POLITICAL INTRODUCTION TO THE STRATEGY CONFERENCE

1: The political context of the Conference

1: This year’s strategy conference will be taking place against the background of
a number of important developments. First and foremost this is the year for the holding of
the second democratic local government elections, and in essence, the establishment of a
completely new system of local government.

2: Secondly, it takes place in a year when organised workers, COSATU, in particular are
embarking on unprecedented mass action against job losses and for job creation. Despite
uneven and, at times, negative media coverage, the COSATU campaign is an outstanding
success. From the time it began, it underlined the importance of sustained working class
mobilisation and the need to entrench working class power in South African society. COSATU
is still intact and the working class has not lost the will to fight. There have been
weaknesses in several key areas. The success of the campaign and its weaknesses provide a
good basis for COSATU to consolidate and strengthen its organisational apparatus, defence
and service of workers and building of revolutionary leadership.

3: Through these struggles, though to a limited extent, the Party has been able to
deepen its roots in the working class. This challenge still remains. The Party must also
be able to provide political leadership by seeking to channel these struggles in a
direction that seeks to consolidate working class power in South African society.

4: Thirdly, the Strategy Conference will be taking place against the background of
implementing our own programme of building people’s power with a focus on the
eradication of poverty. This is related to our party building work. Now we have 10 years
of experience of re-building the SACP under legal conditions.

5: Fourthly, this Conference takes place in the run up to the ANC’s NEC mid-term
National General Council, which will provide an important political opportunity for the
movement to reflect on itself and the challenges facing our revolution. Later in the year
COSATU will also be holding its 7th National Congress where it will have to
refine its programme and strategy in the light of escalating attacks on the working class
in general, both globally and locally, and organised workers in particular.

6: All these conferences will be taking place against the background of intensifying
class struggles to shape the nature of South Africa’s post-apartheid state in both
the political and economic spheres. As we seek to deepen our democracy,
counter-revolutionary and other oppositional forces also become restless. For instance the
creation of new and more democratic local government structures seems to pose a threat to
those sections of the parasitic petty bourgeoisie that were highly dependent on the
apartheid state for their own survival. The mobilisation of chiefs, principally by the
IFP, in KZN and other parts of the country against the demarcation of the new
municipalities is a case in point. Similarly, the passage of laws seeking to entrench our
democracy and improve the participation of ordinary people is being vehemently opposed by
organisations like the DP. These two developments capture the struggles around the
deepening of our democracy and contestation around the nature of the democratic state post
apartheid.

7: On the other hand there are signs that the economy might be turning around, but
without any guarantees whatsoever whether this expected improvement will translate into
any gains for the working people and the poor. South Africa is increasingly getting
positive ratings from influential international global economic institutions as an
emerging market. Do these signals point to some improvements in the performance of our
economy? What opportunities would such a positive upswing in the economy provide for
consolidating our democracy and addressing the needs of the majority of our people? How
can such possible opportunities be used to consolidate working class power in South
African society? Or will these be marked by a deepening capitalism that only provide a
temporary relief that will soon further roll back the gains of the working class?

8: This context therefore poses a number of political challenges to the movement as a
whole, in particular our Party. First of all, this period requires political clarity on
the part of the democratic forces, and unity of purpose in terms of using these to deepen
our democracy and strengthen people’s power. In particular these pose added
responsibility onto our Party to provide strategic political leadership to the working
class. In concrete terms this poses the question of how to strategically make use of this
year’s Congresses, Conferences, current class battles and forthcoming local
government elections to consolidate working class power. For example, what kinds of issues
do we think the ANC’s NGC and COSATU Congress need to grapple with. What
opportunities do these provide to consolidate people’s power in order to accelerate
change and indeed build working class power as a basis for people’s power? Is it not
time that we sharply raise the question of how the working class actually entrenches its
power in South African society? How does this relate to the eventual transition to
socialism?

9: These questions and many others will have to be answered against the background of
the principal strategic contradiction and its particular manifestation in the current
period. For instance, whilst the democratic breakthrough has brought major gains to the
mass of ordinary working people and the poor in our country, there are simultaneously
clear signals that inequalities are deepening in our country and the majority of our
people still remain in the grip of poverty. For instance in February, a survey done by
Wharton Economic Forecasting Associates indicated that it is only a small black elite that
has benefited most from South Africa’s transition to democracy. According to this
survey the proportion of black households in the top 10% of all South African households
increased from 9% to 22%. The gap between this richest group and the poorest blacks during
the 1990’s has widened dramatically. According to the same report, the richest blacks
received and average 17% increase in income, whilst the poorest 40% of households actually
suffered a fall in household income of around 21%.

10: Of course this reality has been a subject of debate within the ranks of our
Alliance itself. The one position states that there is nothing wrong with this as it is
inevitable that with deracialisation of managerial and top echelons of our economy blacks
are likely to accumulate more wealth, and this is also necessary. Furthermore this
argument posits that it is better that there is a growth of a black bourgeoisie rather
than the maintenance of the black/white income and wealth divide. There are of course a
number of problems with such a stance. Firstly it is wrong to bury our heads in the sands
and ignore the fact that whilst sections of the black community are accumulating wealth,
not only are its poorest sections not making ends meet but the situation of the poorest is
actually getting worse. Secondly, this position is informed by an erroneous assumption
that the creation of a black capitalist class will somehow automatically translate into
the alleviation the situation of the poor black communities. Thirdly, those who have been
raising the issue of the widening poverty gap within the previously oppressed have
sometimes been accused of wanting to see, by default, the maintenance of the racial divide
in wealth. This cannot be furthest from the truth. The critical question here is what is
happening to the living standards of the majority of the people of this country.

11: This reality of deepening poverty amongst the poorest sections of our people is not
assisted at all by the growing aggressive stance of sections of the black elite (both in
the public and private sectors), to arrogantly and unashamedly push for the creation of
more black millionaires, as the core of black economic empowerment. We have, by default or
through omission, both at an ideological and practical level, let the concept of
"black economic empowerment" to be appropriated by a small black elite to
advance its own interests without due regard to the bigger challenge of eradication of
poverty. This poses the question of whether we are not facing a very real danger that the
democratic breakthrough – essentially a product of the struggles of the working class
and the poor – runs the risk of being transformed to benefit only a small elite at
the very expense of the majority of our people, in particular the working class.
Isn’t the assault on the working class one other practical expression of this danger?
But much more importantly aren’t these contradictory tendencies (of both advances and
potential rollbacks) calling for a more serious debate on our developmental path in our
current situation? Is this also not an expression of what we have referred to as dangers
of two-tierism and deepening of the capitalist character of our society? Isn’t it
time that we use the Strategy Conference to reflect politically, with sound empirical
information, on our transition?

12: It would be incorrect for the Strategy Conference not to take the above factors
into account. This necessitates that this year’s Strategy Conference focus on both
the political and policy aspects of the SACP’s strategy. This would also be in line
with the emphasis of year 2000 Programme of Action on building people’s power to
eradicate poverty. In addition this Strategy Conference comes exactly mid-term since the
last Congress, therefore necessitating that it be used for some organisational
reflections.

2: Political tasks of the Strategy Conference

1: In the light of the above the Strategy Conference must focus on a collective, open
and honest reflection on the transition, pulling together the evolution of our strategic
thinking and analysis of transition since 1990, focusing on class formation, gender
relations and the national question in South Africa’s transition to democracy. In
this regard, the following are key questions and tasks of the Strategy Conference.

2: What are the patterns of accumulation of wealth over the last decade? Who is raking
profits? What have been the patterns of wage increases? How have they impacted on
redistribution of wealth?

3: Black economic empowerment – what is black economic empowerment? How does it
relate to the fundamental transformation of our economy? What has been the performance of
these new black owned private companies? Who actually owns these companies?

4: Restructuring of state assets - at which stage is this? Who has benefited and who is
likely to benefit from restructuring? What is the actual input of these to GDP? How much
do they cost the state currently? How much do or can they bring to the state? How does
restructuring affect costs to the state and income to the state from these? What is the
social impact of restructuring state assets?

5: Transformation of gender relations – What have we done in the last 6 years?
What are the gender dimensions of poverty, HIV/AIDS and job losses? How have the
inter-connections between race, class and gender played themselves?

6: How should we characterise our transition? Is it an entrenchment of a market
economy? Have we taken real steps to socialise the economy?

7: To what extent does our transition affect the building of non-racism and the racial
structure of SA society? What is the relation between our market economy, poverty and
racism? (include poverty and black economic empowerment) (Link to Socialist Commission
proposals).

8: Role of the state in the economy, including our approach to the restructuring of
state assets and public service transformation (including taking forward last year’s
debate on the features of a developmental state, and structural reforms we would like to
see to deepen NDR and lay a foundation for socialism).

9: Developing an SACP approach to local government elections and transformation

10: Consolidating our party building work within the context of building people’s
power

3: Conference theme and documents

1: From the above tasks, therefore the theme of the Strategy Conference is "Consolidating
working class power for the eradication of poverty"

2: The Secretariat input to the Strategy Conference will largely focus on a class, race
and gender analysis and theoretical discussion and approach development on the transition
(focusing on the economy, job creation, the state, restructuring of state assets, the role
of the state in the economy and poverty).

3: The Economic Strategic Perspectives document analyses current trends in economic
transformation and lays a broad basis for and SACP approach to economic transformation.
The main question raised by the document is how do we mobilise and co-ordinate budgetary,
parastatal and domestic private capital for fundamental and sustainable infra-structural
and industrial development?

4: The documents on State Transformation pose questions and options on how state
transformation must be utilised in favour of the working class and the poor and the
possibility of building socialism. There is also an important discussion on the role of
the trade union movement in these transformation struggles.

5: The Local Government Transformation and Elections documents ask broad questions
about local government demarcations, traditional leadership, our approach to the
elections. The draft resolution from the Central Committee on Municipal Service
Partnerships is also placed for adoption. This follows the 1999 Strategy Conference
discussions on Public-Private Partnerships.

6: The Party Building documents briefly assess our party building over the last ten
years and the implementation of our year 2000 programme. They also raise the relation
between party building work and building people’s power.

7: While our potential strategic and theoretical discussion is of critical importance,
the discussion and resolutions that emerge from the Strategy Conference must also be
directed to practical, organisational work. Are our present organisational structures the
most adequate for the strategic objectives we are setting ourselves as a Party? Of key
concern to all of us must be implementation mechanisms to ensure that we implement our
political programme and resolutions and that they actually have an impact on society and
our broader political alliance. What kind of implementation mechanism do we need for this?
How do we develop and implement it?

8: In preparing for the Strategy Conference all the above issues must be discussed, and
practical resolutions taken. Within our Party and well beyond it there are high
expectations of the role our Party must play. The working class and the poor are looking
into the SACP for direction and answers. Let us ensure that the SACP rises to the
challenge.

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