless society. Similarly, March marks the 29^th anniversary of the birth of this progressive Civic movement, SANCO.

The two organisations discussed the state of the economy, our communities and the alliance’s shared approach towards the 2021 local government elections.

The Revival of the Commuter Rail System

The Western Cape SACP and SANCO welcomed the revival and rebuilding of rail infrastructure in the province. Further, we reiterated that the destruction and running down of Prasa defined the extent and impact based on years of rent-seeking and the hallowing out of our public entities by corruption and mismanagement.

Our government was supposed to be engaged on a programme to expand the rail network to reach Mfuleni, Delf, connect Khayelitsha and Somerset as well as Khayelitsha and Wynberg. However, due to corruption, corporate capture of the state and a failure to safeguard existing rail infrastructure, the government has been forced to focus most of its efforts on the revival and rebuilding of the economy. The rebuilding of the public rail network currently underway will liberate the working class from exorbitant prices and unreliable means of transport.

Additionally, the two alliance formations pledged to play an active role in protecting the rail infrastructure against vandalism by destructive elements in society. Moreover, we insist on calling for the reinstatement and return of the rail police unit.

Human Settlement Crisis

The SACP and SANCO in Western Cape noted that the housing problem in the Western Cape has reached a humanitarian-crisis level. We are unequivocal in pronouncing that this is a direct result of the slow pace of building of houses by the Western Cape government.

The recent drastic rise of new squatter camps is due to the frustration of the poor and marginalised people of the province, as their plight for decent human settlements has been completely neglected as a priority by the DA-led government.

The meeting further condemned the Western Cape provincial government and the City of Cape Town for selling public land to private developers whilst the majority people, the working class, are in urgent need of land for houses, amongst other necessities. Against this background, we call on the DA-led administration to take full responsibility for the recent land occupations and the building of squatter camps across the metro in particular. We further call on the national government, through the framework of intergovernmental relations, to urgently intervene and assist our people to work towards addressing this humanitarian crisis related to ongoing housing challenges.

In addition, the meeting called on government to respect the dignity of the people of Masiphumelele and therefore provide land and build decent housing with adequate infrastructure.

Our deliberations further cemented the call for national government to bring back the programme of de-densification of squatter camps. This is an intervention which was frustrated and undermined by the DA-led administration, which abused the principle of intergovernmental relations by denying poor people better services.

A call to action to confront criminal networks operating in working-class communities.

The two formations have observed, with alarming concern, the growth of a nexus of underworld criminal networks comprised of businesses, politicians and sections of the criminal justice cluster, whose activities involve the extortion and hijacking of development programmes in our communities and, more worrying, include the capture of procurement processes in certain municipalities.

The meeting warned that if this network is not confronted, it will ultimately enter the political space and influence the election of political leaders, the appointment of school principals and the overall nomination of public representatives.

Against this background, the two organisations will mobilise a wide range of forces and roll-out mass action against this criminality in our society.

Furthermore, the SACP and SANCO in the province have noted, with greater concern, the deliberate destabilisation of SAPS leadership in the province. The mere fact that the province does not have an appointed police commissioner, along with perpetual infightings within the SAPS, severely compromises its ability to prevent, combat and investigate crime.

2021 Local government elections

The two alliance formations committed themselves to be part of the ANC-headed elections, all within the context of a national decision to assert this stance within the framework of a reconfigured alliance. This remains the only viable vehicle that can reaffirm the role of our movement in society based upon our joint comprehensions of the national democratic revolution. Therefore, the meeting called for the immediate convening of a longstanding meeting in the form of a provincial Alliance Summit, to specifically deal with outstanding political matters pertaining to the functioning of Alliance relations, organisational functionality and collaborative coherence.

Based on this premise, the meeting found consensus that the current form of the provincial elections team cannot be accepted as a result of outstanding challenges as well, but not limited to, the Alliance’s exclusion from candidate selection guidelines/ processes as well as the lack of credibility, experience and capacity to lead a successful campaign towards the upcoming 2021 Local Government Elections. 

Issued by SACP and SANCO Western Cape

Contacts:

Benson Ngqentsu
SACP Western Cape Provincial Secretary
Mobile: 0838091142

Bongikhaya Qhama
SANCO Western Cape Provincial Chairperson
Mobile: 071 387 5878

ISSUED BY THE SOUTH AFRICAN COMMUNIST PARTY | SACP
EST. 1921 AS THE COMMUNIST PARTY OF SOUTH AFRICA | CPSA