ANC Today

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Volume 6, No. 24, 23-29 June 2006

----------------------------------------------------------------------

THIS WEEK:

* Letter from the President: Advancing the African peace agenda
* SACP Discussion Document: God save us from the false prophets!

Previous issues

----------------------------------------------------------------------
LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT

Advancing the African peace agenda

As we go to press, our continent is still celebrating the success of the Ghana
Black Stars who have qualified to take part in the second round of the FIFA
Soccer World Cup. This achievement will surely inspire the peoples of Africa to
strive for success in other fields as well.

We also wish Tunisia success in their last first round match which will be
played as we publish this edition of ANC Today.

What the Ghana Black Stars have done shows that if we apply ourselves seriously
to confront the challenges facing our continent, there is no reason why we
should not succeed. This includes the central task facing our continent, the
task of Africa's renewal.

Over the last few days we had the possibility to interact with a number of
processes on our continent focused on the continuing and important challenge of
achieving peace in all countries of our continent.

On 18 June, we participated in an important meeting in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania,
which opened the way finally to bring an end to the protracted civil war in
Burundi. On this day the Government of Burundi and the armed group, Palipehutu-
FNL, signed the "Dar es Salaam Agreement of Principles Towards Lasting Peace,
Security and Stability in Burundi."

The critical Article VI of this Agreement says "the Parties agree to stop
hostilities and commit to engage in serious discussions aimed at reaching a
comprehensive ceasefire within a period of two weeks."

Once more we extend our congratulations to the Government of Burundi and the FNL
for taking this major step to integrate within the Burundi democratic process
the last armed group to end its armed struggle.

We also congratulate and thank President Jakaya Kikwete of Tanzania for the
enormous effort he put into the process of assisting the Burundi Parties to
reach the important agreement to end the war. We also thank the current
Facilitator of the Burundi Peace Process, our Minister of Safety and Security,
Charles Nqakula.

The Dar es Salaam Agreement also makes some important observations that are of
great relevance not only to Burundi, but also others of our countries which
continue to work to ensure durable peace and stable democracies. The Agreement
says:

"In the history of Burundi, the ethnic question has been recognised as being one
of the mainsprings of the conflict that the country has endured for so long. It
is therefore important to put an end to this state of affairs, to rewrite and
take into consideration the history of the country. It has also proven important
to put in place mechanisms to ensure the mistakes of the past are never
repeated...

"The Truth and Reconciliation Commission shall be called the Truth, Forgiveness
and Reconciliation Commission. Its mission shall be to establish the facts
regarding the dark periods in our history and to identify the responsibility of
the different individuals with a view to forgiveness and reconciliation among
the Barundi. It should reflect the broadest representation of Burundi society in
its political, social, ethnic, religious and gender aspects."

Like Burundi, Sudan, which we visited a few days ago, similarly faces the
challenge of forgiveness and reconciliation as well as the task to ensure that
the mistakes of the past are never repeated.

We were therefore pleased to find the Government of Sudan ready to implement the
Darfur Peace Agreement concluded in Abuja, Nigeria with the Sudan Liberation
Movement.

Of importance in this regard is the fact that the rebel groups that did not sign
the Darfur Peace Agreement have now signed a "Declaration of Commitment to the
Darfur Peace Agreement", in which they say:

"We shall be bound by the letter and spirit of the DPA and shall assume and
implement the relevant obligations arising therefrom, especially those related
to the Comprehensive Ceasefire Agreement and the Arrangements agreed therein.

"We commit ourselves to ensure that all the Organs, Committees and Structures
under our control, including our members, shall comply with the provisions of
the DPA."

Also very encouraging is the progress that has been made to implement the
complex Comprehensive Peace Agreement that ended the protracted war between the
north and the south of Sudan.

It is however true that there are still some key questions that have still to be
resolved. These include the demarcation of boundaries and the sharing of oil
revenues according to formulae contained in the Comprehensive Peace Agreement.

Our country chairs the Sudan Post-conflict Reconstruction Committee of the AU.
We will therefore work closely with President al-Bashir and First Vice President
Salva Kiir to help finalise agreement on the outstanding issues.

We also warmly welcome the steps that have been taken to end the conflict in
Eastern Sudan. On 19 June, at a meeting held in Asmara, Eritrea, the Government
of Sudan and the Eastern Front signed a "Declaration of Principles for the
Resolution of the Conflict in Eastern Sudan" to achieve a "lasting peaceful
settlement of the conflict in Eastern Sudan".

We must also take this opportunity to thank President al-Bashir and the
Government of Sudan for inviting the Interim Government of Somalia and the Union
of Islamic Courts to Khartoum to facilitate the restoration of lasting peace in
Somalia.

We congratulate the Somali Government and the Islamic Courts for concluding a
ceasefire, which President al-Bashir described as "the beginning of the end of
conflicts in Somalia." We trust that the Somalis will take advantage of the
important step on which they have agreed to pursue the peace agenda to its
successful conclusion.

We were also pleased to receive the Prime Minister of Côte d'Ivoire, Charles
Konan Banny, to review progress made with regard to the implementation of the
various agreements intended to take this sister country to peace, unity and
democracy.

We are indeed very pleased with the initial steps that have been taken to begin
the process of identification and registration of citizens and residents of Côte
d'Ivoire and implement the programme for disarmament, demobilisation and
reintegration affecting the Government forces, the Forces Nouvelles and various
militia groups.

The country's Electoral Commission is also working to establish the
infrastructure throughout the country that is needed to conduct the Presidential
elections scheduled to take place at the end of October, as well as the
subsequent legislative elections.

We are confident that the Government of Côte d'Ivoire, the Forces Nouvelles, the
UN Mission in Cote d'Ivoire, ONUCI, will continue to work hard finally to end
the conflict in that country, allowing for its reunification, the resolution of
the national question and the holding of democratic elections.

It is imperative that these outcomes should be achieved as soon as possible to
enable the Côte d'Ivoire to attend to the challenge of development, which is
also of vital interest to many other countries in West Africa.

We cannot conclude this Letter without paying tribute to the Government, the
political parties, the UN Mission in the DRC, MONUC, and the people of the DRC
for the progress they are making towards holding elections at the end of July.
Voting materials are already being distributed to various parts of the country,
signalling the reality that there can be no turning back from the process of
democratisation, to which the Congolese masses are committed.

The foregoing indicates that our continent is indeed making steady progress
towards achieving the critically important goals of peace and democracy. This
progress, like to the success of the Ghana Black Stars, confirms that with the
necessary will, we can bring the African masses the good tidings they need to
give expression to their hopes for the renaissance of Africa.

In a recent letter to us, the recently elected President of the Union of the
Comoros, Ahmed Abdallah Mohamed Sambi, said:

"I wish to express to you the gratitude of the Comoran people for the
significant and commendable role that AMISEC forces, composed mainly of South
African men and women, played during the primary and national elections in the
Comoros.

"I would (also) like to express our deep gratitude for the commitment of your
country to work...for the implementation of the results of the Donors'
Conference held in the Republic of Mauritius last December, and to mobilise for
the economic recovery and the reconstruction of our country...

"Let me furthermore convey to you...my sincere congratulations for the immense
contribution you are providing for the realisation of peace and security
throughout the African continent."

The only way properly to acknowledge the tribute paid to our country by
President Sambi is indeed to continue to honour our internationalist obligations
to the peoples of our continent.

Thabo Mbeki

----------------------------------------------------------------------

SACP DISCUSSION DOCUMENT

God save us from the false prophets!

In truth, we have borrowed the title of this article from the remark once made
by Karl Marx when he said: "God save us from the Marxists!" Our own appeal to
the powers above is occasioned by a treatise issued by the Central Committee of
the South African Communist Party (SACP). Like Karl Marx in the 19th century, we
also probably need the intervention of celestial powers to save us from our own
21st century "Marxists".

The SACP document to which we refer is entitled "SACP Central Committee
Discussion Document". It was published in a May 2006 Special Edition of 'Bua
Komanisi', Vol 5, Issue No 1.

One of the principal theses of the Central Committee (CC) SACP Discussion
Document centres on what it identifies as "capitalist accumulation". It
identifies the approach to this matter as the fundamental issue that has led to
a so-called "rupture" between the ANC and the SACP with regard to the
elaboration and pursuit of the goals of the national democratic revolution.

This article will therefore focus on the issue of "capitalist accumulation", as
extensively explained by Karl Marx in his seminal work, "Das Kapital", and as
understood by Marxists who studied and understood this complex scholarly work on
political economy.

For now, we will therefore not address the many false assertions contained in
the CC SACP Discussion Document that relate to the actuality of our country's
socio-economic development since 1994 and 1996. We will deal with these
assertions in later articles.

The CC SACP Discussion Document says that the revolutionary democratic movement
is faced with the challenge to decide between two opposing and "basic
directions". It says that these are:

"a restoration of the conditions for capitalist profit accumulation on a new and
supposedly more sustainable basis, or

"a revolutionary/systemic transformation of society that begins to resolve the
inherent contradiction in favour of the working class and its popular allies."

The Discussion Document goes on to say:

"The...dominant state project since around 1996 has been the former - to drive a
process of restoration of capitalist accumulation. The overriding objective has
been to create conditions for a sustained 6% (capitalist-driven) growth path.
The assumption is that only such a growth path will provide the resources with
which to address the developmental challenges we all agree are critical
(racialised inequality, unemployment, poverty, socio-economic duality,
etc.)...Relative to the pre-1994 reality, the restoration project is
progressive.

"But relative to the transformational potential of the 1994 conjuncture, this
project represents a serious strategic setback for the working class (and the
national democratic revolution)...

"The post-1994 democratic state is not inherently capitalist, it is, in fact, a
sharply class-contested reality (which is partly why its bonapartist features
have emerged). It is true, however, that established and emerging capital have
succeeded in exerting considerable dominance over the state. This reflects the
sheer strength of capital, as well as the illusions and emerging class interests
of a leading stratum within the ANC...

"Instead of "lowering the cost to doing business", (the national democratic
revolution) must actively transform the persisting capitalist accumulation path,
whose key features remain those set in place over the past century."

In summary, the CC SACP says that what has driven the strategic orientation of
ANC policies since we acceded to political power in 1994, and especially since
1996 when we adopted GEAR, has been the effort to "restore the conditions for
capitalist profit accumulation on a new and supposedly more sustainable basis."

As opposed to this "reformist (ANC) path", the SACP stands and fights for a
"revolutionary/systemic transformation of society that begins to resolve the
inherent contradiction in favour of the working class and its popular allies",
driven by the commitment to "transform the persisting capitalist accumulation
path".

In this regard, the CC SACP asserts that we have had the advantage of the
"transformational potential of the 1994 conjuncture", which the ANC betrayed by
opting for various policies targeted at "restoring the conditions for capitalist
profit accumulation."

It therefore argues that regardless of the "progressive" intent, nature and
outcomes of the policies implemented by our government since 1994, these
policies constitute "a serious strategic setback for the working class (and the
national democratic revolution)".

The CC SACP argues that this results from what it alleges is the fundamental
reality that the ANC has, up to now, 12 years after our liberation, refused to
transform the path of "capitalist accumulation" in our country.

It argues that all this derives from the fact that "established and emerging
capital" has to all intents and purposes captured state power, assisted by "the
illusions and emerging class interests of a leading stratum within the ANC".

In this context the CC SACP makes the strange statement that, "The post-1994
democratic state is not inherently capitalist, it is, in fact, a sharply class-
contested reality (which is partly why its bonapartist features have emerged)."

We believe that the foregoing provides all the information necessary to explain
why this article should and will address the critical matter of "capitalist
accumulation", in terms of the understanding of the functioning of capitalism
and capitalist societies, including our own.

With regard to this issue, and others, the fundamental problem facing the
national democratic movement arises from the stark reality that what is
presented as Marxist analysis in the CC SACP Discussion Document is a gross
perversion of Marxism.

It demonstrates a regrettable ignorance of the very ABC of Marxist historical
materialism. Inevitably, ignorance of Marxism by "Marxists" leads to the
vulgarisation of Marxism, the mouthing of revolutionary-sounding but empty
phrases, dogmatism and political adventurism.

A large portion of Karl Marx's "Das Kapital" is devoted to the explanation and
analysis of the issue of "capitalist accumulation". This is because this social
phenomenon is fundamental to the essence and functioning of capitalist society,
and provides the theoretical basis for the projection of the historical
inevitability of the socialist revolution.

The issue of "capitalist accumulation" addresses the organic manner in which
capital reproduces and expands itself. At the simplest level, it discusses what
happens when an individual capitalist, who owns capital, hires workers, who are
alienated from the products of their labour, to produce a commodity or provide a
service.

Marx argued that these hired workers produce not only commodities and services,
but also added value to their production, with their production representing
value of greater wealth than the combined inputs, including the cost of the
immanent production inputs, the machinery and the labour costs.

He described that greater wealth as surplus value, produced by workers who were
paid a defined wage of less value than the value of the product deriving from
the use of their labour power. He then described the wealth created in excess of
all production and marketing costs as "surplus value", which accrued to capital,
and therefore the capitalist, the owner of capital.

At the end of every production and marketing cycle, the capitalist would
appropriate this "surplus value". This would enable him/her to replicate the
previous production cycle, and, because of the acquired "surplus value", expand
his/her volume of capital and production.

The "accumulation of capital" referred to by the CC SACP therefore means the
addition of "surplus value" to the capital owned by the capitalist, arising from
the employment of workers in productive economic activity.

In our conditions, to 'alter the path of capitalist accumulation', as the CC
SACP demands, would mean that the democratic state should intervene to end the
appropriation of "surplus value" by the owners of capital.

This would mean that the democratic state should expropriate the capitalists,
and therefore end the inherent reality of "capitalist accumulation" through
private appropriation of "surplus value", without which capitalism cannot exist.

Our 21st century "Marxists" would appreciate everything we have said if they had
read and understood what Karl Marx meant in the observations he made in "Das
Kapital" when he said:

"The process of production, considered on the one hand as the unity of the
labour-process and the process of creating value, is production of commodities;
considered on the other hand as the unity of the labour-process and the process
of producing surplus-value, it is the capitalist process of production, or
capitalist production of commodities...

"On the other hand, however, our notion of productive labour becomes narrowed.
Capitalist production is not merely the production of commodities; it is
essentially the production of surplus-value. The labourer produces, not for
himself, but for capital. It no longer suffices, therefore, that he should
simply produce. He must produce surplus-value. That labourer alone is
productive, who produces surplus-value for the capitalist, and thus works for
the self-expansion of capital...

"But all methods for the production of surplus-value are at the same time
methods of accumulation; and every extension of accumulation becomes again a
means for the development of those methods...

"We have seen how money is changed into capital; how through capital surplus-
value is made, and from surplus-value more capital. But the accumulation of
capital pre-supposes surplus-value; surplus-value pre-supposes capitalistic
production; capitalistic production presupposes the pre-existence of
considerable masses of capital and of labour-power in the hands of producers of
commodities."

For well over a century, Marxists have understood that the fundamental class
conflict between capitalists and workers was and is based on the objective
reality of the pursuit of their different antagonistic interests by the
capitalists, the owners of capital, and the workers, the sellers of labour
power.

At the same time, these Marxists have understood that these two classes share a
common pragmatic interest in the continuation of the production processes that
bring capitalists and workers together.

In this arrangement, the capitalists necessarily appropriate the "surplus value"
created by the workers they employ. In turn, the workers remain interested to
retain their jobs, to earn the means of livelihood that derive from the sale of
their labour power. At the same time, they combine to wage a common struggle
against their capitalist employers, to retain as large a proportion as possible
of the surplus value they have created.

For this reason, Marxists have always understood that, within the context of the
struggle for socialism, trade union struggles, important as they are, are
"reformist" in nature. At the same time, certainly since the 19th and early 20th
centuries, the capitalists in the then developed countries have also understood
that their respect and interaction with the trade unions is important for their
ability to sustain the capitalist relations of production.

In these situations, the working class struggles have therefore been reformist,
to the extent that they did not seek to 'alter the path of capitalist
accumulation', whatever its specific expression in individual countries.

As opposed to this, the 1917 October Revolution in Russia stands out as the one
defining historical moment when a Communist Party led workers in a successful
revolutionary offensive, consciously intended to 'alter the path of capitalist
accumulation', as this phrase would be understood in Marxist terms.

In this context, the CC SACP will therefore have to explain what it means when
it speaks of "a revolutionary/systemic transformation of society that begins to
resolve the inherent contradiction in favour of the working class and its
popular allies".

One of these inherent contradictions emanates from the fact that ours is a
capitalist society. In the context of the logic of its theoretical paradigm,
Marxism recognises the existence and possible existence of tribal/communal,
feudal, capitalist, socialist and communist societies, each with its distinct
class features.

Abandoning this Marxist logic, the CC SACP says that South Africa "is not
inherently capitalist". If it is not, what socio-economic formation does it
represent? Rather than answer this question, the CC SACP makes the absolutely
meaningless statement that "The post-1994 democratic state is...in fact, a
sharply class-contested reality."

(We must presume that what the CC SACP meant to say is that our essentially
capitalist democracy is experiencing a sharp class contest for the capture of
state power. The fact of struggle of any kind does not, in any way, define the
nature of any state. Rather, such struggles would reflect the social
contradictions inherent within the state concerned.)

In reality, the statement that South Africa "is not inherently capitalist" is
mere demagogy, with no scientific, Marxist foundation. Similarly, the notion
that the possibility exists, and has existed since 1994, qualitatively to alter
the phenomenon of "capitalist accumulation", is also mere demagogy, incapable of
substantiation in terms of Marxism.

Both these false assertions are advanced to create the illusion that our country
is ready for a socialist revolution. This lays the basis for the CC SACP to
argue that the ANC, rather than the capitalist class, is the main obstacle to
the victory of the socialist revolution.

It should therefore come as no surprise that the political offensive of this
socialist Alliance partner of our movement focuses more on a struggle against
the ANC, rather than an assault targeting the capitalist class.

In this context, it is also not surprising that the SACP directs its anger at
the very weak black bourgeoisie, which supports the ANC and the national
democratic revolution, rather than the white bourgeoisie, the owners of the bulk
of capital in our country.

To express the gratitude of the white bourgeoisie for these positions, sections
of the commercial press do not hesitate to give the highest prominence to the
statements and activities of the SACP and like-minded sections of the
progressive movement, which have defined the ANC as their main enemy.

The objective truth which the CC SACP seems unwilling to accept is that the
victory of the democratic revolution has enabled us radically to alter the
conditions affecting capitalist accumulation. It is patently untrue that "the
key features" of "the persisting capitalist accumulation path (in our
country)...remain those set in place over the past century."

Such important interventions as the full protection of trade union rights,
health and safety regulations, minimum wages, employment equity and basic
conditions of employment, the abolition of migrant labour, the various Charters,
the NEDLAC process, the system of taxation, etc, mean that today's conditions
for the accumulation of capital are radically different from "those set in place
over the past century."

None of this changes the qualitative manner in which capital reproduces and
expands itself, as explained by Karl Marx. Such change can only be brought about
by the expropriation of the capitalists.

It is only this that would create the conditions for what, strangely, the CC
SACP demands of the ANC and the national democratic revolution - the
"transformation of society...to resolve the inherent (capitalist) contradiction
in favour of the working class and its popular allies."

In short, the CC SACP is demanding that the ANC should transform itself into a
socialist party, and that the democratic revolution should pursue the objective
of the defeat of the capitalist system.

Strangely, simultaneously, the CC SACP has stated that, "Domestic, but above all
the global balance of forces is such that the realisation of a socialist South
Africa is, in all probability, still a considerable distance away." And yet the
same CC SACP denounces the ANC for not "building momentum towards...working
class hegemony".

The socialist movement has always understood that this is its own unique task.
Ordinarily the CC SACP should have no problem in understanding this proposition,
especially as it regularly proclaims that it is the vanguard party of the
working class.

It does not require any special intelligence to understand why the SACP now
seeks to delegate its historical responsibility to the ANC, requiring of us to
carry out a task that it knows is bound to end in failure and disaster.

Because the ANC continues to insist that it is not a socialist party but a
revolutionary national democratic movement, the CC SACP says that our movement
has become an instrument in the hands of the old (white) and the new (black)
capitalists.

It further states that consequently, the national democratic revolution, as led
by the ANC, is unacceptably "reformist", as opposed to being "revolutionary".
Specifically, the CC SACP document says:

"What the past eleven years demonstrate is not the irrelevance of a national
democratic strategy, but that this strategy cannot be reformist. If it is to
have any prospect of addressing the dire legacy of colonial dispossession and
apartheid oppression, a national democratic strategy has to be revolutionary -
that is to say, it must systemically transform class, racial and gendered power
(and not just re-allocate, or transfer some power and privilege to a
representative racial or female elite)...(The question to ask is whether it is)
building momentum towards, capacity for, and elements of popular power and
working class hegemony?"

As understood by Karl Marx and all other Marxists since the elaboration of the
socialist project by Marx and Engels, working class hegemony means the victory
of the working class over the capitalist class. In classic Marxist literature
this is expressed as 'the dictatorship of the proletariat', which would replace
'the dictatorship of the bourgeoisie'.

It is very strange indeed that the South African Communist Party, supposedly a
Marxist party, now asks that our national democratic movement should carry out a
socialist revolution, to ensure the hegemony of the working class and the
elimination of the process of capitalist accumulation!

Because our movement has continued to insist on its historic character and
mission as a revolutionary democratic movement, or a movement for national
liberation, the CC SACP has discovered "a rupture amongst the leading cadre of
our (broad) movement in a shared strategic assumption...There has clearly been a
significant rupture that dates back to at least 1990 (and probably before)..."

Responding to a non-existent "rupture" it has concocted, the SACP therefore
seems to have decided that it has an obligation to wage a determined struggle
against the ANC. In this regard it prophesies that the national democratic
revolution, as led by the ANC, will fail successfully to address "the dire
legacy of colonial dispossession and apartheid oppression".

Fortunately, the masses of our people know that as much as the predictions of
the right wing prophets about our struggle failed to materialise, so will the
"left" prophesies, which predict that the national democratic revolution will
fail in its central objective to provide a better life for all our people, in a
democratic, non-racial, non-sexist and prosperous South Africa.

As recently as March 1 this year, the masses of our people demonstrated that
they refuse to be persuaded by both right wing and left wing prophets of doom,
that the ANC will fail to carry out its historic obligation, actually to help
improve the lives of the masses of our people, especially the poor. The people
will not allow themselves to be misled by false prophets!

MORE INFORMATION:

Bua Komanisi, Vol. 5, Issue No. 1, May 2006
http://www.sacp.org.za

ANC NWC response to Bua Komanisi, 19 June 2006
http://www.anc.org.za/ancdocs/misc/2006/anc_sacp.html

----------------------------------------------------------------------
This issue of ANC Today is available from the ANC web site at:
http://www.anc.org.za/ancdocs/anctoday/2006/at24.htm

To receive ANC Today free of charge by e-mail each week go to:
http://www.anc.org.za/ancdocs/anctoday/subscribe.html

To unsubscribe yourself from the ANC Today mailing list go to:
http://lists.anc.org.za/mailman/listinfo/anctoday