18 May 2003
The SACP Central Committee met on 15 and 16 May in Johannesburg, and the
agenda included:
Walter Sisulu - ANC leader, communist and builder of the nation
The CC started its proceedings by paying a special tribute for Walter Sisulu and the victims of the May Day bus disaster. The CC met on the eve of the funeral of the ANC and SACP member and leader, Walter Sisulu. The CC paid tribute to this giant of our struggle as a leader of our nation who had also joined the SACP in 1954 and elected to its CC in 1956.
The SACP reflected on some of the lessons to be learnt from Sisulu's life and struggles. Revolutions are made by ordinary human beings, whose greatness derives from consistent selfless dedication to the cause of ordinary people, the workers and the poor. Such revolutionaries have total trust in the revolutionary potential and morality of ordinary people, and in turn they earn the trust and confidence of the people, the workers and the poor. These are the lessons we must learn from the life and struggles of Walter Sisulu, and that is the legacy he leaves behind. The entire CC subsequently attended the funeral of Walter Sisulu and we are please about the overwhelming response of our people.
The CC also expressed condolences to the families of the workers who died in the May Day disaster. The CC noted that 8 of the workers who died were members of our Party- two of the comrades were young people, 23 and 24 years old, who were very active in building the Young Communist League in Galeshewe, Kimberly.
The Growth and Development Summit
The SACP has been actively following and engaging with preparations for the forthcoming Growth and Development Summit. The Party has been actively engaging our alliance partners, government, labour and the community constituency. The CC emphasised that, while unrealistic and excessive expectations would not be placed on the Summit as a one-day event, it must nonetheless help to build as national consensus on a sustainable growth strategy. At the heart of such a strategy must be a concerted, systemic effort to overcome the deeply structured duality of our economy and society. Growth strategies that are dislocated from developmental strategies will fail.
In other words an effective growth and development strategy must be grounded in an acknowledgment that despite sustained and moderate economic growth and a very significant resource transfers to the poor since 1994 (housing, water, electricity, health care, social security measures) poverty has deepened for a majortiy of household and inequality has increased.
Apart from the critical importance of establishing a correct overall strategic approach, it is essential that the Summit agrees upon some concrete specific measures that relate directly to the systemic challenges in our economy and society. Amongst such specific agreements should be
These are based on the SACP understanding that the over-riding theme of the Summit should relate to the struggle to roll back the frontiers of poverty in our country by setting social development goals that enjoy as much (and more) national profile and priority as our growth, inflation and budget deficit targets. In the light of the complicity of private capital in sustaining and supporting apartheid and exploitation of the majority of South Africans, the SACP believes that the GDS must deliver no less. The GDS must also be a way in which private capital in our country recognises this and plays its role to overcome the apartheid legacy which it is partly responsible for.
The growth and development process must not be conceived simply as a 1 day summit. In the course of May, the SACP, with its partners, has been convening provincial and district forums to discuss growth and development. Beyond the summit further sectoral and local based forums must also be convened.
HIV/AIDS
The CC reaffirmed that a growth and development strategy cannot be seen in isolation from the HIV/AIDS pandemic in our country. The SACP welcomed last year's April announcement by government on a comprehensive approach to HIV/AIDS, including a comprehensive treatment policy. Unfortunately, there have been long delays in implementing an effective public health anti-retroviral treatment plan. The SACP cannot understand why there has been so much delay. We call on government, in particular, to move forward with its commitment in this respect. We call on all South Africans to unite together in action to confront this enormous challenge.
For its part, the SACP will seek to facilitate communication and inter-action in the alliance and between social partners on the National HIV/AIDS Treatment Plan.
In the view of the SACP, the 17 April 2002 Cabinet statement on a strategy to deal with the HIV/AIDS pandemic had laid a solid foundation towards uniting the Alliance, our people and the nation as a whole towards a common strategy.
The SACP emphasised the need for mature and decisive leadership on the part of government in dealing with the HIV/AIDS pandemic.
The SACP calls for the renewal of increased mass mobilisation directed towards drug companies. In the view of the SACP, the recent discounts offered by drug companies are inadequate and fall far short of the massive public health crisis faced by our country. South Africa still pays extremely high prices for its medicines. A critical intervention in this regard would be, amongst other interventions, the growth and consolidation of a generic production industry in our country as part of a developmental industrial strategy.
Over the next weeks and months, the SACP will also pay attention to the consolidation and escalation of its own programme of action on HIV/AIDS.
Zimbabwe
Our approach as the SACP in engaging with the Zimbabwe situation seeks to intensify engagement with both ZANU-PF and the MDC in a complementary and not parallel process to that of government and the ANC whilst simultaneously informing ourselves of the realities on the ground. In this regard, the CC has decided to send a fact-finding mission to Zimbabwe. As a socialist party, the SACP will deepen its networks and interaction with socialist, working class oriented forces in Zimbabwe.
The SACP stands firmly for the promotion of an environment in which free political activity can take place without fear of intimidation. The SACP expresses its solidarity with the workers and the poor in Zimbabwe who are the worst affected by the current crisis. The SACP condemns the low intensity democracy, authoritarianism, torture of political opponents of the regime, and gross violations of human rights. The SACP calls on all political forces in Zimbabwe to ensure that a conducive political environment prevails.
Swaziland
The SACP remains convinced that a lasting and sustainable situation to the lack of democracy and ongoing repression in Swaziland lies in the ongoing political struggle for democracy taking place within Swaziland. In the view of the SACP, this struggle needs to be complemented with increased international solidarity and political and diplomatic pressure on the Swaziland government. Currently, this government is a part of the SADC, the African Union and other international bodies as if it is business as usual. The SACP calls on the South African government, the SADC and the African Union to put the issues of democratisation of Swaziland firmly on the African agenda.
For its part, the SACP will continue its solidarity work with the People's United Democratic Movement of Swaziland. In the coming weeks, the SACP will seek to hold bilateral discussions with PUDEMO, the Swaziland Federation of Trade Unions and other democratic forces in Swaziland. The SACP condemns the recent detention of PUDEMO General Secretary, Bonginkosi Dlamini by the Swazi government.
The SACP calls on all South Africans to express solidarity with the people of Swaziland by building the Swaziland Solidarity Network as an organisation of South Africans in support of democracy and freedom in Swaziland, and for increased political activities against the Swazi government.
International situation
In its analysis, the CC endorsed the stance of the Iraqi Communist Party to call for the convening of a UN-led Iraqi national conference on the future of Iraq, involving all political formations in Iraq. This might be the most plausible way forward around which progressive forces can mobilize. This is of course complicated by the very stance of the US and UK that they should play a leading role both in the "transition' and beyond, as illustrated by the lucrative reconstruction contracts being given to US companies. Illegal invasions cannot produce legitimate outcomes particularly if overseen by the very same illegal invaders.
The SACP believes that this struggle should be broadened to heighten pressure towards the resolution of the Palestinian question.
The US, encouraged by its unilateral success in Afghanistan and Iraq, is now turning its attention to other countries including Cuba. In this regard, the SACP believes that the intensification and expansion of the illegal offensive against Cuba must be condemned by all peace-loving people in the world. The SACP therefore calls on all South Africans to intensify their solidarity with Cuba. The SACP calls for an end to the illegal economic blockade of Cuba by the US.
The SACP commits itself to deepen our international engagements with progressive forces domestically, on the continent and globally. During June, the SACP will meet with the Communist Parties of Spain, France and other countries to discuss the post-Iraqi situation and the need to broaden the recent anti-war mobilisation to include the important questions of a more just and equitable multi-lateral dispensation internationally, the question of development and poverty eradication, within the context of an overall struggle against imperialist aggression.
CONTACT
Mazibuko K. Jara (surname Jara)
Department of Media, Information & Publicity
South African Communist Party
Tel - 011 339-3621/2, Fax - 011 339-4244,Cell - 072 275 4723
Email - mazibuko@sacp.org.za