SACP and Cosatu bilateral strategic session joint statement

14 June 2016

The collective leadership of the South African Communist Party and Congress of South African Trade Union met on Monday 13 June 2016 in Johannesburg, in a bilateral strategic session. The socialist axis exchanged analyses on the political situation in South Africa, the conditions facing the working class and the shared perspective of the need to place the national democratic revolution on to a second, more radical phase.

The SACP and Cosatu reaffirmed the need, at all times, to guard against attempts to drive a wedge between the two working class organisations. Both the SACP and Cosatu recognise that no other class can best represent the objective interests of the workers and the poor other than the working class itself. A lot in the unfolding political situation underlines the importance of an increased necessity for the SACP and Cosatu to work even more closely, defend their unity and develop it further.

The meeting tasked the national officials of the SACP and national office bearers of Cosatu to meet and develop a comprehensive perspective on the international and domestic balance of forces in relation to the challenges and opportunities facing national democratic revolution, our direct route to socialism.

The SACP and Cosatu reaffirmed their commitment to continue building working class hegemony in all key sites of struggle and to work together to overcome the challenges facing the workers, the unemployed and the poor. The basic aim of this joint programme is to deepen democratisation, revolutionary social transformation and ensure that no significant centre of power in our society is able to exercise its power without the presence, input and influence of the working class.

Both our formations launched a programme of rolling mass action in Durban on 23 April in defence of working class interests and their advancement. The meeting reaffirmed the need to proceed and deepen this programme across all provinces.

This includes taking forward the following joint campaigns:

A comprehensive social security.
The National Health Insurance and defending it from being captured or distorted by private corporate interests.
The national minimum wage and in-sourcing.
Transformation of the financial sector, including working together to prepare for the convening of the second financial sector transformation summit by the National Economic Development and Labour Council (Nedlac).
Campaign for Nedlac to convene a national jobs summit to address the persistent crisis of the high level of unemployment. Unemployment is presently at its highest in eleven years since 2005 as result of a combination of external, in particular, international capitalist system crisis, historical and internal factors.
As part of preparing for the Nedlac national jobs summit, the SACP and Cosatu will convene a bilateral national jobs summit to develop joint perspectives on job creation. The summit will therefore confront, as an internal factor, the fact that no notable movement has been made to implement the 2013 national alliance summit declaration to review the National Development Plan in accordance with the genuine concerns raised by the SACP and Cosatu about its economic and labour policy content.

Both our organisations will continue working together to defend Cosatu affiliates from attacks such as those presently directed at the South African Democratic Teachers Union in the so-called jobs for cash report.

The SACP and Cosatu agreed to deepen the fight against corruption and corporate capture of the state and our broader movement.

This includes a fight against factionalism, social distance from the membership and mass base, patronage and distortion of internal democracy.

Our formations fully support the ANC in the forthcoming local government elections and will campaign to ensure its overwhelming electoral victory!

SACP and Cosatu leaders and members will be all over the country, door-to-door in every community, in rural and urban areas campaigning for this outcome.

Issued by the SACP and Cosatu

Sizwe Pamla (National Spokesperson)
Congress of South African Trade Unions
Tel: +27 11 339-4911 Direct 010 219-1339
Mobile: 060 975 6794
E-Mail: sizwe@cosatu.org.za

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