15 March 2022

The South African Communist Party (SACP) in the Free State Province (FS) held a Provincial Executive Committee (PEC) meeting virtually on 12 March 2022. The PEC received detailed political input and reports and used the session to detail and finalise a framework for political and organisational preparations towards the 8^th Provincial Congress. The PEC considered the state of the Alliance in the province, its relative influence on society informed by analysis of local government election outcomes and the tasks that confront us as a movement.

On the international front

The PEC recognised the International Working Women’s Day celebrated on 8 March 2022 under the theme “Break the bias”. The PEC acknowledged that despite women’s commendable breakthroughs in various social-economic sphere of life, most women globally continue to suffer from the crisis of social reproduction, stubborn societal stereotypes, gendered-discrimination and bias.  In this regard, the PEC urged everyone to be actively involved in breaking all bias and advancing the struggle against patriarchy in all its manifestations.

In South Africa, the gender biases imposed on society and reinforced by the so-called traditional norms continue to deepen the systemic triple oppression of women based on their race, class and gender. Globally, women continue to shoulder the burden of human displacement and famine brought by ongoing imperialist wars, expansionist adventures and their related sanctions. Societal bias has normalised the sufferings of women in Yemen, Syria, Palestine, Cuba, Venezuela and other parts of the world as they continue to carry the yoke of the resultant socio-economic implications of imperialist wars.

In Ukraine, women shoulder untold suffering in the ongoing special military operations battle between the Russian Federation and western sponsored Ukraine. The military operation occurred in response to hostile eastward economic and military expansion initiated primarily by the war entity North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO). The Ukrainian government has, for instance, forced women to abandon their husbands and teen-male children, who are now compelled to fight the imperialist war. The PEC affirmed the Central Committee statement condemning imperialist wars in general and supports the de-escalation of hostilities and pursuit of peaceful and diplomatic means of finding a lasting solution to the situation in Ukraine, as also proposed by our South African government.

A reconfigured alliance as an appropriate instrument to arrest the declining electoral support and serve the people selflessly

The PEC admitted that the movement was arguably flat-footed, structurally weak, and poorly resourced as well as highly disorganised to mount a commendable elections campaign in the recent local government elections. Furthermore, our dissatisfactory service delivery track record, especially at municipal level, compounded our negative electoral prospects. The PEC accepted that many factors influence electoral performance, but pointedly attributed the declining electoral performance of the ANC across our province largely to subjective internal weaknesses in the movement.

The PEC firstly committed, as part of correcting our weaknesses, to the rebuilding of Party structures organically within the context of servicing our communities in line with the Red October campaign “Know and Act in your neighbourhood” campaigns and sustaining Party presence in all key sites of power. In this regard, the PEC agreed that the Red Brigades must be retained, strengthened and supported to continue to be community activists, serving selflessly and wholeheartedly in various voting districts.

The Party in the province will continue to insist, despite the difficulties, for urgent meaningful Alliance interaction to confront the various subjective weaknesses that continue to weaken the Alliance and delegitimise the integrity and standing of the ANC in the eyes of the people. The PEC’s analysis and warning is that the electoral trends and current deteriorating political and organisational developments, particularly in the ANC, pose a real threat that the ANC may lose the province in the 2024 national and provincial elections.

In this regard, the PEC insists that objective necessity exists and justifies the need for a decisive break on existing mechanisms for managing Alliance relations and the national democratic revolution. Nothing short of a structured reconfiguration of the Alliance and its operations is required to reposition the Alliance to jointly respond to existing political challenges in the province and the interrelated societal problems of unemployment, poverty, inequality, corruption and underdevelopment.

Provincial Congresses and Conference in the Free State

COSATU

The PEC congratulated COSATU for a successful Provincial Congress and agreed to immediately initiate structured bilateral engagements as part of strengthening and consolidating the left axis. Greater attention should be devoted towards establishing joint programmes to secure actual progress on multiple fronts of the working-class struggles. Party work should mobilise the working class in general and our activities should extend directly to various unions within COSATU and beyond.

ANC Conferences

The SACP PEC in the Free State is extremely concerned by the mutation and gravitation of various ANC Interim Regional Committees (IRCs) and Interim Provincial Committee (IPC) leadership structures into groupings organising along historical factional lines. This rising development resembles the historical tendency and tragedy in the province wherein, in the leadup to conferences, revolutionary tasks get abandoned at the convenient expense of pursuit for personal ambitions, power and access to resources, using the positions in the organisation for upward leadership mobility.

The SACP is worried that instead of uniting, renewing and reconnecting the ANC with society, groupings are using the organisation to consolidate, on the one hand, for selfish protection of access to levers of power and resources, and on the other, for selfish access to the same levers of power and resources. In the last analysis, both the organisation and society will suffer. Whilst the SACP notes IPC organised political sessions with senior former leaders of the ANC, the decisive usefulness of these sessions is put in doubt by the actual practical conduct of the same leaders.

The SACP is appalled by the inadequate and indecisive handling of the fracas at Mangaung Metropolitan Municipality. It is unacceptable that when known individuals have clearly done wrong, acting in a manner that blatantly harms the interests of the organisation and society, and continue to defy organisational mandates, the leadership of the ANC remains indecisive. The SACP PEC agreed to insist on engaging the movement to deal thoroughly with the substance and essence of the situation in Mangaung, to reveal the real underlying causes of the crisis. The PEC will advance an Alliance-led process, that must be empowered to act decisively in the interest of the movement and society, and without regard to personalities and personal interests involved.

SACP District and Provincial Congress

The PEC congratulated Caleb Motshabi, Thabo Mofutsanyana and Albert Nzula Districts for holding successful District Congresses during the past two weeks. The PEC congratulated the new District leadership collectives, represented by District Secretaries and Chairpersons in their ex-officio capacity to the PEC. Tisha Vanga and Josie Mpama Districts are also scheduled to hold their District Congresses.

The PEC reflected on and appreciated the progress made in the rebuilding of branches and districts of the Party and resolved to expedite induction, political and ideological training. Consequently, the PEC adopted several preparatory committees to conduct relevant political, organisational, ideological and logistical preparatory work in preparation for the 8^th Provincial Congress.

SALGA National Conference

The PEC congratulated our Provincial Secretary, comrade Charles Stofile on his election as President of South African Local Government Association (SALGA). The SACP urges the new leadership collective to lead the transformation of the local government sphere and ensure that institutions of local government promote, support and represent the interests of our communities.

Issued by SACP Free State Province

Contact:

Bheke Stofile – SACP Free State Provincial Secretary

Mobile: 071 600 4899

Phillip Kganyago – SACP Free State Provincial Spokesperson

Mobile: 071 896 0157