7 January 2004
As an ally of the African National Congress (ANC) for many, many decades, the South African Communist SACP (SACP) salutes the ANC on the occasion of its 92nd anniversary, 8 January 2004. Coming 4 months away from the 10th anniversary of the ANC-led liberation movement's historic victory against apartheid, and the third democratic elections in our country, the 92nd anniversary of the ANC is critical in the development and evolution of the ANC as the leading political force in our country.
The Communist SACP regards the importance of this anniversary in three respects:
10 Years of an ANC Government
Since the democratic breakthrough of 1994, the ANC has faced the complex challenge of being a ruling SACP, assuming full and fearless responsibility for governing, while still remaining a broad-based national liberation movement. We know, from many examples around the world, that this is not a simple task. There are many lessons from many post-independence, developing societies and once-heroic struggles and revolutions: serious fault-lines develop between a governing stratum and popular mass forces, the massive challenges of under-development have often proved an overwhelming challenge, the hijacking and domination of the struggle by supposedly nationalist, rent-seeking bourgeoisies, abusing newly acquired state power for personal accumulation, and so on. In general, the ANC has managed the responsibility of governance whilst maintaining its character as a national liberation movement.
With these challenges in mind, the SACP congratulates the ANC government for its achievements in the last decade and during 2003:
Notwithstanding the dominance of capitalism in our country and the many challenges we face, we believe that these achievements take forward significantly the class interests of the workers and the poor.
In addition, our Party has been an active part of these struggles and efforts by poor people, workers and our ANC-led movement. The SACP is very proud that thousands of communists serve in many leading positions in government, in legislatures, in local councils, in parastatals, in trade unions, in the ANC, in social movements, in NGOs, and in various social institutions. Activism by our members in the work of government, our mass organisations, and our communities is a critical communist task and is our own contribution to the ANC-led National Democratic Revolution (NDR). Our 2003 Red October campaign sought to highlight the plight of farm workers, domestic workers and other vulnerable workers. The SACP-led financial sector campaign directly led to the development an adoption of the financial charter by the financial sector. The implementation of this charter and the 2002 financial sector summit agreements require ongoing mass struggles in which the SACP intends to play a part. Over a while now, the SACP has been consistently raising the need for the building of co-operatives. The GDS agreement and other developments have begun to lay the basis for the building of co-operatives. Through its work with the trade union movement, the SACP remains critical in the deepening of the socialist consciousness, outlook and struggles of the organised working class. In summary, all these SACP efforts are not parallel but complementary to the role of the ANC in our society and reaffirm that whilst the NDR is not necessarily a socialist struggle but this same NDR requires socialist perspectives and organisation for its deepening and consolidation particularly in the face of a hostile global environment and impact on our own domestic situation.
It is in this context that the ANC's 92nd anniversary must also be used to contribute to the 10-year review of the ANC government. The SACP endorses the broad thrust of government's ten year review process, and acknowledges with pride the very significant advances made in deepening democracy, unifying our country, and in major resource transfers to the poorest of the poor. We are proud that it is under an ANC government that where most progress has been made over the past decade was in areas in which the public sector has a direct role. The SACP is also proud that it is an ANC government that frankly acknowledges that, notwithstanding significant progress, the current levels of poverty and marginalisation are not sustainable: notably unemployment, poverty, HIV and AIDS all of which are linked to the systemic duality of our economy and society.
The Second Decade of Freedom: Deepen Working Class Struggles and Build Working Class Power
The ANC's 92nd anniversary is also an opportune moment to reflect on what the second decade of freedom holds for our country. The tone, content and shape of the second decade of our freedom and what it means for South Africa, that the ANC must continue to lead, are already being set by a number of recent and current important developments, including the following:
Given that the ANC remains the best and strategically placed organisation to lead the transformation of our country and the struggle to build a better life for all, the SACP will be throwing in its full organisational weight to ensure an overwhelming ANC elections victory. Apart from buttressing the ANC's own campaigning efforts, the SACP will primarily focus on the most marginalised sectors of the working class in all provinces to ensure an ANC victory. Our Party will also work to ensure that the working class, its perspectives and interests are central in the ANC-led election campaign. The SACP is pleased that all alliance partners agree that the issue of an Alliance approach and programme of implementation of the manifesto after the election is important. This requires an ongoing alliance programme of action.
Indeed, the 2004 ANC election manifesto and its implementation strategy will be one of the most important instruments with which to deepen and advance the NDR into the second decade of our freedom.
The masses of poor and working people, which the ANC is biased towards and largely represents, cannot be able to guide, lead and grapple with the as the second decade of our freedom, unless they consciously develop their capacity, confidence an programme to shape society in their own interests.
Therefore, a critical outcome during the second decade of freedom, in the view of our Party, is to ensure that the class interests of the main ANC constituency, poor and working people, are the main national interests. Poor and working people will have to build their capacity, confidence and programme in order to ensure that there is no policy, programme or key site of power and influence which is not shaped in terms of these class interests. First and foremost, this also means fundamentally changing and transforming the current accumulation regime
In other words, we cannot now be able to make any significant qualitative breakthrough in the NDR without qualitative breakthroughs in the economy, in favour of the workers and the poor.
In the same way that the locomotive and bedrock of the struggle against apartheid was the organised power of the working class, any further qualitative advances in the NDR is dependent on the power and political consciousness of that working class.
This also implies that more attention must be paid to the building of motive forces for rural transformation in order to drive and accelerate land and agrarian reform in favour of the poor rural masses and to roll back the power and influence of white agricultural capital.
Build the ANC-SACP-COSATU Alliance
All of the above requires the building and strengthening of the alliance politically and its constituent organisations in particular the ANC as the leader of this alliance. A stronger, democratic, vibrant and working class biased ANC is not an optional extra but a strategic necessity.
These challenges and outcomes are very much about the deepening and consolidation of the NDR that our 92-year old ANC continues to lead and must continue to lead. How the ANC and the alliance it leads grapple with these will be a necessary dimension towards building an even stronger ANC rooted in the mass of the workers and the poor of our country. It is within these realities that the challenges of a 92-year old ANC need to be located.
All the above essentially emphasise the need for the deepening of the strategic unity of the alliance which is as relevant as ever because of these challenges. We must especially build it from below and at all levels.
In this regard, we, collectively, must ensure the following:
In other words, the key is the capacity of the ANC to foster the unity of its diverse constituencies, and in particular the unity of the working class and the most marginalised and down-trodden, the urban and rural poor. The policies and programmes of action of the ANC must continue to be based on this bed-rock. It is on this basis that the ANC will continue to lead the tripartite alliance.
Once more, the SACP commits itself to strengthening our alliance with the ANC, and to strengthening the ANC itself. As South African communists we remain convinced that a strong, effective, mass-based and democratic ANC is the critical condition for the progressive elimination of the terrible legacy of racial oppression in our society. It is also the critical condition for the progressive and eventual elimination of all class exploitation and gender inequalities.
LONG LIVE THE ANC! LONG LIVE THE ANC-LED ALLIANCE!