25 March 2013
We are privileged and honoured to welcome you as your host to this important revolutionary process of the launch of the Break the Chains Campaign. We hope you will all value your time here as we share our feelings with the situation of the working class and the entire people of Swaziland.
The situation in Swaziland, our neighbour, needs attention and practical responsiveness from all of us as a progressive society. Our history is a worthwhile guide, both in our attitude and manner of reaction as internationalists. We have learned through our history, the importance of support and solidarity for the victory of struggle and the fulfilment of democracy, not only in South Africa, but proven elsewhere in the world.
From the irrefutable fact that our then enemy – apartheid - had to bully and drag our neighbours to defend its barbaric system, our victory was on the very same - but opposite - mobilisation, of support from our neighbours and beyond. We won our freedom, not because we were only strong internally, but also because the progressive world lent us a practical hand to our struggle and we learnt that there was no lesser support than the other, even if it came from the least renowned in the world.
Our Party, the SACP, has mobilised and taught us about Socialism, and international phenomenon of universal freedom, democracy and social development. Cdes from Swaziland who are here, we are confirming that the teachings of the SACP have made us not to struggle to think whether it is a right thing or not to connect with the Break the Chains Campaign because it is our struggle, the struggle for Socialism.
The struggle for freedom and democracy in Swaziland is therefore also our responsibility as South Africans. To us, it is not a question whether to support the struggle in Swaziland, but ours is the need to organise ourselves properly to understand clearly our strategic role more importantly at this critical stage where the defeat of the Mswati autocracy is inevitable. The last fight is more challenging because in any struggle, stakes are high as contending forces seek their own outcome.
To bring to light on the need for critical outlook as South Africans, the aim is give ourselves a bold practical input under a clearly defined role – who do we side with amongst the forces. Do we work with the liberal reactionary forces that seek a fixed democracy with no meaning to the people or we side with the oppressed people whose movement is suppressed and a target of terror by the Mswati anti democracy programme.
It is not given that when we call for democracy in Swaziland we mean one and the same thing because we are not homogeneous as South Africans and the different stratum of our society have different perspectives to democracy in general and social progress in particular.
We would like to encourage the people of Swaziland and their movement led by PUDEMO to hold on to the struggle to this far with minimum assistance. We further call upon them to hold to each other and not to allow short term goals and narrow interests to have space because such has a potential to misplace the past efforts and allow the enemy to crush the movement at this critical moment.
It is our view as the SACP that the programme of the Break the chains campaign, give us as South Africans and for sure the entire world progressive movement, an opportunity to connect directly with the practical circumstances of the Swazi struggle.
Through this programme, we think we will mobilise each other to contribute effectively to the noble course Cde AMOS MBEDZI has, even though we had thought we are far - to build that connection. This is a historical responsibility that we had conveniently shelved, but we are happy that it had resurfaced.
We pledge our maximum support to the implementation of the vision of the Break the Chains Campaign. We thank all the organisations that have responded to our call for the support and looking forward for more practical joint activities in our efforts to make this pledge a reality.
LONG LIVE BREAK THE CHAIN! FORWARD TO FREEDOM, DEMOCRACY AND JUSTICE IN SWAZILAND!
LONG LIVE INTERNATIONALISM!
Contact:
SACP 6th Alpheus Malivha District Congress Secretary
Cde Ramugumo Rudzani Skinjar – 079 125 6283 / 083 413 7916