House of cards...

Masetlha told the Mail & Guardian this week that a number of senior ANC leaders have expressed disquiet about the push by Cosatu and the SACP for a socialist agenda within the ANC. http://www.mg.co.za/article/2009-10-09-anc-backlash-against-the-left

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The treasury will remain the institution where economic policy is made and plans are priced, but will have to seek input from Patel’s department. This relationship has now run into trouble, with Gordhan said to be furious at Patel’s eagerness to claim he is in charge of overall economic decisions.

Sources said Gordhan is deciding how to manage the fallout, because the uncertainty is affecting the markets. Those around him say he wants to make it clear that the treasury holds South Africa’s purse strings without alienating Patel or Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies.

Historically, the treasury has had a troublesome relationship with the trade department, clashing repeatedly over industrial policy and tariffs. But Gordhan is adamant that he wants the economic ministries to get along.

Patel’s supporters, however, suggest Zuma may invoke Section 97 of the Constitution that gives him the power to “transfer to a member of the Cabinet the administration of any legislation entrusted to another member”.

They claim this can override the Public Finance Management Act, which states that the “national treasury must promote the national government’s fiscal policy framework and the coordination of macroeconomic policy and coordinate intergovernmental financial and fiscal relations and financial policy”. http://www.mg.co.za/article/2009-10-23-no-lurch-to-the-left-expected

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POLITICAL RESOLUTIONS

1. NATIONAL DEMOCRATIC REVOLUTION AND SOCIALISM

Noting that:

(a) The ANC-led democratic forces have over many decades developed and united
around a sole and clear perspective on the NDR, geared at overcoming the
interconnected race, gender and class oppressions and laying a foundation for a
transition to socialism.
(b) Since the April 1994 democratic breakthrough, all components of the Alliance,
including the ANC have remained committed to the historical perspective of the NDR
and its framework of strategy and tactics. As a movement uniting the working class
and other oppressed strata, the ANC had not clearly defined its vision in terms of the
NDR as a transitional phase towards socialism.
(c) The emergence of the 1996 class-project has seen our historically shared perspective
on the NDR, especially its broad socialist orientation being challenged in favour of a
capitalist-oriented National Democratic State.
(d) The rise and domination of the 1996 class-project in the ANC and government has
displaced the working class as a leading motive force of the NDR, in favour of other
class forces, in particular the emerging black capitalist class.
(e) Policies such as GEAR, Black Economic Empowerment, etc. have ensured that the
elite, including the black and white petty-bourgeoisie and capitalist class are the main
beneficiaries since the 1994 democratic breakthrough.
(f) The introduction of policies such as privatization, outsourcing and downsizing has
seen the working class suffering major blows under democracy, including rising
poverty, inequality, unemployment, HIVAIDS, etc.

Believing that:

(a) A revolution is worth nothing if it cannot defend itself; hence if left unchallenged, the
current trajectory of NDR is going to lead to a complete restoration and consolidation
of capitalism.
(b) The key task of the NDR is the creation of a foundation to overcome the race, gender
and class oppressions.
(c) The 1996 class-project is a deviation, representing a strategic rupture in the shared
Alliance conception of the NDR and our struggle for socialism.
(d) The roots of this 1996 class project can be found in the 1988 project of monopoly
capital whose agenda was to seek restore the capitalist crisis to conditions of
profitability in a post-apartheid society.
(e) After a decade of democracy, the 1996 class-project has been plunged into a deep
political crisis; and this calls upon the working class to reclaim its rightful place in the
NDR and to ensure a complete break with the policies advanced by the 1996 classproject.
(f) Only the leadership of the working class can take the NDR to its logical conclusion –
socialism. Other class forces are incapable of leading the NDR and their interests
must be subordinate to those of the working class. In other words, NDR must be
oriented towards socialism.
CONSOLIDATE THE UNION – CONSOLIDATE WORKING CLASS POWER
(g) The influence and power of the capitalist class – ideologically, economically, culturally,
and politically - must be increasingly limited as we drive forward the NDR and whilst
at the same time the influence and power of the working class is advanced and
consolidated in all sites of power.
(h) With the emergence of the 1996 class-project, an ideological struggle over the
direction of the NDR has become more open than ever before; calling upon the
working class to aggressively reassert its leadership of the NDR through concrete
ideological, organizational and political programmes and struggles.
(i) Without strong organization and ideological independence, the working class would
find itself tailing behind the capitalist class and loosing sight of its own interests.
(j) We should take practical steps in building the blocs of independent working class
power through strengthening the organizations of the working class to take forward
the NDR and the struggle for socialism. This should mean amongst other things that
the working class party must contest the state, find representation in parliament and
find hegemony in society.

Resolve to:

(a) Develop programmes and activities that expose and dislodge the agenda behind the
post-1996 class project and its present threat to the NDR.
(b) COSATU and SACP, through 2015 and Medium-Term Vision respectively, must
synergise their programmes to give concrete expression to the NDR as a revolution
towards socialism.
(c) A popular movement towards socialism, located within a restructured Alliance and
involving a range of mass movements must be formed to assert the leadership of the
working class in the NDR.
(d) The union will ensure that the debate on the relationship between NDR and Socialism
within the Alliance, including the ANC, cannot be postponed, it must be discussed at
the ANC 52nd National Conference
(e) To embark on an intensified ideological work in the broader society and through
political education within our ranks in order to sharpen a socialist perspective at all
levels in an integral program of the union. This calls for the integration of ideological
educational work to the Education Service Centre in its education blocks.

2. PROGRESSIVE DEVELOPMENTAL STATE

2.1 Noting that:

(a) With the inherited political economy and the post-Apartheid macro-economic strategy
GEAR, the South African state remains a capitalist one in its class character.
(b) Since the 2004 general elections and on the back of developmental failures of GEAR,
alongside announcements of huge spending plans for infrastructure expansion
through public enterprises, the role and character of the South African state is being
redefined along the lines of a “developmental state”.
(c) The experiment of the “developmental state” so far, in particular the South East Asian
model, was not revolutionary or socialist-oriented; instead it featured a state-led and
export-oriented capitalist project, accompanied by repression of trade union
movements, social movements and political opposition.
CONSOLIDATE THE UNION – CONSOLIDATE WORKING CLASS POWER

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(d) A wide-spread recognition and acknowledgement of the failure of the lean and mean
neo-liberal state in the current fluid international context.
(e) The growing influence of capital on the dominant leadership layer within the ANC and
the state.
(f) The significant presence of transformative public sector trade unionism in key sites or
organs of state power.

2.2 Believing that:

(a) The South African working-class must campaign for a “progressive developmental
state”, that must be forged within the context of deepening the NDR and struggling
for socialism.
(b) There is a need for a thorough conceptualization and definition of such a progressive
developmental state; however key amongst its characteristics must include:

(i) Active state-led interventions in the economy – including the (re)
nationalization of key industries in strategic sectors, introduction of other
collective forms of ownership such as corporatives, large-scale expropriation and
broad-based redistribution of land, a comprehensive social wage, supply-side
and demand-side interventions and measures to discipline capital around
pricing, investments, environment, labour-market issues, etc.
(ii) Working class led – in a context of a socialist-oriented development in which
the needs and interests of the working class majority and the rural-poor are
hegemonic and at the centre of the state’s programmes, subordinating those of
other class forces.
(iii) Strong participatory democracy – independent working class’s organs of
power are built and strengthened and the state fosters popular participation in
the governance and decision-making processes from local and higher levels.
(iv) Anti-imperialist - in which the state asserts national self-determination in
national social and economic policies and its foreign policy is based on solidarity,
mutual benefit, peace and friendship among peoples.

(c) A progressive developmental state is consistent with the vision of the Freedom
Charter, National Democratic Revolution and the struggle for socialism.
(d) The leading cadre in the state must be committed to a people-centred development,
the NDR and socialism and the values of Batho-Pele.
(e) Transformative public sector unions are strategically positioned to carry out the
broader task of building a progressive developmental state.

2.3 Resolve to:

(a) Engage in macro-economic and micro-economic debates and campaigns geared
towards achieving a progressive developmental state.
(b) Initiate wide-spread debates and discussions within COSATU and the Alliance
intended to forge a common definition and description of a progressive
developmental state.
CONSOLIDATE THE UNION – CONSOLIDATE WORKING CLASS POWER
(c) Ensure that the ANC-led Alliance must drive the process of nurturing and building
transformative managerial cadre within the public sector with unwavering
commitment to the NDR and socialism.
(d) Public sector unions, including unions organized in state-owned enterprises, must
create a forum within COSATU to forge common strategies on taking forward the task
of building a progressive developmental state.

3. PROGRESSIVE WOMEN’S MOVEMENT

3.1 Noting that:

(a) The rich traditions and history of women participation and leadership in the NDR, as
highlighted by the courageous 1956 national Women’s March to the Union Buildings in
Pretoria.
(b) The sterling contribution by all components of the ANC-led Alliance in mobilizing
women towards the launch of the Progressive Women’s Movement.
(c) The real danger that this women’s movement could be dominated and high-jacked by
certain sections of the democratic movement with an agenda of the 1996 classproject.

3.2 Believing that:

(a) The interconnectedness of the gender, race and class oppression means that
struggles led by the progressive women’s movement must help in building the
capacity and momentum towards socialism.
(b) The women’s oppression is rooted in social relations reinforced by capitalism,
therefore the complete emancipation of women can only realized as an integral
component of the struggle for socialism; thus the progressive women’s movement is
absolutely critical in the consolidation and deepening of the national democratic
revolution.
(c) The struggle for women’s emancipation and gender equality is one that must be
waged by both women and men; the gender content of our revolution cannot be
effectively addressed unless we have a strong working-class led progressive women’s
movement at the head of such a struggle.

3.3 Resolve to:

(a) NEHAWU as part of a radical trade union movement and the broader working-class
formations must ensure that working-class and poor rural women become the
bedrock of the progressive women’s movement.
(b) To ensure that the working class women are at the head of such a movement if it is
to effectively respond to the challenges of the true emancipation of women.
(c) A forum of women activists within NEHAWU, COSATU and SACP must be established
to develop intervention strategies to promote working class leadership as well as take
up issues affecting women workers and the poor in general, as a dominant part of the
progressive women’s movement work.
CONSOLIDATE THE UNION – CONSOLIDATE WORKING CLASS POWER

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(d) Ensure that the progressive women’s movement is safeguarded from being used as a
platform from which narrow sectional interests of elite women are launched in the
name of broad-based BEE.
(e) To support the decision to launch the progressive women’s movement at provincial
and local levels; ensuring our members participate and its programme of action is
developed around the daily struggles of working class and poor rural women.
(f) Ensure that the struggle for women’s emancipation is mainstreamed within the
broader struggle for socialism.
(g) Ensure that our Women Leadership Development Program contributes in developing
cadres to take a lead in the union and the progressive women’s movement.

4. THE ALLIANCE

4.1 Noting that:

(a) For some time the ANC-led Alliance has been plagued by a political crisis, manifested
in a lack of ideological, organizational and programmatic cohesion amongst
components of the Alliance.
(b) From time to time, the leadership of COSATU and the SACP has been subjected to
personalized and unfair attacks by certain sections of the ANC leadership in disregard
of the available proper channels of the Alliance. This has been accompanied by a
tendency to undermine and denigrate COSATU and the SACP as independent
organisations.
(c) The COSATU 8th National Congress and the Ekurhuleni Alliance Summit resolutions,
locating the political centre in the Alliance.

4.2 Believing that:

(a) The emergence of the 1996 class-project as a dominant force in the leadership
structures of the ANC and government is a major factor that plunged the Alliance into
a state of paralysis.
(b) The failure of GEAR, as manifested in the rise of unemployment, poverty and
inequalities has plunged the 1996 class-project into a political crisis. Thus, the
dislodgement and eventual democratic liquidation of the 1996 class-project is a
precondition for overcoming the current crisis plaguing the Alliance and the ANC.
(c) This on-going crisis within the Alliance is closely interconnected with the centralization
of power in the presidency of the ANC and government, the demoralization and
marginalization of the membership and Parliament.
(d) Only an Alliance wherein an independent working class reoccupied its rightful place as
the primary motive force can deepen the content of the NDR and transform it into a
socialist revolution.
(e) As a leading component of the Alliance, the ANC has the primary duty to contribute in
strengthening other Alliance components, rebuilding the Mass Democratic Movement
and cultivating open and democratic space for rigorous debates rather than resorting
to bureaucratic suppression and marginalization of others.

4.3 Resolve to:
CONSOLIDATE THE UNION – CONSOLIDATE WORKING CLASS POWER
(

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(a) Commit ourselves to the renewal and strengthening of all Alliance components and
the Mass Democratic Movement, as part of the strategic goal of dislodging and
democratically liquidating the 1996 class project.
(b) Re-affirm the 8th COSATU National Congress resolution asserting the Alliance as the
political centre.
(c) Abide by the following principles as a guiding framework for the proper functioning of
the Alliance:

(1) Notwithstanding the ANC’s position as the leading formation in the Alliance,
each component must recognise and respect the independence and equal status
of others within the Alliance.
(2) Work for mutual benefits in which there is respect and recognition of the role of
each component of the Alliance while forging maximum unity.
(3) Strengthen one another’s formations, including providing time and resources for
organizational building of the Alliance;
(4) Manage the tensions in the Alliance - by consulting one another through
meeting regularly and hammering out the issues;
(5) Promote debates and discussions within the Alliance through democratic
participation of the components of the Alliance and strive to resolve such
debates through discussion and consensus;
(6) Jointly develop policy and positions which represent the best thinking of
the movement as a whole.

(d) To establish a political fund and make resources available to strengthening other
Alliance components, including rebuilding a working class biased ANC, as part of the
implementation of our resolution on the “swelling of the ranks of the ANC”.
(e) Ensure that the “swelling of the ranks” resolution of COSATU is translated into a
critical component of our political tasks in terms of political education and cadreship
development and is monitored regularly.
(f) Support COSATU’s proposal for an Alliance platform and electoral pact based on the
following:

(1) We need to agree on the key elements that must define the nature of the
Alliance and provide practical expression of our shared commitment to
radical and charterist NDR; and
(2) We must to agree as the Alliance on the terms on which we relate to each
other and one another when it comes to elections and related questions of
electoral list and quotas. There must be a common list of candidates agreed
by all in the Alliance.

5. AFRICAN NATIONAL CONGRESS

5.1 Noting that:
CONSOLIDATE THE UNION – CONSOLIDATE WORKING CLASS POWER
(a) Its capacity to unite all the oppressed strata and progressive forces - led by the
working class, the ANC has historically emerged as a leading component of our
Alliance in the course of the NDR.
(b) That while the historical constituency of the ANC remains the black working class and
rural poor, in the overall the ANC’s national leadership is increasingly becoming pettybourgeois
and capitalist in its composition, which seems to influences its ideological
outlook. Furthermore the organization is also dominated by a cadre that occupy
managerial and political leadership positions in the in government and public
enterprises.
(c) Working class leadership has been weakened within the national leadership structures
of the ANC.
(d) The distinct organizational and political role of the ANC in society has increasingly
been undermined by the role of ANC cadres and officials in the state.
(e) The undefined role of ANC as an organisation in relation to the state has rendered it
demobilized and disconnected from the daily struggles in communities and
programmes of progressive mass formations.
(f) There are attempts to re-build the ANC through ward structures and local political
schools.
(g) Noting the resolution of 8th National Congress for COSATU members to “swell the
ranks of the ANC”.

5.2 Believing that:

(a) As a leading component of the Alliance in the NDR, the ANC must not only maintain
its working class bias, but must also be led by the working class leaders; as opposed
the current situation where its leadership structures are dominated by capitalistoriented
forces.
(b) Working class leadership can only be achieved through an increased and direct
participation of worker leaders and activists, as part of a drive to rebuild and contest
for influence in the ANC by working class cadres themselves.

5.3 Resolve to:

(a) We resolve to re-claim the ANC and continue to swell its ranks, guided by the
following guidelines:

(i) Working class cadres must ensure that activities of the ANC structures (including
meeting agendas) are dominated by working class issues and concerns - the
Freedom Charter clauses – rather than the domination of BEEs, tenders,
factionalism etc.
(ii) Working class cadres must contest for leading positions of the ANC to ensure
that capitalist oriented individuals do not dominate the ANC.
(iii) Working class cadres must expose the post-1996 class project, its limitations
and its crisis. This must not be done in a factionalist manner, but in a manner
that encourages debate and discussion within the ANC structures.
(iv) Working class cadres must promote the unity of the Alliance and involvement of
the Alliance in all activities of the ANC and visa-versa.
CONSOLIDATE THE UNION – CONSOLIDATE WORKING CLASS POWER
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(v) COSATU and affiliates must develop mechanisms to monitor and evaluate
participation of membership in the ANC structures.

6. SOUTH AFRICAN COMMUNIST PARTY

6.1 Noting that:

(a) The resolutions of our previous congresses and the COSATU’s resolution of the 8th
National Congress on building and strengthening the SACP.
(b) There federation has not yet established a political fund as part of different means to
support the SACP.
(c) There is progress in the running of joint-political schools among affiliates and the
Party.
(d) The SACP’s Red-October Campaign which advances a range of working class
demands, including the 2006 campaign on public transport.
(e) The Medium-Term Vision of the Party to build the working class power in the strategic
sites of class struggle.
(f) The deepening collaboration between the SACP and COSATU, including the SACP’s
invitation to COSATU to engage with its discussion paper on SACP approach to state
power which puts on the table an option of an electoral contest for power.

6.2 Believing that:

(a) The SACP is the vanguard of the South African working class. Therefore it should take
leadership of the NDR in the current conjuncture. A strong and independent SACP will
advance the interests of the working class.
(b) The SACP and COSATU share a common platform for the realization of socialism in
South Africa.

6.2.3 Resolve to:

(a) Reaffirm all our previous resolutions and the COSATU’s 8th National Congress on
building the SACP.
(b) Contest for elections should be a long-term electoral strategy and must be located
with the MTV and 2015 programmes respectively. As and when SACP will contest
elections will be determined by material conditions from time to time.
(c) The union will continue to provide material and financial support to the Party.
(d) Union will develop a measurable programme geared at building SACP work-place
units in all branches of the union.

7. A POPULAR MOVEMENT TOWARDS SOCIALISM {Political School/NC/KZN}

7.1 Noting that:
CONSOLIDATE THE UNION – CONSOLIDATE WORKING CLASS POWER
(a) The NDR has been driven to a strategic crossroad – the capitalist direction and the
socialist one. The direction it takes will depend on the struggles of the working class
themselves.
(b) The ANC has never been a socialist organization, yet it has always recognised the
historical role of working class as providing the dynamic link between the NDR and
socialism.
(c) The slogan of the SACP - “Socialism is the future, Build it Now!” – calls for the
creation of organs of working class power and collective form of ownership as part of
our long-term of a socialist revolution. This includes mobilization of a range of social
forces behind an SACP-led project for socialism.
(d) A range of mass formations organizing students, women, religious, youth, etc. which
were historically part of the Mass Democratic Movement and which are generally
committed or sympathetic to a socialist project.
(e) COSATU 2015 programme aims, among other things, to build and strengthen working
class power in society.

7.2 Believing that:

(a) Only the working class can take the NDR to its logical conclusion – a socialist South
Africa.
(b) No other class forces can ensure the centrality of the working class interests in the
NDR and deepen it towards socialism.
(c) SACP MTV and COSATU 2015 programme provides a platform to begin to build the
socialist future through an elaborate strategy aimed at building working class power.
(d) Permanent mobilization of the working class and the poor, through variety of their
organizations, is necessary to build capacity and momentum towards socialism
(e) Conditions are more favourable for the Alliance and our mass organizations to engage
in wider debate and discussion on the transition toward socialism.
(f) SACP, as the party of the working class is appropriately placed to lead the process of
mobilization of a range of forces committed and sympathetic to the socialist cause.

7.3 Resolve to:

(a) Jointly work with the SACP, and where possible with the ANC, on building a popular
movement towards socialism.
(b) Incorporate within the COSATU 2015 programme, the building of a popular
movement towards socialism.
(c) Through a joint programme with the SACP, engage a variety of organizations such as
students, youth, religious and other mass organizations on the organizational form
and content of such a movement.
(d) Build on existing campaigns of the SACP and COSATU to facilitate the development of
a movement for socialism.
(e) NEHAWU to actively participate in the preparations in the SACP-COSATU national
conference on the building of a popular movement towards socialism.

8. RACISM AND XENOPHOBIA

8.1 Noting that:
CONSOLIDATE THE UNION – CONSOLIDATE WORKING CLASS POWER
(a) The persistence of racism and xenophobia in our society.
(b) Many of our members are also affected by these backward believes.
(c) Racism and xenophobia have not been eradicated in workplaces, especially in the
private sector.
(d) Many incidents and cases of racist and xenophobic crimes are not reported and
perpetrators are released without conviction.

8.2 Believing that:

(a) Our democratic constitution has created a foundation for the construction of a society
relatively free of the rampant racism and xenophobia that is plaguing our society at
the moment.

8.3 Resolve to:

(a) Develop a programme to combat all forms of discrimination and prejudice on the
grounds of race, gender, nationality, ethnicity, etc. within the union, in our workplaces
and society at large.
(b) Ensure that this programme is integrated into our political education work for our
membership.
(c) To collaborate with other organizations campaigning against human rights abuses, as
part of our fight against all forms of prejudices and discrimination. http://www.nehawu.org.za/uploads/Res_political.pdf

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Brezjnev and the National Democratic Revolution

by Ludo Martens



In his report to the 24th Congress of the CPSU in 1971, Brezjnev formulated the theory of "non-capitalist development" in the ex-colonial countries which had gained formal independence in the last decades. Like a marble statue dedicated to Brezjnevism weathering wind and rain, this theory survived 15 years of turmoil and rebellion in Africa and Asia.

What follows now is the complete account of this theory as explained by the authors Tchirkine and Youdine .

"The formation of young nations has always been the result of a revolution of national liberation, no matter if this was a violent revolution not." (p.4).

"Those countries which succeeded in liberating themselves from the oppression of colonial rule can only reach real social progress through non-capitalist development and socialist orientation (...) Non-capitalistic development does not ensure an immediate transition to socialism. But it is the start of a social-economical development that creates the necessary base to form a socialist society (p.5).""A state with a socialist orientation is a class organisation which acts in the interests of narrowly defined classes and social strata." The authors cite a few officials from Congo, South Yemen and Birma to conclude: "In this way, the state with a socialist orientation is the instrument of the Revolutionary and Democratic Dictatorship of the People (p.11)."

"The Revolutionary and Democratic Dictatorship of the People does not necessarily mean that total power would be in the hands of the most progressive revolutionary forces. On the contrary, one of the social foundations of power would be formed by petty bourgeois classes, supported by part of the non-working owners class, groups which will ultimatly resist the reinforcement of revolutionary change. The special nature of the balance between classes obliges the workers to share power with owners and/or other non-working classes. But even in those conditions, the state with a socialist orientation remains in the first place the representative of the dictatorship of the people, of which the peasants make up a large part (p.12). The state stands very close indeed to the Revolutionary and Democratic Dictatorship of the proletariat and the peasants and closely reflect the specific conditions of recently liberated countries (p.16).

The authors then proudly continue to cite proofs for their statements: Tanzania declared itself "State of labourers and peasants", the Republic of Congo "expects to install the dictatorship of the proletariat", the Egyptian constitution describes its "democratic socialist regime", the Syrian version praises its "democratic, socialist state of the people" and Birma is called "an independent socialist workers' state" (p.16-17).

"In a state with socialist orientation the economy has not only a anti-feudal and an anti-imperialistic reflex, there is also an anti-capitalistic trend, be it only partly. The essential contents of this anti-capitalistic trend is the creation, by the state, of the conditions for the transition to socialism and new production relations. These conditions are created in first instance by the development of social ownership of the means of production in its two main appearances, state-ownership and cooperative ownership, secondly by the systematic restriction and elimination of foreign and local capital and further by the introduction of a state plan (p.22)."

The authors treat us with some examples of the "anti-capitalistic tendency" such as Egypt, where the state owns an estimated 85% of the means of production or Algeria, where the figure is 80%; In Syria the state is responsible for 90% of the national production and in Irak the state accounts for 70% of production (p.26).

One has to admire the authors for their fluent use of marxist terminology to violate every marxist principle known until now. This use of marxist-like words and expressions to distort the real meaning of the learnings of Marx and Lenin is at the base of revisionism. Marxist terms which describe clearly identified facts, are being wrought to explain social phenomena, with which they have nothing to do whatsoever.

What is more, this text reveals that the authors are viewing the Third World with the eyes of a super-power that has swapped communism for chauvinism. In their text we cannot detect the slightest interest for the real revolutionary work among the masses of the countries concerned. There is no trace of any experience or opinion of from communists who fought, independently, in the field. The numerous data that are casually accepted as "facts" in the text were never substantiated by a thorough materialistic study of the existing reality; they were based on a painstaking analysis of... the constitution of the countries in question.



Right from the start Tchirkine and Youdine abuse the concept of revolution by applying the word for every decolonisation process, even if it concerns a political reformation initiated or dominated by imperialism. Lenin defines revolution as the violent destruction of an old political superstructure (p.126). In several colonies, imperialism had become aware of the necessity to grant formal independence and took precautions to avoid widespread violence by the people. In this manner it was possible to keep the political super-structure intact, bringing only a few cosmetic, neo-colonial changes into the system.

Lenin himself warns about the abuse of the word revolution. "Our own movement, he writes, can degenerate from a real revolutionary movement to a revolutionary movement of words" (p.103). And as revolutionary struggle begins to break out in Russia in 1905 "bourgeois liberals realize the necessity to recognise the revolution. In fact they loath struggle and revolution, but the circumstances force them to accept the reality of the revolution because they have no choice." (p.124). Bearing this in mind Lenin took pains to clarify the contents of the word revolution: victorious peoples' rising, a provisional revolutionary government, arming of the masses, proletarian struggle against the monarchy and the aristocracy by merciless elimination of the enemies of freedom and by violent repression of their resistence without any compromise to the damned heritage of feodality (p.20, p.51, p.54-55). Entirely in conflict with Lenin's analysis, the authors award the enlightment of "revolution" to crown the regimes of Egypt, Syria, Iraq, Somalia, Birma, Algeria, Tanzania.

During the anti-Tsarist revolution (in many aspects comparable to the anti-colonial revolution) Lenin began to define the character of the struggle: a democratic revolution which, in its essential economic goals, remained within the bourgeois framework. A radical victory of this revolution would pave the way for "spontaneous" widespread development of capitalist enterprise. It will also create new contradictions and struggle between bourgeoisy and proletariat (p.21). "The complete victory of the present revolution will signify the end of the democratic revolution and the beginning of a hard struggle for a socialist revolution (...) The meaning itself of the expression "democratic" dictatorship is a reflection of the limited historical character of the present revolution and the necessity of a new struggle in the context of a new socio-political environment" (p.128).

http://www.wpb.be/doc/doc/breznjev.htm

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"Indeed, many people fear it. And so arises this feverish pre-occupation with a 'left takeover' of the ANC," Zuma wrote.

"The point that many people fail to grasp is that the ANC, by its own definition and by any objective standard, is in fact an organisation of the left.

"It is a multi-class national liberation movement with a bias towards the working class and poor."

Zuma said the party's alliance partners did not determine its economic policy, but merely added to the debate. http://www.mg.co.za/article/2009-10-30-zuma-anc-has-always-been-an-organisation-of-the-left

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ANC Today Discussion Supplement

Left Factionalism and the Democratic Revolution

By Dumisani Makhaye

The ANC faces the inevitable challenge to defend the democratic victory of 1994. It has the task to use this historic outcome to promote the strategic goal of reconstruction and development.

This demands that we defend the leadership role of the ANC in the continuing struggle for the victory of the national democratic revolution, and maintain the unity of the forces that brought about the defeat of the apartheid regime.

This MRABULO article gives guidance to all genuine revolutionaries about what needs to be done to achieve all these objectives.

For many decades, the ANC and the SACP have worked together as reliable and dependable partners in the struggle for the victory of the national democratic revolution. In this context, they understood their respective and non-antagonistic roles. They knew that they had different and common goals.

The task of the ANC, composed as a multi-class formation, was to lead the masses of our people in the struggle for the victory of the national democratic revolution.

In this regard, it had to ensure the defeat of the system of white minority domination and ensure that, as the programme of the national democratic revolution, the Freedom Charter said, 'The people shall govern'.

It would further ensure that the people use their political power to eradicate the legacy of colonialism and apartheid, creating a new situation of equality among races, national groups and individuals.

For its part, the SACP had determined that its historic mission was, and is, to lead the workers and the working people in our country in the struggle for the victory of the socialist revolution. Nevertheless, it determined that for these working masses to tackle the challenge of their class oppression, first of all, they had to free themselves from national oppression.

In part, this was because the principal motive force for the socialist revolution was the black working class, a victim of national oppression together with the rest of the black population, regardless of class identity.

The SACP therefore shared a common responsibility with the ANC to organise and mobilise the black workers into the struggle for national liberation. At the same time and in this context, the two formations had a common obligation to mobilise this majority of our workers to engage in struggle to improve its wages and working conditions.

It was this understanding that allowed the late ANC President OR Tambo during the funeral of the late General Secretary of the SACP and leader of the ANC, Moses Mabhida to say: "It was part of Comrade Mabhida's greatness that having quite early on understood the importance of the unity of these great movements, (ANC, SACP and SACTU), he succeeded in ably serving each one of them individually, and all of them together. He served them together as a collective front for national and social emancipation..... Moses Mabhida knew that the very dignity of labour demands that those who toil should not only enjoy the fruit of their sweat, but should do so as free men and women.

"Accordingly, he fought against all attempts to turn the trade unions into appendages of the property-owning classes and he resisted all efforts to emasculate the working class as a leading social force for political change in our country. Likewise, he was fiercely opposed to all manouevres which sought to educate the working class to repudiate its own history and to allow itself to be turned into a base for the creation of a new political formation separate from and opposed to the ANC and the Communist Party."

For the ANC, this was an important element, relevant to its struggle to improve the material conditions of the black oppressed even before the transfer of power to the people. The SACP shared this interest, inspired by the fact that it had positioned itself as the party of the workers, whereas the ANC was the movement of the people as a whole.

The SACP therefore considered that, in addition, the working class struggles around issues of wages and working conditions were a necessary training ground to prepare the workers for the offensive not merely to win concessions from the employers.

Rather, these struggles would prepare the workers to launch the assault to expropriate these owners of productive property, as well as overthrow their state institutions, leading to the workers, under the leadership of the SACP, taking control both of the means of production and state power.

How this would express itself in the context of the democratic state and the new system of property relations, brought about by the victory of the national democratic revolution, was a matter that history, and only history, would resolve. In other words, it could not be answered through theoretical speculation, but would be resolved by historical, human practice.

Over the years of the ANC's evolution, in its basic documents it has stated the leading role of the black working class. This position was reached by the ANC on its free will and not because of some coercion. But the ANC has always understood this position to mean that the working class must earn this role through practice in the struggle for national liberation. It can only do this if it plays a visible role at all levels of the ANC, especially at branch level. It cannot assume this role by quarantining itself into dark corners and conspiring to usurp the ANC leadership by undermining its democratically elected leadership and democratically reached positions as our left critics attempt to do.

In organisational terms, the various tasks of the ANC and the SACP meant that the two formations had to maintain their independent existence, to create the possibility for them to pursue their different objectives.

At the same time, they had to elaborate the necessary forms of organisation that would give effect to the equally important reality that, with regard to a variety of important matters, they pursued common objectives.

This led to a complex ideological, political and organisational struggle within the camp of the forces of the national democratic revolution, stretching over a number of decades. Nevertheless, in time the main questions were resolved.

This struggle created a stable system of cooperation and united action between the ANC and the SACP, which gave our broad movement for national liberation the strength and the cohesion it needed to defeat the system of white minority rule.

The broad movement included the progressive trade union movement, whose role and place in the liberation struggle had been one of the central issues in the ideological, political and organisational struggle to which we have referred.

This struggle had also answered the questions that needed to be answered about the role of the organised workers in the struggle both for national liberation and socialism, in the manner we have explained.

One of these answers was that the trade union movement would be an independent formation of all workers without regard to the political allegiance of these workers. This was because these workers shared and share a common interest in improving their conditions of life as human beings and members of social units, including the family.

Another was that both the ANC and the SACP would work among the workers and their trade union organisations to provide the political consciousness and leadership that would ensure the adherence of these workers to the respective political programmes and goals of the ANC and the SACP.

The historic alliance between the ANC, the SACP and SACTU, later replaced by COSATU, was born of and expressed the outcome of the evolutionary processes within the revolutionary movement, which gave it the strength to lead our country and people in the struggle for the defeat of the apartheid regime and system.

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However, as we approached the moment of the accomplishment of the political tasks of this alliance, trends began to emerge from within the alliance whose effect was to question and threaten the ideological, political and organisational construct representing the united movement for national liberation that was on the verge of victory.

Objectively, this emerged out of the natural consideration by each independent formation of the alliance, of the implications for itself of the impending victory of the national democratic revolution.

This natural process led to the emergence of groupings within the SACP and COSATU that sought to redefine the tasks of the working class, among others.

These groupings within the SACP and COSATU came to the conclusion that the victory of the national democratic revolution would create the possibility for them to use the democratic state power to achieve the goals of the socialist revolution, as they understood these goals.

In the meantime, the task that faced the ANC was to define, as precisely as possible, the tasks of the democratic state in the continuing struggle to achieve the goals of the national democratic revolution.

Nevertheless the groupings in the SACP and COSATU we have mentioned, set about positioning themselves within the alliance in such a way that they would be able to determine and decide what the democratic state would do. Necessarily, a number of consequences arose from this strategic shift.

One of these is that these groupings would adopt the position that the national democratic revolution had run its course. Accordingly, in their view, the time had come to build socialism now.

At the same time, the determination would be made that the same popular forces that secured the political victory of the national democratic revolution should be mobilised and transformed into the forces that would build socialism now.

To do this, it was necessary and obligatory that the forces of socialism, defined as the groupings located within the SACP and COSATU, should therefore take over the leadership of these popular forces. To do this, they would have to remove and replace the ANC in terms of the exercise of this leadership.

An important part of this exercise would be that these groupings would work to determine what the motive forces of the national democratic revolution and the country at large should accept as the genuine tasks of this revolution.

Further, they would work to position themselves as the best representatives of the forces committed to achieve these tasks, which necessarily, as socialist tasks, had to be presented as offering a glorious life to the workers and the working people.

As part of this process, the historic leader of the national liberation movement, of the same forces targeted for transformation into the mass army that would fight for socialism now, would have to be presented in a new light.

According to these calculations, the ANC would emerge at best as a reformist movement, interested to enter into compromises with the same forces that had been and continue to be responsible for the exploitation of the black masses.

At worst, it would be presented as a traitor to the revolution, intent on forming an alliance with these forces, to misuse state power in a determined effort to share the spoils with the oppressors and exploiters.

To achieve these objectives, the groupings in the SACP and COSATU that we have mentioned, decided to act and acted on at least seven fronts.

Before identifying these, we must make the point that the majority of members of both the SACP and COSATU do not constitute part of these groupings. These members came into these organisations informed by the long-established history of our alliance.

Without any doubt whatsoever, these same members will ensure that their organisations, the SACP and COSATU, are not abused and misused as instruments for the pursuit of goals inconsistent with the aspirations of the ordinary South Africans they represent.

We will now return to the tasks that the 'left' groupings within the alliance have set themselves, and what they have done in this regard from the period they decided to go on the offensive.

One, they presented their own unique political platform to the country, not hesitating to contradict and challenge the publicly expressed positions of the ANC.

Two, they opposed the concept of building the SACP as a vanguard party of the working class. They prefer that the Communist Party should remain a 'mass party'. For this reason, they are happy to admit into the ranks of the SACP people who join the SACP who became disaffected with the ANC when they fail to gain elective positions in the ANC, through our movement's democratic processes.

The advantages the 'left' grouping in the SACP and COSATU derive from this is that this enables these groupings to rely on the low level of socialist consciousness in the country to use all and sundry as part of their 'left' cadres.

Very few of these are able constructively to argue and propagate the cause of socialism. Nevertheless, they play a useful role in terms of shouting slogans, singing and toyi-toying for 'socialism'. This is the human material that is used to build the SACP as a 'mass party'.

Three, they worked to popularise this platform, engaging in an ideological, political and organisational struggle to build as broad a movement as possible to support this platform, specifically aimed at defeating the policies and positions of the ANC.

Four, they worked to exclude and deny ANC political leadership especially of the progressive trade union movement, to destroy the tradition built during the most difficult period of our struggle for national liberation, of ANC leadership of and integration with the organised workers, in the advance to national liberation.

Chief Albert Luthuli explained this as the dialectical unity between the mass ANC shield and the organised working class SACTU spear.

Five, they engaged in determined efforts to capture the leadership of the ANC in a factional process historically described in the progressive movement, with its tradition of forming united fronts, as entryism.

Six, they have relied on conspiratorial methods to achieve their objectives. This includes the processes in which they engage to capture the leadership of the broad democratic movement, including the ANC.

Seven, they have worked to turn the international forces that worked, under the leadership of the ANC, to defeat the apartheid regime, into opponents of our movement. They do this through a sustained campaign to discredit the efforts of both the ANC and the democratic state to achieve the objectives of the national democratic revolution.

In this regard, they rely on the same left factional forces that, throughout the international struggle against apartheid, consistently acted to divide the united front against apartheid. For many decades these foreign forces both pretended that they understood the national tasks of our movement better than our movement did, and were the most militant representatives of the struggle for the liberation of our own people.

Groupings that today occupy leading positions in our allied organisations, have entered into an alliance with the very same organisations that, objectively, acted as an obstacle to the international mobilisation of the greatest number of people to defeat apartheid tyranny.

Interestingly, and of notable significance, is the fact that both the 'left' factions of which we have been speaking, as well as their right-wing allies, have depended and depend for their strategic and tactical thinking and work on foreigner advisors, who pose as temporary or permanent 'immigrants' to our country.

For its part, while respecting and accessing international experience, our movement has made certain that it depends on its own resources, as well as the South African population at large, to determine the future of our country and all our people.

We insisted on this practice during the process of the complex negotiations for the transition from apartheid to democracy. We must sustain it as we work to implement the national programme of reconstruction and development.

Let us now return to our critical fourth point in the agenda of the 'left' groupings, which relates to their determined effort radically to change the relationship among the three centres, the organisational leaders of the national liberation movement, the socialist revolution, and the workers organised into the trade union movement.

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In this context, the groupings in the SACP and COSATU to which we have referred, have had to work hard to destroy the credibility of tried and tested leaders and activists of the ANC, presenting them in a negative light among the very same members of the ANC whose experience teaches the latter to trust such leaders and activists.

Inevitably, these groupings could not but resort to personal vilification, lies and slander of these leaders and activists, to destroy the trust of the members of our movement, and its mass base.

The determination to achieve these objectives, that would lead to these groupings capturing the leadership of the ANC, necessarily led to them constituting themselves as a faction within the ANC. Acting as such a faction, these groupings set themselves particular tasks within the ANC.

One of these was to use the fact of the ANC membership of their members to promote their factional policy positions, pretending that these represent a progressive improvement of the policy positions of the ANC.

In this regard, they have not hesitated to use individuals within the ANC they knew were disaffected, whom they believed were influential within our ranks and society in general.

Another was to manipulate the democratic processes of the ANC to ensure the election of their candidates to positions of leadership within our movement. Among other things, this has taken the form of the executive lists these groupings secretly present to the delegates at ANC elective conference at all levels, for whose election they canvass, presenting themselves as a genuine ANC lobby.

To quote only one example, this phenomenon manifested itself at the 50th Mafikeng National Conference of the ANC. An investigation conducted by the leadership of the SACP after this ANC conference, at the request of the ANC, confirmed that, indeed, members of the SACP had made every effort at an ANC conference to ensure that in its elections, the conference gave preference to members of the SACP, as opposed to members of the ANC, regardless of everybody's contribution to the national liberation struggle.

The same thing is happening as we prepare for the 51st National Conference. Some members of the SACP, who are members of the ANC by virtue of the historic alliance of which we have spoken, have continued to act in the factional fashion we described earlier, which originated from the fact of our impending victory over white minority domination.

Clearly, this has become an endemic feature of our internal ANC politics. This is because the political victory was in fact achieved. In two successive elections, the masses of our people have elected the ANC as the formation on which they depend to lead them in the process of the reconstruction and development of our country.

This has more than confirmed the conviction of the factional groupings in the SACP and COSATU that now is the time for them to take away the leadership of the progressive movement in our country from the ANC.

Their hunger for political power drives them to act audaciously to undo everything that has been achieved in protracted struggle to build the united revolutionary movement represented by the historic alliance that emerged out of many decades of struggle. In this regard, they cannot but resort to divisive factional activity.

The message of these groupings is quite simple. It says if you are ANC, you are at best inadequate, and at worst, bad! If you are SACP you are at least a worker, and at best a revolutionary!

The problems we are experiencing in some areas of our country are a direct and immediate expression of the factional activities of these groupings. Inevitably, as they tried at Mafikeng in 1997, they will try in Stellenbosch in 2002, once more, to determine who should constitute the national leadership of the ANC.

>From the foregoing, it is easy to see why the anti-ANC groupings in the
>SACP
and COSATU earn the accolades and support of others in our country that oppose the ANC from conservative and right-wing liberal positions.

The reasons for this are not difficult to fathom. They reflect the perfectly logical conclusion of the conservatives and right-wing liberals that the enemy of their enemy is their friend.

These forces, principally concentrated in Democratic Party/Democratic Alliance, know that they are too weak effectively to oppose the ANC. This is despite their support by a variety of non-governmental organisations, various academics and 'experts', and sections of the media. They believe that our 'left' opponents have a better possibility to weaken their opponent, the ANC, and thus will contribute to the realisation of the strategic objective of the rightwing.

Objectively, these two forces therefore work consistently to reinforce each other. Recently, this has been well illustrated by the concentration of all these elements of opposition to the ANC, around the issue of the irresponsible and opportunist demand for the institution of a basic income grant (BIG).

In reality, this confirms the global experience of the progressive movement for a period that extends over a century, that left factionalists end up working as allies of right-wing reaction. This is precisely where the groupings in the SACP and COSATU stand today, having decided that they would constitute themselves into an opposition to the ANC.

They should have known that here was another opposition force to the ANC, waiting in the wings. These are the domestic and international forces that opposed the ANC in the past and do not accept the reality that, today and for the foreseeable future, the ANC is and will be the ruling political formation.

These other forces stand ready to enter into short term and other alliances with anybody who is interested to oppose the ANC. They will use all resources available to them, including the money in their hands, to strengthen this opposition.

Inevitably, the groupings in the SACP and COSATU that have defined themselves as opponents of the ANC, will find themselves entangled in all manner of machinations that will take them further and further away from the traditions of the organisations to which they belong.

The more they sink into the pockets of our historical opponents, the more they will be required to engage in desperate gambles to assert their 'left' credentials. This includes attempts that are bound to fail, of trying to mobilise the workers that form the core of the continuing struggle for the victory of the national democratic revolution, to join political strikes against this revolution.

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Unfortunately, and perhaps understandably, it took the ANC some time fully to understand the new tendencies we have been discussing. There was a time lag between the evolution of objective reality and the subjective comprehension of this reality.

This was because the ANC thought that because the fundamentals that informed the structuring and functioning of our historic alliance had not changed, this alliance would continue to operate as it had done for some decades.

Our organisation failed to take into account the fact that not all leaders of the alliance would necessarily respond to our accession to political power in the same way, remaining loyal to the traditions established by our broad movement through and after many decades of struggle.

The result of this was that the ANC took time to respond to the ideological, political and organisational offensive of the groupings that had located themselves in the SACP and COSATU. This created the impression that these groupings had a just cause, whereas the ANC was guilty as charged by these groupings.

We now have the situation that the subjective has caught up with the objective. Our movement now understands very well both the objective and subjective factors that relate to the emergence of ultra-left factions within the alliance. Correctly, we have begun the counter-offensive to defend the best revolutionary traditions of our broad movement for national liberation.

Naturally, this will evoke a response from those against whom we defend our revolutionary traditions. We will continue to tackle this task in a principled, but vigorous fashion. Necessarily our opponents will respond in a different way, essentially driven by their inability to mount a straightforward and effective ideological and political response.

This has been demonstrated by the manner in which the groupings in question have, for instance, treated the issue of the restructuring of state assets. To substantiate their case, they have resorted to gross and deliberate falsification of everything relating to this process.

Even with regard to the two general strikes they have organised to resist this process, they have deliberately and consciously chosen to present these failed strikes as a success. This has included a specific injunction against trade union leaders not to speak honestly about the failure of these strikes.

At the same time, these groupings have sought to 'blame' what they call privatisation first of all on our government, which they strive as acting in a manner contrary to what the ANC thinks. This is done to demobilise the ANC, while they mount an offensive against the government.

These groupings proceed beyond this, to identify the general enemy in government as the bureaucrats and technocrats within the state system. This is intended to demobilise the ANC political leadership in government, from the President downwards, even as these groupings mount an offensive against decisions taken by this leadership.

To make doubly certain that our political leadership remains immobilised, these groupings then worked to isolate the Minister for Public Enterprises, presenting him as the villain of the piece.

Allegedly he, exclusively, is politically responsible for 'privatisation' informed by the state bureaucrats and technocrats. The hope is that this further 'insulation' from 'left' criticism of the ANC, both inside and outside of government, will create the space for the groupings to which we have referred, to win the tactical victories on which they have focused.

To reinforce and promote this outcome, these groupings made certain that they communicate their views through the recent Congress of the SACP. Accordingly, they campaigned for the exclusion from leadership of the SACP of the Mister of Public Enterprises, who, at that point, was a member of this leadership.

This could be and was done, given that the delegates were representative of the 'mass character' of the SACP. Accordingly, these delegates sang and toy-toyied the Minister out of the leadership of the SACP. Obviously, this had nothing to do with either the real tasks of the SACP or the possible contribution of the Minister, a communist, to contribute to their achievement.

The above indicates the tactical sophistication of the 'left' groupings that have positioned themselves as opponents of our movement. The task we face is to respond to them with equal or better sophistication, while respecting and further entrenching the morality of our revolutionary movement.

In this regard, we are faced with a number of tasks. One of these is properly to understand the strategic objectives, tactical tasks, operational goals and composition of the forces of the 'left' groupings. This must include their domestic and international 'left' and right-wing allies.

The other is properly to inform and mobilise the membership of the ANC about and around all these matters, including the substantive ideological and political issues. This membership must then act within all our structures to defend and advance the agreed positions of our movement.

Another is that we have to act with regard to the population as a whole to achieve these objectives. In this regard, we have to rely, first and foremost, on our means of communication. This is because in this struggle, we cannot depend on the mass media, some of which is politically committed to the defeat of our movement.

Yet another is that we have to communicate with other organisations of the mass democratic movement and other influential public organisations, to familiarize them with the positions of our movement. This also relates to the international community.

Objectively, each and every revolutionary movement has to confront three different tasks.

The first of these is to overcome and defeat its opponent. This we have done.

The second is to defend the revolutionary victory. We have done well in this regard. Nevertheless, the struggle continues.

The third is to use the revolutionary victory to realize the transformation objectives of the revolution. In this regard, again we are doing well. Necessarily, the struggle continues.

The question of our quality and calibre as a genuinely revolutionary movement will be answered by the objective results relating to the second and third of these goals.

This central matter will not be settled on the subjective plane. Objective reality will determine whether our revolutionary movement has succeeded or it has been defeated. In this regard, facts will speak louder than words.

But this we must understand, that the subjective factor, the ideological, political and organisational struggle, will play a decisive role in determining whether, objectively, our revolutionary movement succeeds both to defend its revolutionary gains and to achieve the fundamental transformation of our country, as visualized in our historic policy positions, including the RDP.

We will achieve our revolutionary goals in spite of the combined opposition of the 'left' inside and outside our ranks, and our right-wing opponents.

In this MRABULO article, which we have used as a supplement to ANC TODAY, we have discussed the 'left' opposition to our movement.

In a fortnight, we will use another MRABULO article as a supplement to ANC TODAY, to discuss the right-wing opposition to our movement.

This indicates the resolve of our movement to engage and sustain the ideological and political struggle, in the interest of the masses of our people. The period of the loss of vigilance on our part, occasioned by the euphoria of the democratic victory of 1994 is over.

In their struggle, our 'left' and right-wing opponents allow us no quarter. We too, the tried and tested leader of the masses of our people, will not accept that we allow that the aspirations of these masses are defeated by any failure on our part.

We will play no part in creating the possibility for some, regardless of their political labels, to succeed in their counter-revolutionary objectives.

As part of their armory, the 'left' and the right-wing will respond to our self-defense and counter-attack with self-righteous indignation. But we also know that professional wrongdoers know best about what they need to do to escape punishment.

Confronted as we are by 'left' and right-wing professionals, our movement must and will respond to these professionals in a consistently revolutionary, honest and open manner. We will not retreat from, or abandon, this struggle.

Victory is Certain!

Dumisani Makhaye is an ANC National Executive Committee member.

Supplement to ANC Today, Vol.2, No.48, 29 November 2002

http://www.anc.org.za/ancdocs/anctoday/docs/atsup021129.htm

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The same thing is happening as we prepare for the 51st National Conference. Some members of the SACP, who are members of the ANC by virtue of the historic alliance of which we have spoken, have continued to act in the factional fashion we described earlier, which originated from the fact of our impending victory over white minority domination.

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Clearly, this has become an endemic feature of our internal ANC politics. This is because the political victory was in fact achieved. In two successive elections, the masses of our people have elected the ANC as the formation on which they depend to lead them in the process of the reconstruction and development of our country.

Click to expand...

This has more than confirmed the conviction of the factional groupings in the SACP and COSATU that now is the time for them to take away the leadership of the progressive movement in our country from the ANC.

Click to expand...

Their hunger for political power drives them to act audaciously to undo everything that has been achieved in protracted struggle to build the united revolutionary movement represented by the historic alliance that emerged out of many decades of struggle. In this regard, they cannot but resort to divisive factional activity.

Click to expand...

The message of these groupings is quite simple. It says if you are ANC, you are at best inadequate, and at worst, bad! If you are SACP you are at least a worker, and at best a revolutionary!

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davemc said:

2 elections? How old is this article?

I take it that this whole "speech" was pre-COPE days.

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ToxicBunny said:

7 years in political terms make this Anc Today Discussion meaningless in todays world.

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Lenin reviews the different political tendencies within the classes competing in the struggle: the liberal progressive bourgeoisy tries peaceful appeasement with the regime in power which should bring it maximum influence (p.15-16); the peasent class aims for "land and freedom" in a radical revolution within the framework of a capitalist economy (p.110, p.95); the proletariat wants the radical democratic revolution it deems a necessary step towards socialist revolution (p.97). "The proletariat must bring the democratic revolution to an end by tying the semi-proletarian masses to their cause and energeticaly organizing and leading the wavering peasants and the petty bourgeois to the violent break up of bourgeois rule (p.97). http://www.wpb.be/doc/doc/breznjev.htm

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7.2 Believing that:

(a) Only the working class can take the NDR to its logical conclusion – a socialist South Africa.
(b) No other class forces can ensure the centrality of the working class interests in the NDR and deepen it towards socialism.
(c) SACP MTV and COSATU 2015 programme provides a platform to begin to build the socialist future through an elaborate strategy aimed at building working class power.
(d) Permanent mobilization of the working class and the poor, through variety of their organizations, is necessary to build capacity and momentum towards socialism
(e) Conditions are more favourable for the Alliance and our mass organizations to engage in wider debate and discussion on the transition toward socialism.
(f) SACP, as the party of the working class is appropriately placed to lead the process of mobilization of a range of forces committed and sympathetic to the socialist cause. http://www.nehawu.org.za/uploads/Res_political.pdf

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Lenin reviews the different political tendencies within the classes competing in the struggle: the liberal progressive bourgeoisy tries peaceful appeasement with the regime in power which should bring it maximum influence (p.15-16); the peasent class aims for "land and freedom" in a radical revolution within the framework of a capitalist economy (p.110, p.95); the proletariat wants the radical democratic revolution it deems a necessary step towards socialist revolution (p.97). "The proletariat must bring the democratic revolution to an end by tying the semi-proletarian masses to their cause and energeticaly organizing and leading the wavering peasants and the petty bourgeois to the violent break up of bourgeois rule (p.97). http://www.wpb.be/doc/doc/breznjev.htm

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One of my earliest memories of Jacob Zuma - and for a long time, the defining one - was his 1999 defence in parliament of the ANC's policy of cadre deployment. At its national conference in December 1997 the ruling party had adopted a resolution on cadre policy. And in 1998 the ANC set about implementing a programme of bringing all ‘levers of power' under its control through of placing loyalists in all key positions across the state.

On November 30 1998 the ANC's National Working Committee met to discuss its progress in implementing the resolution. Zuma, as Thabo Mbeki's then loyal No. 2, was appointed head of the national deployment committee, the body tasked with overseeing the distribution and allocation of cadres. According to a press statement issued after the meeting, "The NWC discussed and adopted a document on the ANC deployment strategy. The deployment strategy will provide broad guidelines for deployment of ANC cadres to all areas which the movement regards as crucial for the transformation project."

That document itself spelt out the ANC's totalitarian aspirations. It called for the ruling party to "strengthen the political and administrative control and supervisory structures of the ANC" in the party itself, parliament, the provincial legislatures, local government and the civil service. It further stated that "We must strengthen our leadership of all parastatals and statutory bodies" as well as "in all other sectors of social activity", including the economy, education, sport and the media.

It was published in the ANC journal Umrabulo the following year, but only picked up by the opposition after the 1999 elections (though its significance was not initially properly understood). By then Zuma was deputy president of South Africa. On Wednesday August 25 1999 Democratic Party leader Tony Leon asked him in parliament whether, in reference to this document, there was a deliberate ANC strategy to strengthen control over (inter alia) the civil service.

In his response Zuma was somewhat economical with the truth. He avoided answering the question directly. He pretended instead that this strategy document was simply one for "discussion" intended only to "contribute to debate within the ANC and society at large." He denied that the constitution was being undermined and defended the policy saying there was nothing to preclude "ANC people, if they have the skills and merit from being employed. I think that is the standpoint which we take. The ANC, in this discussion document, is saying that, knowing its members and other people outside its membership, it will encourage them to apply for such positions."

In my mind this defined Zuma. Here was someone playing an integral role in the implementation of policy derived directly from the Soviet textbook. While he knew perfectly well what the real goals of this policy were, he was nonetheless willing to stand up and bull**** parliament and the opposition about them. The 'skills and merit' of the cadres was irrelevant, loyalty to the ANC and the racial goals of the movement was everything.

http://www.politicsweb.co.za/politicsweb/view/politicsweb/en/page71619?oid=146332&sn=Detail

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COSATU's noxious agenda - Helen Zille
Helen Zille
18 October 2009

The DA leader says the union federation wants to abolish property rights

How would you respond if you learnt that the South African Government had been infiltrated by an organisation that had never been elected, and whose aims were to eliminate private property, nationalise the mines and food, and abolish parliament? What if you learnt that this group had inserted ministers in government to drive policy objectives that have brought disaster everywhere in the world where they have been implemented?

In South Africa there are two such groups - the South African Communist Party (SACP) and the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU). This week's SA Today focuses on Cosatu following its recent Congress.

The DA unequivocally supports the rights of workers to form trade unions to protect and promote their interests. Cosatu does not confine itself to this role. Having received no votes from the South Africa public, it is seeking to take over an elected party from within, and to dictate policy in the highest councils of the state.

It is interesting to compare media coverage of Cosatu's 10th National Congress last month with what actually happened. The newspapers and TV covered the standing ovation for President Zuma, the calls to do away with inflation targeting and the personal attacks on Trevor Manuel.

What they did not cover were the actual resolutions passed at the congress. These make chilling reading. They are freely available on the Cosatu website.

In its "Draft Workers Manifesto Framework for a Socialist South Africa", Cosatu says that "As part of the revolutionary proletarian movement, Cosatu must develop its own guide to the struggle for a socialist revolution". The revolutionary programme must have "A Marxist dialectical and historical materialist approach".

The most dangerous element of Cosatu's rhetoric is the myth that its policies will benefit the poor. Quite the contrary. The history of the last century has demonstrated that this path inevitably leads to the dead-end of dictatorship and impoverishment.

The lessons of history have escaped Cosatu whose "Long Term Revolutionary Demands" include:

Abolish bourgeois private property.

Nationalise, socialise and democratise all key strategic means of production in South Africa such as land, water, minerals, mines, banks, oil companies, shipyards, telecommunications, transport, food, housing, etc, etc, etc

Abolish the bourgeoisie executive, parliamentary and justice system, and replace them with working class state structures.

http://www.politicsweb.co.za/politicsweb/view/politicsweb/en/page71619?oid=147301&sn=Detail

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COSATU 10th National Congress - Declaration

21-24 September 2009, Johannesburg

Against this background we declare:

1. That we embrace the political and organisational tasks set for this Congress in the Secretariat Report. To that end we commit to develop concrete plans to implement these tasks to ensure:

a. Ideological clarity about where we are, what the forces ranging against the strategic interest of the working class are; who are our allies; and clarity about the international ideological warfare. We further commit to build Marxism-Leninism as a tool of scientific inquiry to search for answers in the contemporary world. Marxism is also a guide to action. It is also pivotal to rebuild working class confidence in its ideas and heritage.

b. A programme for transformation setting out the short-term, medium-term and long-term objectives to deepen the NDR and the attainment of socialism. The programme will reflect the multitude of challenges facing the working class at the point of production and reproduction; and in all sites of power, the state, judiciary and the media. To that end, we embrace the challenge to sharpen our ideology and theory of revolution. We will open the space for discussion in the left and empower our members and leaders to understand the different theoretical approaches.

In this context, the state should be transformed into an effective and democratic developmental state. It must have the capacity to formulate a vision and programme for development; capacity to plan and coordinate its various interventions; and capacity for implementation. In this regard, we welcome the reconfiguration of Cabinet to build the capacity of the state to plan, coordinate, implement and monitor progress. Ultimately the State President bears the responsibility to translate Alliance positions into programmes of government and to steer the ship of government. We are opposed to fragmentation of the state through building of fiefdoms or kitchen cabinets within the state.

For that reason we call for the overhaul of the content of the Green Paper on Strategic Planning. That said, COSATU is not opposed to a discussion that clearly articulates a coherent planning process and machinery to ensure an effective state. We object to the marginalisation of the Alliance and other key ministries in shaping this policy intervention prior to its public released. This is reminiscent of the past, where COSATU and the Alliance were treated like ordinary NGOs and not allies. This contemptuous attitude flies against the spirit of the recent Alliance summit and engagements. Congress calls for a discussion on this issue by the Alliance.

c. An organisational development and building programme to build the organisational machinery of the working class and the liberation movement. The programme will ensure that the organisation has vibrant structures at branch/local, provincial and national level. This will also ensure internal dynamism; democracy through heightened mass education and activism to raise the level of class consciousness. In this regard we have adopted policy proposals tabled by NALEDI as the congress for a continuing systematic organisational renewal programme.

2. Reaffirm the historical thesis that the NDR is the terrain upon which to wage a socialist struggle. Socialism is not a deferred struggle, nor is it a deferred perspective. In struggling for basic national democratic objectives, a broad national movement will be rolling back the capitalist market and constructing elements of socialism. Against this background, we commit to taking forward the task to learn the lessons of history to inform our practice today; to build a socialist movement coalescing around the SACP; develop a critical theory of the present and a theory of the transition to socialism; as well as define a vision for socialism in the 21st century. The Political Commission is hereby mandated to develop a detailed programme on the struggle for socialism. http://www.cosatu.org.za/show.php?i...s/2009/decl0925.html&ID=2440&cat=COSATU Today

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March 17, 1999

To: Washington State House and Senate Republicans

In 1949, two very competent people, neither knowing the other, were performing assigned duties in China, shortly before the Nationalist government was overthrown and Chiang Kai-Shek was forced to retreat to Taiwan.

Each of these two men, a specialist in his own field, came to the same conclusions about a strange phenomenon both witnessed in China. One called it brainwashing, the other called it the "tenth principle of warfare" in use in China courtesy of its ally, the Soviet Union. Both men were right, and both were also wrong. Hunter, a foreign correspondent for a major news service in the United States, recognized the phenomenon as a method of altering the thought process. Hutton, A Colonel in the United States Armed Forces, found its special function in military application was to paralyze the will to resist.

What these two men observed was the activation of a management and control system, used to hold captive the second largest nation on earth, and at that time being used to conquer the most populous. Each man identified it as it impacted his particular field of expertise, not as it impacted the entirety.

In 1949, George Counts, professor at Teacher's College, Columbia University, who had for years enthusiastically supported the Soviet regime, but who more recently had become embittered when the Soviets made a deal with Hitler, exposed their secret weapon in a his book, The Country of the Blind, and in a article he wrote for the NEA Journal, in 1951. In the book, Counts described the use of The System to control the economy in the Soviet Union. In the article, Counts described The System as,

. . . the product of perverted genius. It is the most comprehensive thing of its kind in history . . . Employing with complete ruthlessness and singleness of purpose all the resources of science, of mechanical invention, of medicine and psychology, it is able to attain power and reach heights of efficiency which dwarf the efforts of previous despotisms.

Twenty years later, a homemaker in California inadvertently uncovered evidence of that same system in a textbook, up for adoption in that state in 1969. In the teachers' manual for those texts, the anomaly was called "Planning, Programming and Budgeting Systems" (PPBS). Eventually, it became known that the California legislature had been implementing various pieces of PPBS for years and did not have a clue what they were building: a replacement system for the lawful government of the United States.

PPBS has gone on to become known by other names: mastery learning, outcome-based education (aka performance-based, competency-based . . . education, . . . aka education reform), performance-based budgeting, total quality management, continuous quality improvement . . . all built on the same framework of systems thinking or systems theory. This massive system, built in a wholistic web encompassing and controlling all facets of the life of the populace, is based on data feedback – the establishment of massive computer systems holding personally identifiable information on every man, woman and child in Washington State and the United States. That system is being built as this is written.

It is the same system described by the two men in China in 1949. It is easy to oppose communism in name, it is not so easy to know what the system is, what it looks like, what it does, unless one has studied the semantics of communism and recognizes the component parts. Performance-based education is a communist system of education that intertwines with all other systems, until no one system can be extricated from the other, until the lines of any one system are so blurred that one cannot discern them.

In his rise to power, Hitler stated that it gave him great pleasure that the people did not know what was happening to them. The United States saved what remained of the German people following Hitler's heinous acts in his efforts to establish the perfect system. Who will save the American people from the same fate?

It is easy to call people opposed to this "system" as "right wing", "extremist", "right wing religious fanatics", make fun of, laugh at, etc, etc, etc, but I have to ask: will those same people feel so smart down the road when they realize they have been used to destroy their own freedom, liberty and justice? It can't happen here? It is happening here — just as it did in Germany with people not realizing what is happening to them.

Lynn M Stuter

7th District
http://www.learn-usa.com/transformation_process/~destroying_America.htm

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NIEO, as it is generally known, is a simplistic scheme to redis tribute the world's wealth and resources to more than 100 under developed nations, creating a global welfare state financed mainly by the U.S. and the Western industrial nations: UNESCO books and documents are filled with NIEO rhetoric, and the issue underlies all important UNESCO conference debates. In short NIEO appears to be the UNESCO hidden agenda so-called New World Information Order, and the threat it poses to the free press, for example, stem from applying the NIEO concept to the field- of mass communications The debate on the NIEO'S IMPACT ON EDUCATION AT UNESCO What is the New International Economic Order and where did it come from? It is hardly Ilnew." As two British authors have pointed out It is the most far-reaching application of Fabian socialist theories of wealth distribution, state control and economic planning to international relations yet attempted by Third World governments and their Western cheerleaders."l Swedish socialist economist Gunnar Myrdal essentially set forth the NIEO scheme in An International Economy in 1956. The U.N. General Assembly adopted NIEO on May 1, 1974.

More recently UNESCO published what may be the definitive theoretical work on NIEO to- date: Towards A-New International Economic Order by Mohammed Bedjaoui, the former Algerian ambassador to France.

Bedjaoui's book is actually a formula for creating a global superstate. all the riches and resources of the planet, a pooling free of any He declares that there must be a "joint pooling of Peter Bauer and John O'Sullivan, "Ordering the World About International Economic Order," Policy Review, Summer 1977, p. 55. http://www.heritage.org/Research/Education/bg221.cfm

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