26 January 2001
Today's Mail and Guardian reports that Mandla Msomi, a long-standing member of Parliament's public enterprises committee, as been giving confidential government information on the restructuring of state assets to private business individuals.
If the Mail and Guardian article is correct, the South African Communist Party (SACP) condemns this betrayal of public trust and confidence by Mandla Msomi. The SACP calls on parliament to conduct a full investigation into this Mail and Guardian report in order to root out any possible corruption and to set an example for appropriate behaviour by public representatives who are supposed to be the guardians of the interests of our people.
Even more fundamentally, the Mail and Guardian article raises important questions and concerns about privatisation of state assets. As the Msomi case shows, some of those who push for privatisation of state assets are not really motivated by our country's needs but by what they will gain from the assets they are pushing to be privatised. In fact, some of them have gone full-steam ahead undermining any intelligent discussion of restructuring state assets imposing privatisation as the only option.
The SACP works for the democratisation and socialisation of the South African economy in the interests of poor and working people. These interests will be terribly compromised by the bargain-basement fire sale that the privatisation lobby hopes to impose upon us unless we take action together with workers and communities to defend and consolidate the public sector. It is for this reason the SACP programme for 2001 calls for mass campaigns for the defence and consolidation of the public sector.
CONTACT
Mazibuko K. Jara (surname Jara)
Department of Media, Information and Publicity - South African Communist Party
Tel - 011 339-3621/2
Fax - 011 339-4244
Cell - 083 651 0271
Email - sacp1@wn.apc.org