18 November 2023

The South African Communist Party (SACP) in Mpumalanga Province held its Provincial Executive Committee (PEC) meeting on 12 November 2023 at Emalahleni Council Chamber. The robustness of the engagements prompted the PEC meeting to extend its session to a two‐day plenary session to conclude its business. The second session was concluded on a virtual platform on Thursday 16 November 2023.

The PEC meeting received Political, Organisational and Financial reports to assess the state of our organisation as well as political discourse of the terrain that we operate in. The meeting agreed on the need to intensify ideological and organisational work to continue to build the Party and the popular left front.

The PEC acknowledged that it sat at a very crucial time in our revolution as it was convened a few months before the 2024 national and provincial elections. These elections are going to be the biggest test to the National Democratic Revolution (NDR) as the African National Congress’s support continues to dwindle. It is therefore our responsibility to bring back the confidence of the people to the congress movement if we are to win in 2024 elections.

THE NDR AND SOUTH AFRICAN ROAD TO SOCIALISM

The National Democratic Revolution remains the direct road to socialism and any effort to derail it shall be met with endless backlash. The Communist Party has an additional task to reconcile the national struggle with the class struggle for socialism. To do this, we need to ensure that the NDR remains on track.

The SACP Mpumalanga PEC noted that the NDR is in a state of paralysis considering the structural unemployment, extreme levels of inequality and poverty. At the centre of these problems is the neo-liberal offensive against the working‐class and the people. This agenda is also intensified by the austerity measures imposed by our own government seeking to cut government expenditure to the detriment of the motive forces of our revolution.

On the other hand, the imperialists, working with domestic monopoly capital, have their own clear programme to remove the ANC‐led Alliance from power. They are investing money for the Moonlight Pact which is an amalgamation of former Bantustan and apartheid organisations that are highly funded to take over government through a coalition.

It is for this reason that the Party must intensify its programme of building a popular left front to defend our democratic gains that are being reversed by this neo-liberal offensive. We must build class consciousness within the motive forces of the NDR, so that they can also defend and fight against this offensive as they are the ones who stand to lose should the Alliance go out of power.

COMMUNITY

Mpumalanga is regarded as one of the provinces that is dominated by the working‐class and poor, which is also trapped in triple crises and social reproduction. The high food prices and ever rising costs of living exacerbate this problem, it is on those bases that the Party must be at the centre of resolving these challenges. This year’s SACP Red October Campaign speaks to this problem. The SACP Ephriam Mogale District march on 16 November 2023 was clearly an indication that the Party is committed towards fighting against this phenomenon.

The SACP also welcomes the re-launching of SANCO structures and congratulates the elected leadership in all the regions and the province at large. We hope this will bring a new, but progressive, dimension in dealing with community struggles and in building the popular left front. We shall be working with SANCO to ensure the civic work that is required by our society.

INTERNATIONAL

The continuous war between Russia and NATO supporting Ukraine remains a great challenge for humanity. It is said that this war is set to be prolonged beyond 2030 with the purpose of draining Russia’s strength and  weakening that country. It is clear that this agenda is pushed by the Western imperialist countries and there are also reports that the same met to discuss the issue of Israel and Palestine.

It is disgusting to learn that the Wester imperialist powers are have turned a blind eye on the ongoing genocide of the people of Palestine by apartheid Israel forces. This is an indication that they have taken a side. Today, thousands of Palestinian lives have been lost with hundreds of thousands more wounded and displaced. The attitude of the United Nations in this matter is very concerning, but it is clear that apartheid Israel is behaving worse than the South African apartheid state.

The SACP calls for boycott, disinvestment and sanctions against the Israeli settler state and supports the call for the closing of its embassy in South Africa. We also encourage all peace-loving nations across the world to do the same. We also call for the leader of apartheid Israel to be brought to the International Criminal Court to face charges of genocide and other crimes against humanity.

In our neighbouring country, Swaziland, absolute monarchy Mswati III continues to treat the citizens with disdain. He continues to suppress the progressive voices that are calling for democracy in that country. The people of Swaziland also continue to toil under the harsh conditions characterised by poverty and brutality by the regime. This is happening under the watch of SADC and African Union leaders who continue to be silent on this crisis. We call on the ANC‐led government to stop any diplomatic and trade relations with Mswati’s regime until he takes the people of Swaziland seriously.

ISSUED BY SACP MPUMALANGA

Contact:

Lucky Mbuyane
SACP Provincial Secretary
082 351 5804

Or

Lesetja Dikgale
SACP Provincial Spokesperson
076 869 4360