South African Communist Party Red-Lines First National Bank

27 October 2004

Today, the South African Communist Party (SACP) in the Province of the Eastern Cape held picket demonstrations in front of all the four major Banks. These pickets targeted the main branch of the First National Bank in East London (Oxford street) and in Idutywa. These pickets constitute the first in a string of other pickets that will be staged as part of the National Red October Campaign. In the East London picket, the demonstrators sealed off FNB with a red ribbon as a symbol of red-lining the banks against their ongoing discriminatory practices.

The National Red October campaign was launched at the University of Fort Hare on 30 September 2004 with a Inaugural Joe Slovo Memorial Lecture whose focus was "The Land and the Agrarian Question in Africa in the 21st Century". Launching the campaign the General Secretary of the SACP Dr Blade Nzimande explained that this year's campaign had the following three central demands:

• Access to productive land for household based subsistence, small scale farming and agricultural co-operatives
• Farm workers' rights and access to basic services
• A national land summit, possibly preceded by provincial summits, to evaluate the first ten years of land reform, set a programme for its acceleration and for the voice of the workers and rural poor be heard

Giving effect to this campaign the Eastern Cape Province of the SACP is engaged in a variety of activities including picket demonstrations, blitzes in major city centres, Public Meetings and radio talk shows. All these will culminate into a provincial march to be held on 6 November 2004. Other pickets will be held in King Williams Town on Saturday 30 October 2004.

This year's theme for the Red October Campaign is "MAWUBUYE UMHLABA! FOOD, JOBS, LAND"

Issued by: South African Communist Party Eastern Cape Province

Contact: Mandla Makhuphula: Provincial Secretary - 084 446 7918 Xolile Nqata: Amatole District Secretary- 082 419 5307