SACP Mpumalanga PEC media statement
28 August 2012
The 7th Mpumalanga Congress Provincial Executive Committee of the SACP met for the first time after our historic and successful 13th National Congress, which the Party PEC believes has firmly put the Party on the national and international political map. The PEC meeting took place during a time of national mourning for the Marikana disaster, where we observed political opportunists and right wing political parties, hijacking a painful situation in the history on our new dispensation, to gain cheap political points at the expense of national solidarity and cohesion.
ANC expelled discredited Julius Malema opportunistically found the opportunity to resurrect himself politically by abusing revolutionary dead bodies of the working class, even undermining the African culture of respecting a dignified mourning of the dead. His actions were a clear confirmation that his blood and character is foreign from the Congress Movement culture of discipline and respect, therefore affirming the correctness of the ANC decision to expel him. Throughout his short political career he shot himself into prominence by insulting ANC Leaders, he started with President Mbeki, insulted different ANC NEC members, insulted Alliance leaders and he is now insulting the current president, Cde Jacob Zuma, hence ultimately expelled from ANC for ill discipline. He must accept that he is a factory-fault in the Congress Movement and is no different to Helen Zille and Terror Lekota. He belongs to a group of right wing neo-liberal capitalist imperialist agenda against the revolutionary movement.
As the PEC of Mpumalanga we are convinced of the revolutionary leadership displayed by the Leadership elected at Limpopo Conference, especially the able stewardship of President Jacob Zuma, who has stabilised and united the African National Congress and also brought unity in the Alliance and succeeded in contributing to the stability in the African continent to an extend that we managed to have someone from our country, a woman for that matter, to be the chairperson of AU Commission. His role and experience of being in the ANC for decades, ready to die for people of South Africa without any material gain, his revolutionary track record in the movement cannot be challenged by a political Johnny-come-late, politically malnourished populist demagogue who think that they can represent workers` interests better than workers themselves while they had never worked in their lives.
The PEC calls on all workers and our people to defend COSATU and its affiliates against political demagogues and political opportunism as part of defending our hard earned socio-economic rights that all workers are enjoying in our country. The PEC noted with dismay, that parties and individuals who are working class enemies and detractors have suddenly become champions of workers over night. We call on all workers to defend their democratic right to decide on their political future, based on their previous experiences, without the cloud of the Marikana disaster, by rejecting this unholy alliance of media, opposition parties and populist right wing demagogues whose aim is to achieve their political rightwing objective.
The PEC further calls on the unity of all progressive forces against the media, anti-majoritarian liberal right wing and populist demagogues attacks on our gains since the Polokwane Conference, which brought about an improved revolutionary focus on eradicating socio-economic challenges for our people, in particular the working class, and systematically continuing to challenge the dominance of monopoly capital in our economy. We believe that our revolutionary movement should use the Mangaung Conference to serve as a watershed and the beginning of a radical economic shift to the left as stated in the second phase of transition adopted in the recent ANC Policy Conference.
The PEC noted the challenges that local government is facing in our Province, but also observed a lot of challenges faced by the Municipalities and COGTA as a department. We are therefore calling for an Alliance Provincial Local Government Summit so as to look at all challenges faced by the Municipalities. We call on all Alliance members to re-double efforts in ensuring that the political and administrative leadership of our municipalities is empowered to do their very best in creating a better Municipal System in our Province. The PEC further observed a high level of vacancy rate in both the Municipalities and COGTA Department, worsened by the high level of political factionalism which impact negatively on the smooth running of these municipalises, factionalism which is encouraged by a tendering system that creates inherent corruption, the scramble for looting in our municipalities by tenderpreneurs, hence we reiterate and support the call by YCLSA, the CC of the Party and the leadership of the ANC nationally, that tendering system creates corruption and can never assist the development of any State it must be removed. We wish to reiterate our stand that there must be a strong Public Sector at the core of which should be the Department of Public Works that should assist in creating a developmental State for the benefit of the people of South Africa The PEC calls on the de-tenderisation of local government and the creation of internal capacity to service our communities, as tender fraud is destroying this important sphere of government.
The PEC wants to take this opportunity to wish all women of our province and our country well in the struggle for women emancipation politically, socially and economically: "The supremacy of man in the marriage is the simple consequence of his economic supremacy and with the abolition of the latter, it will disappear of itself`- Engels. Thus women emancipation would not be achievable without a fundamental transformation of the capitalist relations of production"- Liesel Orr, Socialism and Gender Equality.
Provincial Secretary Provincial Spokesperson
Bonakele Majuba Lesetja Dikgale
082 968 4877 076 8694 360
