13 June 2016
The South African Communist Party (SACP) in the Western Cape Province convened its June Provincial Council in Phillipi, Cape Town. Provincial Councils provide a regular platform for SACP members to discuss and implement our political programme as well receive reports from the 7th Provincial Congress PEC. The meeting of SACP members and activists from across the province occurred at a vital period in our struggle for Socialism.
The council received a report outlining the recent decisions of the Central Committee (CC) from our CC deployee in the Province, Comrade Sheila Barsel. This input, together with the presentation of the office bearer reports, formed the basis of the council`s discussions
The council also paid tribute to our cadres that have recently passed away, including Comrade Xolile Nelson " Marwewu" Mbekutshe, the Provincial Chairperson of MKVA.
The council condemned targeted political assassinations of SACP and ANC members in KZN and other provinces. As the SACP we also convey our condolences to the working class family in Mitchells Plain who tragically lost 9 members of their family in a fire on Saturday.
The international context
Our council recognised the continued effects of 2008/9 cyclical capitalist crisis on workers and the poor across the globe. Developing economies including BRICS nations face a tough 2017. Economies of sovereign states are at the mercy of the global north. Attempts by well-resourced media houses and corporate sponsored politicians have reversed many progressive social advancements in Latin America, including Argentina, Brazil and Venezuela. Military drills on the borders of NATO states and the Russian Federation are a product of the political and economic manoeuvres between heavily militarised nations.
The council recognised the ongoing struggle of the Cuban revolution. The release of the Cuban 5 was a major victory and culmination of campaigns and programmes by the Party, the alliance and various progressive organisations including FOCUS. The SACP, however, reiterated the call for the immediate closure of Guantanamo Bay detention and torture centre and the return of that land to the Cuban people. The council also expressed its concern on the volatile political situation in certain African states which in most cases has not only destabilised governments but also spilled over into neighbouring states. SACP members also acknowledged attempts to disseminate fear by the USA and Brtish embassies, issuing terror alerts in tourist hubs in Cape Town and Johannesburg.
The national context
This international political and economic instability also finds space within our domestic context. Ratings agencies have held our economy in the palms of their hands over the past few months. This fragile scenario is further challenged by recent unilateral decisions without consultation and the collective participation of the Alliance. This has resulted in corporate interests benefiting from and deliberately causing instability in our economy.
Corrupting and corporate capture in parts of the state and in our own movement are a major concern to the SACP in the province. In May, our branches were convened across Western Cape to discuss this phenomena and its effect on our Alliance, the state and our organisational structures. We reiterate the approach of our Central Committee, that corporate capture and the influence of business on our formations undermine organisational processes and divert our strategic objectives of the National Democratic Revolution.
The council committed to broadening the implementation of the discussions from our 3rd Special National Congress on the reconfiguration of the Alliance.
The provincial context
The historical and structural economic segregation of racialised classes in the province have been entrenched by the neo-liberal Democratic Alliance. Every day, the working class in the Western Cape faces evictions, displacement, gangsterism and drugs and all of the negative social and economic effects of the triple crisis of unemployment, poverty and inequality. This open and arrogant neo-liberal aggression against workers and the poor have not properly been challenged by the alliance. Divisions of leadership, factional politics and attempts at corporate capture have led to demobilised and non-campaigning branch structures.
The SACP firmly stands by our commitment to lead and support the struggles of working class communities, including progressive campaigns by issue-based formations. The council, however, decided that our members must prevent and expose those who use the desperate plight of our people for populist and careerist reasons.
The councillor candidates list process in the province has been characterised by a massive number of appeals and complaints by members and the community. Disgruntled members of the ANC have been demonstrating outside regional and provincial offices on a daily basis. Considering the current political and organisational challenges in the Western Cape and the upcoming 2016 local government elections, the council, therefore, decided on the urgent need to convene regular bilateral meetings with the leading component of the alliance, the ANC. We appeal to the ANC to convene relevant platforms for its membership to discuss and resolve upon post-list process challenges. The manipulation and administrative negligence during the list process, particularly in the Boland Region, must be dealt with decisively by the ANC. In this regard we call for the suspension of the Regional Secretary of the ANC pending an investigation into this process. The council discussed the danger of our alliance structures and provincial and local leaders being used by corporations and individuals who drive agendas based on patronage, nepotism and the looting of state resources.
The council recognised the independence of the SACP as the vanguard of the working class for socialism. In this regard, SACP members in the province resolved that the immediate task is to support and assist the ANC campaign during the local government elections. Our stance is informed by our current shared perspective of the National Democratic Revolution and the recent analysis of our Central Committee on the current state of the alliance. The SACP has always ensured that our organisation is strengthened and built during the elections period. We will be intensifying the deployment of our Red Brigades in all strategic wards and municipalities in the province to compliment the ANC`s election campaign.
The council resolved to continue our focus on mobilising and recruiting women and youth. Institutions of higher learning have experienced heightened activism of young people, workers and academics. The necessity of the Party organisationally to contest these key sites of struggle and support the rebuilding of the YCLSA in the province is our immediate task.
Issued SACP Western Cape
Contact:
Masonwabe Sokoyi - SACP Western Cape Provincial Spokesperson
Cell: 0815846138/ 0765243242
Office: 021 696 2522
Fax: 086 558 2481
Twitter: @SACPWC
Facebook: SACP Western Cape
Email : sacpwc.media@gmail.com