SACP Free State statement

20 May 2014

Background

The South African Communist Party in the Free State Province convened its Provincial Working Committee on the 17th May 2014, at the Party`s Provincial Offices in Moses Kotane Building in Bloemfontein. The Provincial Working Committee primarily had to deal with:

• Organizational matters such as assessment of previous Provincial Executive and Working Committees` decisions,
• Presented political and organizational reports, using them to analyze political developments inside and outside the province and political developments internationally, and

Preparation

• for the incoming Provincial Executive Committee and Central Committee.

The following matters were seriously engaged at the meeting:

1. 2014 Provincial and National Elections

The PWC of the SACP, following the receipt of the Election Report from SACP election team in the province, made this statement:

We congratulate the African National Congress (ANC) for its decisive victory both in the Free State and nationally for receiving a vote of 69,85% and 62,15%, respectively; this represents 708 000 votes in the Free State and 11, 4 million votes nationally at a time when enemy used all it had to bring this giant movement to its knees.

After this 20 years of democracy, many people in and outside South Africa anticipated (as informed by lessons from other liberation movements) that the ANC would not make it at the 2014 elections. Hence we have seen the rapid formation of imperialist linked parties, formed without any form of democratic process, making bold but baseless claims to be radical, socialist and capable of better governance.

The SACP congratulates the ANC for defeating these opportunistic tendencies.

Although the ANC has performed well in these elections, we are fully aware of the massive ongoing misinformation campaign employed by the imperialist media to discredit the ANC victory; they claim that this ANC victory is the consequence of mistaken decisions by a largely illiterate South African electorate. They said that in 1994 when the ANC received 12, 2 million voters (62, 64%) and they continue to say it today.

The SACP congratulates the ANC for defeating imperialist propaganda disguised as the ideological position of these new opposition parties, to tell lies to our people and the rest of the world about the gains of the National Democratic Revolution in South Africa.

However, we are the PARTY that is alert to the potential danger if the political and organization space on the ground is not occupied by the movement as led by the ANC and as a result we all need as progressive forces to closely analyze and understand the terrain our movement is confronted with. Hence, the incoming Provincial Executive Committee of the PARTY will analyze and provide a detail Political Plan of Action for the province in preparations for 2016 local elections and beyond.

The SACP also congratulates the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) for once again running and concluding the free, fair and credible elections as weak and inexperience forces didn`t anticipate such.

2. Message to the African National Congress

We call on the ANC Leadership, membership and structures in the province and nationally to firmly ensure that a similar or increased speed and energy that were demonstrated towards the recent 2014 elections are applied, without delay, to realize commitments we made to the South Africans.

And at the same time, we call on the ANC as the hope of our people to root-out any elements within or near itself that would delay or disrupt the execution of its manifesto that primarily focuses on continuing to improve the lives of the poor people and workers. Such elements belong elsewhere not in our movement.

We are also confident that the ANC in the province will again perform exceptionally well when it deals with its internal democratic processes of going in and out of regional conferences without affecting the efficiency of government, more especially in Local Government.

3. COSATU

In the province, we salute the political and organizational stability demonstrated by COSATU as a Federation and similar condition within its affiliates. However, as the PARTY in the province we will continue to make a call that the situation in COSATU national level (CEC) must receive all constructive ideas to build a strong Federation that will unite and lead South African workers to their betterment. At the same time, we firmly call on COSATU to expose and isolate any destructive behavior that seeks to divide COSATU as a Federation and workers in general.

We say as the PARTY understand that, in no-ways, the struggle of the working-class in this country must or can be carried in isolation with other working-class struggles and we call on anyone who genuinely call for the advancement of the interests of the working-class to intensify such an idea or program within COSATU. Anyone who does not want to see the unity and strength of COSATU as paramount such a person is no different from the enemy of the working-class. And we condemn such tendencies.

However, we have a complete trust that COSATU has credible capacity to resolve its challenges and grow stronger from such challenges.

We are definitely as the PARTY worried about the deteriorating state of the livelihood of ordinary mine workers at the Platinum Belt and appreciate that, the strike has now been used as an arm to destabilize the country and the industry in total. We call those that are in helm of the strike to be considerate of the conditions of workers and their families. We also request that the Revolutionary Alliance urgently confront and engage the Marikana ongoing with an absolute desire to provide political leadership to problem.

4. International

We have observed the growing infiltration against other countries by global-imperialist forces who seek nothing objective from those countries other than their selfish interests of:

• Politically dividing nations, e.g. Lybia is moving from one crisis to another, Ukraine, etc.
• Creating economic crisis in different nations by stealing vital national resources.

We call on all developing nations with reach and important minerals to be highly cautious about these capitalist forces that appear to be caring at the face value while there are military and exploitative in their real sense.

These are the forces that falsely use human rights violations and less democratic means (in their views) to fund and enter different nations or countries in the form of NGOs, opposition parties, etc. to oust democratically elected governments. We condemn these perpetuating acts.

Even here at home, we the people of South Africa and progressive forces must be on high alert against these endless foreign trips that some are calling them "study-tours" to exchange knowledge, while in essence they are on the program to render our democratic government unhelpful and irrelevant. We must as a nation guard against the possibility for South Africa to go through horrible experiences Egypt, Tunisia, Lybia, Syria, etc. as a result of imperialist forces who seek the blood of the poor and workers.

AT THE SAME TIME, WE CALL ON THE BOKO HARAM TO UNCONDITIONALLY RELEASE THOSE INNOCENT GIRLS WHO MUST GROW FOR THE BENEFIT OF OUR BELOVED CONTINENT AND WE REQUEST BOKO HARAM TO DIRECT THEIR ENERGIES ELSEWHERE NOT THESE GILRS.

AND OUR VIEW IS THAT THEIR CONDUCT HAS GONE BEYOND THE WALLS OF NIGERIA AND AFFECTED ALL THE SOULS IN THIS WORLD.

WE JOIN ALL MILLIONS OF PEOPLE WHO CALL ON BOKO HARAM TO BRING BACK ALL OUR BELOVED INNOCENT GIRLS.

Issued by the SACP - Free State
Contact: SACP - Provincial Spokesperson
Comrade Mojalefa Simango
079 515 5121/ 078 893 8972
simangome@gmail.com