10 August 2011
The South African Communist Party met with its Botswana counterpart, the Botswana National Front (BNF) at the SACP headquarters in Braamfontein on August 9. The BNF delegation was led by its President Comrade Duma Boko with the SACP delegation led by Political Bureau member, Comrade Solly Mapaila.
The bilateral meeting discussed issues of common concern and undertook a joint assessment of the regional and international situation. The meeting deliberated on the long historic relations between the SACP and BNF which are shaped by fraternal and mutual respect of each other`s views and political actions.
The two parties agreed that they share common yet different political experiences in struggles aimed at overcoming the deep-seated social, political and economic challenges in our respective countries.
In recognition of this fact, the parties reaffirmed the commitment tocontinuous exchanges of experience on tackling the legacy of our colonial past and to take up joint campaigns against contemporary challenges posed by the persistence of semi-colonial economic structures and the neo-liberal reorganisation of our national economies, to promote the culture of democracy and human rights, and to contribute to regional and international peace.
Our parties further undertook to locate, as a critical site of our political cooperation, the sharing of ideological training, research and to cooperate on party building, media and to promote progressive internationalism in the region, to support both the peoples of Swaziland and Zimbabwe, and provide solidarity to Western Sahara, Palestine and Cuba. A specific effort will be made into furthering our analysis of the North Africa and the Middle East regions of imperialist conflict.
The signing of a memorandum of cooperation between the two fraternal organisations after many years of bilateral relationship will help deepen and strengthen our relations.
The SACP reaffirmed its perspective of a democratic struggle in South Africa to build working class hegemony in all sites of power in order to advance, deepen and defend the ANC-led national democratic revolution. Comrade Boko, for his part, indicated that the BNF would be contesting elections in 2014 with a view not to installing itself as a ruling party, but to enable workers and peasants to assume the role of a ruling class alliance, capable of liberating Botswana from the clutches of neo-colonialism and neo-liberal politics.
For more information contact:
SACP: Mhlekwa Nxumalo, +27-725177761, mhlekwanxumalo@yahoo.com
BNF: Moeti Mohwasa, +267-72256959, mcmohwasa@yahoo.co.uk