Political Input by the Central Committee To the North West 4th Provincial
Congress of the SACP
Delivered by Willie Madisha - Member of the Central Committee of the SACP
25 May 2001
Comrade Chairperson,
Provincial Leadership,
Leaders of the Alliance,
Delegates to this Provincial Council,
I bring revolutionary warm greetings and good wishes from the General Secretary, the Political Bureau and Central Committee of the South African Communist Party (SACP). These leadership structures of our Party have deployed me to deliver the main political input to this fourth Provincial Congress of the SACP in the North West Province.
1. THIS PROVINCIAL CONGRESS IS OUR REVOLUTIONARY COUNCIL TO BUILD A BETTER SACP
This Congress takes place a few weeks after the celebration of May Day. This May Day and recent developments since the beginning of the year 2001 mark the continuing and fierce contestations of the class trajectory of our revolution locally and internationally. Once more recent developments locally and internationally re-affirm the need and role of a strong and independent SACP in the context of our revolutionary alliance with the ANC and COSATU.
A central focus of this Congress will be on party building, accelerated implementation of our Party programme as well as the role of Party leadership at all levels in executing these tasks. The focus on these issues is necessitated by a number of interrelated factors. Firstly, the challenges facing the National Democratic Revolution and the national liberation movement at this point in time necessitates the strengthening of our structures, both the individual components of the Alliance and the Alliance as a collective.
We need to acknowledge in this Congress and salute the work that has been done by our Party cadres in dutifully implementing the Party programme and decisions. Our financial sector and co-ops campaigns would not continue being such a success had it not been for the dedication and selfless commitment of our Party cadres to the implementation of our Programme. Many communists in this Congress and other structures have set an example in their work in the ANC, COSATU, other mass formations, government and inside our Party structures. We need to multiply these examples and cadres in order to ensure that we truly build the SACP as the vanguard of South Africa's working class.
The achievements and gains we have made have truly entrenched the SACP in the hearts and minds of the working people and poor in our country, and we have continued to grow the support of the SACP amongst the mass of the overwhelming majority of our people, in particular the organised working class and the poor. Even more important is that we have made these advances and achievements with the minimal of financial and human resources. We are truly building the Party of Moses Kotane, Dora Tamana, JB Marks, Joe Slovo and Chris Hani to face the challenges of the 21st century! We need to use this Congress as yet another platform to advance and deepen this work for national liberation and socialism.
However these positive achievements should not detract from the fact that there are still a number of weaknesses and deficiencies in the functioning of our structures at all levels. We still have a problem of very uneven Party work between and within provinces and districts, and the Congress shall return to these issues and address them in detail.
In terms of the SACP's own Programme for 2001, this Congress takes place after two important Central Committee meetings which took place in February and May. These meetings accomplished a number of important tasks including:
This Provincial Congress is therefore a critical point in the history of the Party in this Province. Through this Congress we will evaluate the extent to which all Party structures in the Province implement the political mandate which we all derive from our Constitution and the 10th Congress Party Programme. On this basis we will also put in place a new leadership capable of overcoming any weaknesses, building a strong SACP and consolidating the implementation of our political mandate.
We refer to all these in order to communicate one central message from the national leadership of the SACP - this 4th Provincial Congress of the SACP in the North West Province is critical in the implementation of the SACP Programme, the consolidation of the SACP, and in enhancing the role and contribution of the SACP in all aspects of broader society all throughout the North West Province and the country as a whole. Therefore we cannot dare under-estimate this Congress, the reports and inputs it will receive and the substantial discussions and resolutions which it must undertake.
Most importantly, this Provincial Congress comes before the Party celebrates 80 years of its existence during the month of July. Already, the North West Province is advanced with its preparations to mark this month through a rally at Madikwe Village in Rustenburg, the birthplace of our former and late General Secretary, Comrade Moses Kotane.
In one word, our tasks as Communists are massive. It is therefore my hope that this political input, which consists basically of reflections and assessments made by your national leadership, will set the correct revolutionary tone for the Congress and the tasks before it. Through this input and the Congress as a whole we must prepare the Province for the 11th National Congress of our Party due in July 2002, direct the new Provincial Executive Committee and all our structures towards a Plan of Action which takes the SACP in our Province forward.
2. POSITIVE DEVELOPMENTS OVER THE LAST 12 TO 18 MONTHS AND THE CHALLENGE OF BUILDING A PEOPLE'S ECONOMY
Over the recent period there have truly been, from the point of view of the SACP, some important developments that we need to take account of.
Firstly, the ANC's NGC adopted some far-reaching resolutions, principally acknowledging that macro-economic stability is not a sufficient condition for economic growth and development. To this end the NGC directed the attention of the movement to micro-economic questions, such as infrastructural investment and the mobilisation of domestic capital that required equal if not more attention than issues of macro-economic stability, if we are to accelerate change and development in our country.
The above perspective emanating from the NGC was translated into the President's state of the nation address, which pointed to specific projects and programmes on a state-led infra-structural investment programme. This was immediately followed by details in the 2001 budget speech around urban renewal and integrated rural development programmes to the tune of over R6 billion over the next three years, though the budget was still constrained by the GEAR framework. To us this was an important signal, albeit a cautious shift away from some of the GEAR constraints thus laying a basis for moving towards a consensus in the Alliance. This was in line with our emphasis on mobilising and co-ordinating domestic resources as a basis for economic development and attracting foreign investment. Whilst we should not necessarily be over-optimistic about the speed with which we can emerge with an intra-Alliance economic consensus, nevertheless we should continue to foster this kind of approach by our movement and government.
The state of the nation address was preceded by a decisive ANC's electoral victory in the local government elections, despite some problems in the lead up to these elections. Of major importance to us as the SACP was the fact that this electoral victory was won on the basis of a manifesto that committed the movement to the provision of a free amount of lifeline services to our people. At our last CC we had already emphasised that this was an important breakthrough and that we should ensure that the implementation of this commitment should be speeded up with priority given to the poor areas of our country. For us as the SACP these commitments were important as building blocks for socialism as well as the rolling back of the capitalist market in the provision of basic services.
The new local government system in itself marked a decisive departure with the past in that it was the first truly non-racial and democratic system of local government being put in place. The redefinition of a municipality to include the community - partly expressed through the concept and institution of ward committees - was an important innovation and realisation of some of the long-standing struggles and demands of our people for building people's power at local level.
All the above have been taking place against the background of a growing challenge to the dominance of the Washington consensus internationally, marking the deepening of the crisis of the hegemony of the neo-liberal paradigm of economic growth. The upsurge of mass struggles, as evidenced during May Day 2001, against imperialist globalisation and the IMF's own admission of the weaknesses of its prescriptions and conditionalities, are all indications of the changing mood of ordinary people against capitalist barbarism. Our own victory against the pharmaceutical companies adds impetus to the international struggles against imperialism.
The success and popularity of our very own campaigns for the transformation of the financial sector is an indication of the potential for mobilisation of the mass of ordinary people against imperialist domination, thus adding significantly to mass-driven campaigns to build an economy oriented towards serving the mass of the ordinary working and poor people - a people's economy!
The capitalist character of South African society, and the simultaneous deepening of economic restructuring brought forward by, inter alia, the globalisation of the capitalist economy, in the context of the liberation movement being in power, have focused our realities to the importance of the economic question more than ever before. In particular, as we have noted before, the contradiction of seeking to transform the apartheid political, social and economic order in the context of the deepening capitalist character of the national and international conjunctures, has further sharpened the centrality of the question of economic transformation in deepening the NDR.
Underlying the economic debate has been the deepening of the ideological dominance of the neo-liberal ideology in our own country, in particular its own South African version, which at our 2000 Strategy Conference, we appropriately characterised as Afro neo-liberalism. This combines an aggressive black African petty bourgeois agenda through the acceptance of neo-liberalism, provided it works to create an accumulation regime favourable to its own class interests. Afro neo-liberalism restricts Black Economic Empowerment to the creation of a black capitalist class, and the use of the state in a parasitic manner whereby it is used as an instrument for black capital accumulation. Afro neo-liberalism would also support privatisation as a means to hand over to this class some of the state assets for its own purposes of accumulation and to enter the ranks of the capitalist class.
Broadly, this neo-liberal agenda is no different to the global capitalist agenda of marginalising, if not weakening, the working class as a basis upon which to grow our economy. This neo-liberal offensive argues that the black working class is a spoilt "elite", an "aristocracy" that is only interested in its own "selfish" interests at the expense of the unemployed poor. This ideological offensive serves to mask the real agenda behind such attacks, that the working class has to be weakened, not because it is actually an aristocracy, but because it is a threat to the consolidation of post-apartheid South Africa as a capitalist society. Neo-liberalism ideologically projects itself as more concerned about the poor, when in fact the category "poor" is conveniently used to attack the real potential obstacle to capital accumulation, a strong, organised and united black working class which is actually constituted by the overwhelming by the majority of our people including formally and informally employed workers in all sectors of the economy, and unemployed workers. Afro-neo-liberalism correctly emphasises the urgency of tackling racial inequalities and racism in our society, but conveniently forgets that the very same black working class is an even worse victim of racism, rather than being an aristocracy of any sorts. Instead the real aristocrats, white monopoly capital, are not even mentioned, except in so far as to how they should be encouraged and given incentives to support the creation of a black capitalist class. Thus a new type of anti-working class, and typically compradorial-type relationship and dependence is created between white finance monopoly capital and the black petty bourgeoisie.
It is for these reasons that the SACP argues for a people's economy which seeks, in the first instance, to challenge the logic of the capitalist market whilst simultaneously building elements of and momentum towards socialism, in line with our Programme. A people's economy places the eradication of poverty at the centre of economic restructuring; strengthening the role of the state in directing major economic resources towards meeting the basic needs of our people; challenging the dominance of the capitalist market in the allocation of resources; intensification of our ideological challenge to, and critique of, neo-liberalism; and much more importantly harnessing the energies of the working class and the poor towards economic transformation. This focus on building a people's economy is in line with the 10th Congress Programme and the 1999 and 2000 Strategy Conference discussions and resolutions.
Therefore the central question for this Congress revolves around what programmes and measures we are putting in place as Communists in this province to build a people's economy. The campaign against job losses, the banks and co-ops campaigns provide us with some direction. Let us use this Congress to consolidate these campaigns and build a people's economy.
3. UNITY OF THE MOVEMENT AND THE ALLIANCE IS OUR MAIN WEAPON TO CONSOLIDATE OUR GAINS
The SACP emphasises the unity of our movement and alliance as our main weapon to defeat counter-revolutionary attacks and consolidate our gains. This includes the need for a continuos and systematic analysis of the enemies and/or opponents of our revolution. In this discussion we need to warn against the dangers that we ourselves might be wittingly or unwittingly playing to the agenda of these forces by failing to effectively communicate and co-ordinate our efforts within the Alliance.
One of the unique features of the South African revolution at this point in time is that the national liberation movement still enjoys, by far, the support of the broadest range of progressive forces. At the centre of this movement is the Tripartite Alliance, standing together with a whole range of other progressive student, church and other social formations and enjoying a two-thirds majority of South Africa's electorate.
However, despite all the above positive developments, attacks against the democratic government have increased. These attacks point to one reality, that the media, especially large sections of the print media, in South Africa has generally positioned itself as an opposition to the democratic government.
Coupled with this there are intensified attacks on the working class, particularly its organised formations and its most popular leaders, globally and locally. The continuing job losses, restructuring of the economy in favour of bourgeois and imperialist class interests, threaten to erode and render meaningless the enormous gains made by South Africa's working class since the democratic breakthrough of 1994.
Further, instead of acting to strengthen such a broad range of support, we seem to be indecisive or hesitant about how to hold together and deepen the unity of this broad range of progressive forces. In many instances we act as if we are under siege, true as this might be at particular moments and without undermining the threats from our enemies, instead of confidently building on this massive support from the overwhelming majority of our people. This first indication of this indecisiveness is essentially the non-functionality of the Alliance as the driving force and coherent centre of the national democratic revolution. The lack of effective co-ordination and consultation within the Alliance is debilitating what is potentially the most potent forces for taking forward the NDR at this point in time. The fact that we have established co-ordinating structures - like the Alliance Secretariat plus the Presidency - yet they do not meet, might as well represent a squandering of huge opportunities to unite the widest range of progressive forces to advance to revolution. The dangers in squandering such a unique opportunity is that we might not find ourselves ever again in such a position, and indeed this would constitute a serious historical mistake that might cost us dearly in the future.
As this Congress we need to honestly and seriously debate to what extent are we increasingly pre-occupied with suspicions against one another instead of decisively forging unity to collectively advance and deepen the NDR. The very unfortunate and inept incident of sowing mistrust amongst the leadership and rank and file of the movement through careless spreading of rumours about each other is one example of how we can squander this unique historical opportunity to build genuine unity of the movement.
Even more disturbing is the extent to which the movement has allowed itself to be divided around conspiratorial stories and rumours on who is "pro" or "anti" President Thabo Mbeki, thus allowing all sorts of opportunistic and careerist manoeuvres in the name of the President. In the process, not only have we allowed the name of the President to be dragged into such squabbles, but might really create divisions that might lead to permanent camps and factionalist activity in the movement.
The ANC NGC warned against the danger of the development of a parasitic, usually patriarchal, petty bourgeoisie that uses elected office for purposes of advancing its narrow career interests and personal accumulation. This is not only restricted to local levels of government, but across all spheres of government. One feature of this parasitic petty bourgeoisie is disdain for the masses, and in many instances themselves have no social base, but rely on state apparatuses to advance their cause. They become scared of the masses and seek to discredit any genuine mass based activity. As a result, this parasitic class is characterised by political insecurity thus tending to fear mass-based unity and instead rely on bureaucratic closing of ranks whenever their interests are threatened. Furthermore, their control over state apparatuses is dependent not on a genuine mass or social base but on creating disunity in the movement as the only means to maintain their influence and positions.
As communists we have a duty and responsibility to honestly and frankly interrogate these questions, for the sake of our revolution, our people, and the unity of our movement. The one big challenge for our Party is to ceaselessly work for the unity of the movement and rise above factionalist and careerist activities, whilst at the same time raising and constructively confronting these problems.
4. DEEPENING AND SAFEGUARDING THE UNITY OF OUR PARTY AND THE MOVEMENT AS A WHOLE IS OUR MOST IMPORTANT WEAPON
It is for all the reasons that we emphasise the need to deepen and safeguard the unity of our Party and the movement as a whole.
Related to this is the need for all Party structures to remain accountable to, and actually implement the programme of our Party in practice. Failure to do this will represent failure to understand the tasks of our movement as a whole and the historic role we should play as Communists.
One of the most important task in consolidating and building a strong and unified SACP and movement is that of fighting and defeating ideological opportunism within and outside the SACP and or movement as a whole.
Ideological opportunism, albeit a minority phenomenon, manifests itself in several ways as already argued above. On of its key tendencies is that of seeking to opportunistically discredit the Party where the interests of those discredit us are being best served by such behaviour. This includes attacking the Party in other structures, including the media. If we are to be honest with ourselves the root cause of ideological opportunism is careerism. This tendency is reinforced by a perception that in order to rise within the ANC one has to opportunistically sacrifice the interests of the SACP in order to gain positions of influence or power in the ANC or government. It is indeed time that we openly discuss and expose this tendency within the ranks of our Party, as a basis for deepening inner-Party unity.
Another related tendency is that of the vulgarisation of Marxism-Leninism - the ideological and theoretical guide to our Party activities - that which seeks to reinterpret it to mean the adoption of some of neo-liberal positions in the name of dealing with the reality of imperialist globalisation and dominance of private capital. By pointing this out we are by no means suggesting suppression of debate or continuous reinterpretation of Marxism, but this should be done in order to enhance the programmatic commitments of the SACP.
In addition to these intra-Party matters, this Congress must also discuss, once more questions relating to the Alliance and our bilateral relations with the ANC and COSATU. One of these is what is referred to as the issue of multiple mandates. As the SACP we have consistently and correctly respected the mandates of Party members that they are expected to implement when working in other formations or structures, whether it be government or other organisations. But what we have not adequately asked for is the extent to which those Party members, in executing mandates of other structures or formations, have also sought to advance Party perspectives or bothered to consult the Party on those.
Is it not incumbent on Party members to seek the advice and engage the Party around issues where their mandates in other formations are clearly in contradiction with Party positions, so that these are raised in the Alliance and with relevant formations for discussion and debate? This is how we have always understood the duty of communists in national liberation struggles and alliances.
In instances where Party leaders and cadres have had to implement decisions that are not consistent with some of the SACP's policy positions, we have been absolutely principled in defending such comrades within the context of our Party's long-standing understanding and approach to alliances. But we, in turn, expect our comrades to take responsibility to seek to engage and advise the Party in such instances, with a view to dealing with these potential tensions and contradictions.
5. KICK OUT RACISM - BOYCOTT RACIST FARMERS, SHOPS AND PRODUCTS
It would be amiss of me not to deal with the question of racism in our country. In the main we hear about attacks against farmers. But stories about the daily suffering of black workers at the hands of racists are not in the limelight as they should be. This must come to an end because racism remains a grave reality in our country.
But we must not only mourn racism. We must act. Whilst they are racist against us they still expect us to work for them in harsh conditions in the farms, in the mines, in shops, basically racists control major aspects of our economy. Even worse, they expect us to buy their products from their shops and garages. Bayadelela.
For these reasons, the South African Communist Party calls for a massive campaign against racism. We call for a consumer boycott of all racist farmers and products. We cannot host the World Racism Conference in the midst of racism which is only sanitised in the media. We must act. We must march to that conference to exspose and deal a blow against racism. If Chris was here he would be at the head of this campaign. It was Chris Hani running the length and breadth of this country from one farm to the next rural area talking and mobilising our people against racism and for a better life.
We call on this Congress to work out the modalities of the consumer boycott we are calling for so that we can launch it during our Red October campaign this year.
We must also unionise workers in farms and educate them about their rights. Ultimately, it is farmwrokers who will liberate themselves from racism and oppression.
But the fight against racism is not only about racism. Behind racism is class power, is capitalism which we must not even hesitate to strike blows against at every turn and advance our cause of socialism. It is capitalism, the greed of a few to exploit the rest of us, which lies at the core of racism. It was therefore not enough for Chris just to fight racism, but he was also a communist challenging capitalism and the bosses.
6. CONCLUSION
We are raising all these issues to the Congress in order to emphasise one point - there are clearly increasing challenges facing the SACP in providing political leadership to the working class, as well as politically mobilising this class to act in line with its responsibilities as the main motive force of our revolution.
Through our programmes and campaigns we have dramatically raised expectations that the working class has of us. There is however still a big gap between the challenges we face and our existing political and organisational capacity to face these challenges. If each and every one of us can play our role in party building and implementation of the party programme we can multiply our capacity ten-fold within a very short span of time.
Given the role we have played as communists and the role we continue to play, we are not surprised at all the attacks against us as a party of communists. On the one hand the bosses and their shop-stewards continue to hope that the poor and working people of our country will not push forward with their struggle for socialism, for water, for electricity, for a better life for all. But they do not just hope, they act on their hopes. Over the last five years they have thrown at least 4 million people to poverty and misery by retrenching more than 500 000 workers since 1994 as if we have not defeated apartheid. They continue to deny us access to affordable medicines by charging too high prices for basic medicines for TB, malaria, HIV/AIDS and other diseases.
To them we say, let them forget their wish that they can transform the South African economy on the carcass of poor and working people. Let them not under-estimate the resilience and commitment of the South African working class. Let them rest assured that in the coming months, years, decades and centuries, South African workers will fight privatisation, retrenchments, evictions, cut-offs and expensive prices for medicines. Let the rest assured that the SACP will be in the midst of these struggles. Let them rest assured that the South African working class will strengthen its confidence and trust in the SACP as their representative and leader.
It is only the SACP which is the leading political force of the South African working class and in fighting for socialism in our country. It is only COSATU and its affiliates which will continue defending and advancing the best interest of employed workers. It is only the ANC which will lead the fundamental transformation of our country.
Once more, our best weapon in all of these struggles is a stronger and bolder SACP which does not waiver in its commitment to poor and working people of our country. An SACP which Chris Hani, Moses Kotane, Joe Slovo, Moses Mabhida, JB Marks, Edwin Mofutsanyana, Dora Tamana, and many more of our communist pioneers would have been proud of. An SACP which, in deeds and words, actually carries the great banner of Chris Hani even higher! On your part, the Central Committee is sure that you will not be found wanting in your commitment to meeting all these challenges.
With these few words we wish you a successful Congress.