SACP Kwazulu Natal statement on Provincial Council

25 June 2007

In preparation for the 12th SACP (South African Communist Party) National Congress to be held in the Nelson Mandela Metropole from 11 to 15 July, the KZN SACP held a highly successful provincial council meeting on 23 and 24 June in eThekwini.

The meeting noted that the National Congress will be attended by over 2000 delegates and will be the largest ever held in the 86-history of the SACP. We also noted with enormous pride the phenomenal increase in the SACP's national membership from just over 18 000 at our previous National Congress 5 years ago to a paid-up, audited membership of 51 700 today. Our membership in KZN has grown significantly and we are today the largest province in the SACP. Our challenge is to increasingly focus on the quality, not just quantity, of our membership.

While recognizing the importance of electing an effective SACP national leadership, we are clear that the main concern of the 12th National Congress is to advance SACP theories, strategies, tactics, programmes and policies. Our branches and districts have in recent weeks been actively engaging with the SACP discussion documents to be considered at the National Congress and the provincial council took this process further. Our role in the National Congress would be to contribute to uniting and strengthening the party and its leadership in the interests of advancing socialism.

We call for a speedy, fair and effective resolution of the public workers strike. We call for the reinstatement of all workers dismissed because of their participation in the strike. We feel that the broader issues relating to the strike also need to be addressed, especially as we cannot have an effective developmental state without a reasonably paid, highly motivated public sector workforce. We call upon the national leadership of the SACP to take this and related issues forward in the next meeting of the Tripartite Alliance.

We are concerned about the continuing conflict over municipal boundaries in Matatiele and Khutsong and urge the government and all relevant parties to expeditiously settle this matter. We urge the government to listen to and take full account of the views of the residents in these areas.

We are alarmed at the confrontation between the eThekwini municipality and street vendors. We call on the municipality, street vendor organisations and all relevant stakeholders to resolve the conflict amicably, including through investigating allegations of corruption on all sides. The eThekwini SACP Districts are urged to play an appropriate role in contributing to resolving the conflict amicably, ensuring that the basic needs of the street vendors are advanced.

Themba Mthembu
SACP KZN Provincial Secretary
0833036988
e-mail: kzsacp@sacp.org.za