27 April 2004
The South African Communist Party (SACP) believes that the new South African Cabinet, to be announced by President Thabo Mbeki tomorrow, must be judged on the basis of its collective and individual commitment and actual performance in the struggle to address the key interests of the workers and the poor. The mandate of the people to the new cabinet is to press ahead with the transformation of our society in their own favour as the workers and the poor.
This government's mandate is built fundamentally on the energies, aspirations, commitment and organisation of millions of workers and the poor, those who live in dusty townships, in sprawling peri-urban settlements, in rural villages and homesteads.
Foremost in the interests and aspirations of this constituency is job creation, poverty eradication and fighting the HIV/AIDS pandemic. Therefore, for the Communist Party these three priorities are the basis upon which to interact with, support and assess the new cabinet. There must be no cabinet and government priority, decision and programme which is not informed by these three priorities.
The trust placed by our people on an ANC-led government is not something to be taken for granted. To reiterate, moving forward, it cannot be a matter of "business as usual". In the coming months and years, special attention must be given to local-level governance, to local economic development, to building sustainable communities.
Essential in all of this must be dynamic and popular contact between our government and our mass base - this must be sustained through active engagements and community-based programmes of action and people-driven government programmes. The new cabinet has a central responsibility in this regard.
The SACP will play its role to mobilise the working class to take responsibility for the government it elected, by ensuring that, through its organised muscle and mass base, it is in the forefront of the struggle to create jobs, eradicate poverty and fight the HIV/AIDS pandemic. The SACP believes that the workers and the poor are the leading social force in driving further the transformation programme. Therefore the workers and the poor must ensure that this government is primarily be for their benefit and not any other social class.
The SACP will work to ensure that this perspective informs the work, priorities and programmes of the new cabinet. In other words, there must be no cabinet and government decision, priority and programme which does not place the aspirations and interests of the workers and the poor as the foremost priority and consideration.
CONTACT
Mazibuko Kanyiso Jara (surname Jara)
Head of the Office of the General Secretary
South African Communist Party
Tel - + 27 11 339 3621, Fax - +27 11 339 4244/6880
Cell - +83 651 0271
Email - mazibuko@sacp.org.za