5 January 2016
The South African Communist Party (SACP) in Phillip Radebe District in Mpumalanga province met on 2 January 2016 to discuss new challenges and opportunities facing the Party and the working class in the district.
The DEC received a Political Input from the Provincial Executive Committee, as well as a Political Report from the District Secretariat. The report dealt with, among others, the international balance of forces, the corporate capture of the democratic state by the Guptas and other corporate networks, monopoly capital and its private accumulation of wealth at the expense of the working class and our nation, the paralysis that has engulfed our movement, as headed by the ANC, and the looting of State Owned Entities and public resources.
The meeting also received a report from the Augmented Central Committee meeting of the SACP which was held in December 2016.
SACP, State and Popular Power
Following a rigorous engagement, the DEC noted that all these factors have greatly altered the balance of forces in the country and that there was a need to roll back the corporate capture by the Guptas and monopoly capital, both domestic and foreign and its accumulation agenda.
The DEC reaffirmed that the only progressive organisation - which is at the same time revolutionary - that has the political legitimacy to lead the development of working class democratic hegemony in all sites of power, is the South African Communist Party.
The DEC therefore reaffirmed the correctness of, and further pledged the SACP's commitment to the resolution of the 9th Mpumalanga Provincial Congress, that the Party must contest state power by directly fielding of its own candidates and working class manifesto in 2019 elections.
To this effect, the SACP in the district will be embarking on vigorous campaign to build the Party ever more powerful with the capacity to mobilise the working class and its dependable allies behind the SACP and to build momentum and capacity for a socialist state power and transition from the prevailing capitalist barbarism, corruption, looting and all manner of economic and political exploitation of the working class.
The DEC supported the call by the Augmented Central Committee meeting for an investigation into State Owned Enterprises, and in addition in the province of Mpumalanga, the Mpumalanga Economic Growth Agency which received a Disclaimer from the Auditor General.
Joe Slovo Right to Learn Campaign
In honouring the memory of our former General Secretary, National Chairperson and the founding commander of the joint SACP-ANC military wing uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK), along with former President Nelson Mandela, the former Chief of Staff of the MK and first Minister of Housing after our 1994 democratic breakthrough, Comrade Joe Slovo, an intellectual of the working class par excellence, the district will be launching the Joe Slovo Right To Learn Campaign at Masibekela in Nkomazi on 7 January 2017.
During this campaign, the SACP will be conducting an audit of all schools in the districts to determine compliance and progress with the National Minimum Norms and Standards for school Infrastructure which was unveiled by government in 2008.
The campaign also aims to encourage learners to take advantage of the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) and to apply for admission at universities and colleges as early as possible and by the end of September each year, as well as to ensure that all the problems linked to the "FeesMustFall" campaign are addressed early.
The events will culminate to the Joe Slovo Memorial Lecture which was disrupted by hooligans wearing ANC regalia on 25 January 2015 at Kanyamazane Community Hall, which will be addressed by a Member of the Central Committee.
Kanyamazane Siege Report
The DEC noted with concern the failure of the ANC to release the report on the violent attacks at the SACP's Joe Slovo Memorial Lecture by ANC hooligans on 25 January 2015 at Kanyamazane.
The DEC described this lack of action on the part of the ANC as a perpetuation of a culture of arrogance and impunity. The SACP in the district is left with no option but to publicly name and shame the perpetrators of this crime against the SACP.
Umbhaba, Lily Mine and Visagie Farm
Lily Mine: The DEC noted with concern misinterpretation of facts by the minister of Minerals Resources, Mosebenzi Zwane, on the compensation of the Lily Mine workers who were affected by the closure of the mine.
On 13 February 2016, the minister promised to pay the families of the three trapped workers R200 000 each, and R50 000 to the 75 rescued workers, but almost a year later that promise has not been kept.
The SACP is calling on the President to reprimand Mosebenzi Zwane and make sure relevant government departments help alleviate the problems faced by the workers who were affected by the closure of the mine.
In the same breadth, the DEC condemned the attitude of the Lily Mine management and their failure to rescue and or to recover the bodies of the mineworkers who were trapped underground and have since never been rescued or recovered.
Umbhaba and Visagie farm
The DEC reaffirmed the resolution of the 4th District Congress to support all the campaigns by the workers of Umbhaba and Visagie Farm who were dismissed for demanding their constitutional right to join a trade union, some of whom have been out of work for almost four years.
The DEC acknowledged the support from other alliance structures, such as the ANC and COSATU by adopting a non-sectarian approach in assisting the affected workers in all the above-mentioned companies.
Anti-corruption campaign
4 January 2016 marked the 8th anniversary of the brutal killing of Comrade Jimmy Mohlala. It was on this day that Mohlala's family lost a husband and a father, and the people of Mbombela local municipality lost the Speaker when assassins shot and killed Mohlala at his home.
The DEC committed the SACP to relentlessly intensify the fight against corruption in the province, and will hold commemorative events in honour of Cde Jimmy Mohlala's bravery by exposing the corruption linked to the construction of the Mbombela Stadium.
The DEC will approach the relevant institutions to request them to investigate the reasons behind the collapse of all corruption cases in Mpumalanga.
The SACP believes that there's a link between corruption and the political killings in Mpumalanga province, and therefore any failure to pursue the corruption cases is giving assassins a license to kill.
105th Anniversary of the ANC
The DEC congratulated the ANC on its 105th anniversary and will thus be mobilising communists in the district to participate in the celebrations that will be taking place in Gauteng province on 8 January 2017.
Issued by the SACP Phillip Radebe District
Contact:
Bhorbert Nkosi - District Secretary
Mobile: (072) 520 1647
Bongani Mavuso - District Spokesperson
Mobile: (079) 810 3822