ANC Today --------------------------------------------------------------------- Volume 1, No. 27, 27 July - 2 August 2001 --------------------------------------------------------------------- THIS WEEK: * Letter from the President: Despite difficulties, South Africa is on course * SA Communist Party: Eighty years of struggle for national liberation and socialism * ANC and SACP: An alliance forged in action against racial oppression and exploitation --------------------------------------------------------------------- LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT Despite difficulties, South Africa is on course This week Statistics South Africa (SSA) issued a report entitled "South Africa in Transition". In the introduction, the report states: "The South African government remains firmly committed to a better life for all. This report, through examining a range of indicators, looks at whether or not life circumstances have indeed changed in South Africa since the election of a democratic government, and if so, how they have changed." Needless to say, the pursuit of the goal of a better life for all must focus on raising the standard of living and improving the quality of life of particularly the millions of our people, the majority, who were the victims of colonial and apartheid oppression and deprivation. At the same time, we have sought to achieve this goal without reducing the standard of living of any section of our people and without imposing burdens on the economy that the economy cannot carry. These changes that have taken place have been brought about by government policies and programmes directed at eradicating the legacy of colonialism and apartheid. The SSA report confirms this with facts and figures. Accordingly, it speaks of improvements that have taken place in many areas including housing, water, health, electricity, telecommunications, education and jobs. Necessarily, this progress has been gradual. It is clear that we still have a long way to go before we can say that we have broken the back of the legacy of poverty and underdevelopment we have inherited. The reason for this is very easy to understand. First of all, this legacy is deeply entrenched and very pervasive. It is the result of a policy pursued over a long period of time deliberately to impoverish especially the African majority. As we all know, that policy included such things as land dispossession, the imposition of taxes, the denial of skills and business opportunities and the maintenance of extremely backward labour reservoirs variously described by the white minority as native reserves and homelands. The result of all this was the creation of an African majority that was landless, propertyless, with low educational and skills levels, desperately poor and victim to the many diseases of poverty. To change this will obviously take a significant period of time precisely because of the extent and depth of the challenge. What the SSA report communicates is that whatever the size of the problem, we have made a firm and determined beginning to address it. We must do everything to communicate this message to all our people. This is particularly important in the situation in our country in which those who have always opposed us, work hard to misinform the people by pretending that no movement forward has taken place towards the achievement of the goal of a better life for all. At the same time, we have an obligation to tell the people the truth that the changes we all desire will not happen overnight. Among other things, we have to be honest with the people and explain to them that as a government, we have limited resources to address the many needs that were created by the deliberate policies to impoverish and under-develop the majority of our people. Much of the progress that the SSA report records has been financed through the state budget and through investments made by the state corporations. The sums of money that can be generated through these means are not limitless. Indeed, much of the expenditure on the poor has been achieved by changing the priorities in terms of such expenditure. While it is true that the absolute size of the national budget has increased in the years since 1994, it is equally true that the budget has not changed much if measured in per capita terms. Despite these limitations which make it impossible for us to move forward as fast as we would like to, there are some in our society who oppose all actions we are taking to find the additional resources we need. While claiming that they are in favour of speeding up our advance, these are opposed to our attracting additional resources from the private sector, except in the instance that we borrow money from this private sector to finance a high budget deficit. In reality these people are arguing that we adopt the policies that have resulted in the socio-economic crisis facing the sister Republic of Zimbabwe today. As they try to push us towards this situation, they nevertheless claim that what they propose we should do, would best serve the interests of the masses of our people. During this week, from Monday 23rd to Wednesday 25th, the National Cabinet held its mid-year lekgotla. The purpose of this meeting was to review the progress made and the problems experienced in the implementation of the programme of action we had announced at the beginning of the year. I am pleased to say that this review showed that progress has been made in all areas of work whether announced in the State of the Nation Address and the Budget Speech or not. Hopefully, the government will issue a report on the work that has been done, so that as many people as possible are informed of the work being carried out by the government they have elected. That report will show that progress is being made towards the achievement of our goals with regard to such matters as rural development, urban renewal, water and sanitation, skills development, higher rates of economic growth, black economic empowerment, the restructuring of state assets and the African Renaissance. Of great significance also is the fact that we are also making progress with regard to the strengthening of our new municipalities so that they are able to discharge their responsibility to improve the lives of their residents. The Cabinet lekgotla also reflected on the progress we are making towards the integration of the work of the various government departments and the coordination and integration of the work of the three spheres of government, the national, provincial and local. It took new decisions to create an integrated planning framework, which will be implemented by the national government. This will ensure consistency among the various government programmes, relate these programmes to our budget possibilities, reduce the incidence of unspent funds at the end of the financial year and improve the returns that accrue to the people from government expenditures. It is for all these reasons that the government has paid a lot of attention to the task of integrating the work of government, breaking down the departmental compartments that had been created by a succession of white minority governments. We must also report that the Cabinet resolved that it would hold two special sessions later this year further to consider the two important issues of job creation and black economic empowerment. The Cabinet lekgotla also considered the responsibilities we face as a government and a country in the light of the decisions taken by the OAU with regard to the AU and MAP as well as the G8 countries in support of MAP. Indeed, as we had indicated last week, the G8 Summit in Genoa resolved fully to support MAP. In their statement, the G8 heads of state and government said: "Meeting at the Genova G8 Summit, we agreed to support African efforts to resolve African problems. Peace, stability and the eradication of poverty in Africa are among the most important challenges we face in the new millennium. We welcome the New African Initiative. This initiative provides the basis for a new intensive partnership between Africa and the developed world." The government will take the necessary steps to ensure that our people are as fully informed as possible about both the AU and MAP and that they participate in the process of further giving content both to the AU and MAP. Having carried out a comprehensive review of work done to implement our programmes, as well as the functioning of government, the Cabinet lekgotla confirmed the obligation for the government to persist in the struggle for a better life for all. It emphasised the need to ensure the success of our people's efforts to build a new South Africa that is non-racial, non-sexist, peaceful and prosperous. In this context, the Cabinet emphasised the need for us to build a spirit of initiative and self-reliance among our people. It argued against an approach by the government itself that encourages a spirit of dependence among our people, as a result of which they would get used to the notion of waiting for "delivery" by the government, failing to respond to the strategic imperative for people-driven processes of change. The Cabinet lekgotla also confirmed the main pillars that characterise the government's strategy to achieve a better life for all. These are: * the efficient and effective deployment of government resources in favour of the poor; the mobilisation of private sector resources to assist the public sector to discharge its responsibilities; * a balanced approach that focuses both on the sustained creation of wealth in increasing quantities and the redistribution of wealth to eradicate poverty and the racial, gender and geographic imbalances we have inherited; * the building of a partnership between the government, business, labour and the non-governmental sector to construct a dynamic, competitive and high growth economy and a modern, people-centred society; * the activation of the masses to act as their own liberators from poverty and underdevelopment; * the creation and maintenance of conditions of peace, stability and national unity; and, * the achievement of the African Renaissance and an equitable new world order. The progress towards the realisation of the objective of a better life for all reported this week by SSA confirms that the Cabinet lekgotla was correct to confirm both the strategic tasks of the government and the pillars on which government action to achieve these tasks rests. The challenge that continues to face us is to ensure that we organise and mobilise all our people to unite in action to achieve even greater changes than those reported by SSA. Whatever the difficulties and constraints, it is clear that we are on course. MORE INFORMATION: 'South Africa in transition', Statistics SA, July 2001 http://www.statssa.gov.za Statement on Cabinet Lekgotla, 26 July 2001 http://www.polity.org.za/govdocs/pr/2001/pr0726b.html --------------------------------------------------------------------- SA COMMUNIST PARTY Eighty years of struggle for national liberation and socialism The South African Communist Party, an alliance partner of the African National Congress, this week celebrates its eightieth anniversary, marking an 'unbroken struggle for national liberation, people's power and socialism'. Formed in 1921 as the Communist Party of South Africa (CPSA), it was banned by the apartheid government in 1950. Reconstituted three years later as the South African Communist Party (SACP), it remained a banned organisation until 1990. Together with the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu), the ANC and SACP constitute the Tripartite Alliance. The alliance is founded on the common objectives of a non-racial, non-sexist, democratic and united South Africa, and is committed to uniting the largest possible cross-section of South Africans behind these objectives. The SACP's celebrations include a national rally in Umlazi, Durban on Sunday, 29 July, preceded by a wreath-laying ceremony at the Durban City Hall in honour of Communist Party leader Johannes Nkosi. Nkosi was killed on the stairs of the Durban City Hall while addressing workers during a protest on 16 December 1931. A dinner for SACP veterans is being held in Cape Town, addressed by former president Nelson Mandela. A rally is also being held in the North West in the home village of Moses Kotane, the longest serving SACP General Secretary from 1939 to 1978. During July the SACP called more than forty people's and workers' assemblies across the country so poor and working people could talk about the SACP, socialism, its history, and the ongoing struggle for a better life for all. The SACP has consistently been active in the struggle of South Africa's people against apartheid and for a better life. In 1928, the SACP called for majority democratic rule in South Africa. In the 1920s many communists organised and built trade unions among black and white workers. The Communist Party also organised African workers to struggle for better working conditions and a living wage. Since the 1930s, the Communist Party was active in building the ANC as a national revolutionary organisation actively fighting against oppressive laws passed by racist governments. This included work in the ANC, campaigns against passes, campaigns for land for black people, marches, pickets, petitions, the armed struggle, street committees and international solidarity. As a result many communists were harassed, jailed, banned and killed by successive racist governments. According to the SACP's 80th Anniversary statement: "The Communist Party was not a friend of apartheid. The Communist Party was hated by apartheid because of what communists did in building the confidence of the people to fight apartheid." The democratic breakthrough of 1994 was a direct result of the dedication, sacrifices and contributions made by thousands of Communist Party members and leaders, working together with the ANC and all South Africans. Since 1994, the SACP, together with the ANC and Cosatu, has played a role in the provision of water, electricity, houses and telephones. It has also supported new laws to protect workers, women and children and to challenge racism in society. But, the SACP notes, unemployment, poverty, lack of education and lack of housing continue. Wealth and land in South Africa remain in the hands of a small minority. The party is therefore celebrating its eight decades of existence by emphasising its task of strengthening the working class and its struggles, working to tackle poverty, unemployment, lack of housing, illiteracy and other social problems, and building a people's economy. This requires building a revolutionary SACP, constituted and led by the working class. Global challenges The SACP acknowledges the challenges for all socialist organisations of the "triumphalist, neo-liberal" 1990s: "In the late-1980s the SACP had already begun to open up a debate about the failures of the Eastern Europe experience to build socialism. Throughout this continuing debate, the SACP has insisted on not throwing away a socialist vision, nor an anti-capitalist vigilance. At the same time, we have sought to understand the stagnant, often brutal, authoritarianism that stifled the early promise of the Russian revolution. The SACP has been dynamic and self-questioning in this regard." Many critics argued the SACP was locked in an ideological time-warp. But the SACP's actual strategic contribution during this period suggests otherwise, making a number of decisive inputs into the transition. The SACP recognised that the apartheid regime was deploying a violent low intensity conflict strategy as part of its negotiations strategy. Its former general secretary Chris Hani, who was assassinated in 1993, played a crucial role in empowering communities to understand this reality, and to organise to defend themselves against it. The SACP's role in locating the negotiations breakthrough within a much broader strategic and transformative framework contributed to the broader liberation movement understanding that the struggle did not end with the defeat of apartheid in 1994. In the year before the 1994 elections, the SACP played a major role in helping to shape the Reconstruction and Development Programme as a broad growth and development strategy. Over the last decade the SACP has helped nurture a new generation of activists in government, the ANC, unions and NGOs. "Through our 80 years of existence we have contributed immensely to the building of the liberation movement, the labour movement, the mass movement and the defeat of apartheid. Through our work we have built the political consciousness of the working class and rooting the ideas and vision of socialism in our country," the SACP says. Given this proud history, there is little doubt communists will continue playing a key role in contemporary and future South Africa. MORE INFORMATION Information on the history of the SACP http://www.sacp.org.za/docs/history/ History of the SACP, 1912-1990 http://www.sacp.org.za/docs/history/sacp1912-1990.html --------------------------------------------------------------------- ANC AND SACP An alliance forged in action against racial oppression and exploitation As the South African Communist Party (SACP) celebrates its eightieth year, it has identified as one its key tasks the strengthening of its decades-old alliance with the ANC and progressive union movement, now represented by trade union federation Cosatu. This alliance should be strengthened "based on a common programme for continuous mobilisation of our people, effective consultation and collective strategising and safeguarding the independence and integrity of each partner", the SACP says. The ANC, which celebrates its own 90th anniversary next year, values its enduring relationship with the SACP, acknowledging not only the central role of communists in the struggle against apartheid, but their ongoing contribution to a shared vision of a truly democratic, non-racial and non-sexist society. "The South African Communist Party has a proud record of firmness and resolution in its struggle," former ANC President Oliver Tambo said at the SACP's 7th Congress in 1989. "Its history is replete with stirring examples of commitment to the cause of the oppressed and exploited, and the building of a just socio-economic system in our country," he said. Speaking at the re-launch of the SACP as a legal organisation in 1990, Tambo 's successor as ANC President, Nelson Mandela, said the SACP had distinguished itself as an ally in the common struggle to end the racial oppression and exploitation of the black masses of South Africa. "It has fought side by side with the ANC for the common objective of the national liberation of our people, without seeking to impose its views on our movement," he said. Mandela said critics of the relationship, even those who profess to be democrats, "lose all rationality when gripped by the venom of anti-communism". "Our commitment to democracy means, first and foremost, recognising the right of parties across the political spectrum to operate freely and canvass their views without hindrance. Yet our relationship derives from much more than historical sentiment and commitment to multi-party democracy. In its endeavour to build a better life for all South Africans, especially the poor, the ANC could only benefit from alliance and critical engagement with organisations which have put this objective high on their agenda. "The SACP is one such foremost champion of the interests of the working class and the poor," he said. >From its formation the ANC forged alliances with progressive organisations of other national groups like the South African Indian Congress, Coloured Peoples Organisation and Congress of Democrats. It formed alliances with the trade union movement from the Industrial and Commercial Workers Union (ICU) and Black Mineworkers Union, through to the formation of the SA Congress of Trade Unions in 1955. Importantly, the ANC forged an alliance with the organisation of the working class, the Communist Party of South Africa (CPSA). These formations became the basic organisational components in the National Democratic Alliance, forged to ensure the mobilisation of our people in the struggle against apartheid colonialism. As the South African economy developed and with rapid urbanisation, the centrality of the African working class in particular and black workers in general to the struggle for national emancipation was recognised. The alliance also united around a common vision of society, with the adoption in 1955 of the Freedom Charter. With the banning of the ANC and other organisations in 1960, preceded by the banning of the CPSA in 1950, methods of resistance shifted to include underground mobilisation, armed struggle and international isolation of the apartheid regime. During the decades following the bannings, the alliance between the ANC, SACP and SACTU became predominant. The Indian congresses, Coloured People's Organisation and Congress of Democrats became defunct, with members banned, on trial and integrated into the structures of the ANC, SACTU and SACP. The persecution of political formations was accompanied by the banning of trade union activities by black workers. Only after the 1973 Durban strike did conditions exist for the re-establishment of the progressive trade union movement in the country. Trade union unity talks culminated in 1985 in the launch of the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu). At their 4th Congress in 1991, Cosatu resolved to join the ANC and SACP alliance in the place of SACTU. Prior to the 1994 election, the alliance adopted the Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP), which elaborated on the vision of the Freedom Charter. The RDP formed the basis of the electoral campaign fought as an alliance under the banner of the ANC. Following the ANC's victory in elections, the ANC contingent deployed to lead the Government of National Unity deliberately included members from all components of the alliance. The alliance has since successfully contested the 1999 national election and two local government elections. The alliance remains committed to the achievement of its shared objectives, to collectively lead the process of social transformation and to continue to critically engage each other on the many challenges that have arisen in the transition from apartheid. The alliance is not a marriage of convenience, according to Mandela. Neither is it a communion of similar organisations, which differ only in name: "We talk of an alliance precisely because we are two independent organisations with political platforms and long-term goals that do not necessarily converge. But there in the theatre of practical work, we continue to learn that there is more that unites us than divides us: in brief, a people-centred and people-driven programme of democratic transformation." --------------------------------------------------------------------- This issue of ANC Today is available from the ANC web site at: http://www.anc.org.za/ancdocs/anctoday/2001/at27.htm To receive ANC Today free of charge by e-mail each week go to: http://www.anc.org.za/ancdocs/anctoday/subscribe.html