A call for a resounding vote for the ANC and working-class power to deepen the struggle for complete emancipation

28 May 2024

To every member of the working class, spanning generations and diverse occupations and professions, to those seeking work and other economic participation and empowerment opportunities, to women and men, the LGBTQIA+ community members, and to our esteemed senior citizens. This is a heartfelt call to action, from rural areas to townships, from towns and metropolitan areas.

On Wednesday, 29 May 2024, let us go all out in our numbers to vote for the ANC. Let us unite in strength and purpose, raise our voices through the power of the ballot and make our mark for democratic transformation and development for all.

Let us go all out to defend the improvements from our hard-won April 1994 democratic breakthrough and subsequently from the policies adopted by the ANC-led government.  From the human rights for all to children’s, women’s, workers’ and LGBTQIA+ community members’ rights, from the provision of free homes to the expansion of access to water, household electrification, sanitation infrastructure, healthcare – including HIV treatment, education and social grants, from legislative protection against unfair labour practices to the national minimum wage – these and other advances play an important role in the lives of millions of working-class people.

Yet, we recognise that there is still more work that needs to be done. We acknowledge the persistent challenges faced by many in the face of capitalist exploitation and domination of the economy. The rise of neo-liberal ideologies and restructuring has exacerbated the plight of the working class. This has led to rising tensions between the working class and governments in many countries, on the one hand, and deeper levels of exploitation, including through the rise of precarious employment, attacks on workers’ income and retrenchments at the hands of the profit-driven capitalist bosses, on the other hand.

Through the appropriation of society’s wealth by the tiny minority, capitalism and its neo-liberal attack on corporate tax and other sources of state revenue, as well as the corruption the system engenders, deprive the state of the much-needed financial resources to address the very same problems that the capitalist system itself creates. Amidst all this, the notion that the private enterprise sector can solve our societal challenges has no credibility.

We stand for a capable democratic developmental state that directly serves the people, expanding opportunities for public involvement in the production and delivery of public goods and services.

In its manifesto, the ANC commits itself to rebuild the capacity of the state, to clamp down on corruption and crime, to enhance industrialisation and public employment programmes as sources of employment creation to tackle unemployment, to drive poverty eradication programmes, reduce inequality, tackle the rising cost of living.

The ANC commits itself to align budget processes with these and other working-class biased commitments. These commitments include a commitment to combat gender-based violence, deepen transformation towards gender equality, advance towards a universal basic income grant and roll out the National Health Insurance towards quality healthcare for all. To this end, President Cyril Ramaphosa took the great step by signing the National Health Insurance Bill into law on 15 May 2024.

As the working class, our collective strength lies not only in our ability to mobilise for elections but also in our activism towards a revolution to overcome the exploitative capitalist system and the problems it creates and sustains. The working-class majority produces wealth in mines, factories, farms, transportation and deliveries, warehouses and retail, and in other sectors, but the capitalist minority appropriates the wealth through profits. This exploitation is the root cause and daily driver of inequality, unemployment and poverty. It is also a major contributor to corruption and crime.

As we entrust the ANC with our votes, we must strengthen our own organisational, political and technical capacity as the working class to achieve a revolution and break out of the exploitative capitalist system. Related to this, beyond going out in our numbers and casting our votes for the ANC to win the elections with a decisive majority on Wednesday, let us strengthen our class unity to be the first and leading force to hold the government accountable for our mandate. 

The SACP takes this opportunity to reaffirm our unwavering support for justice for the Palestinian people and, to this end, we applaud the ANC-led government’s efforts. A vote for the ANC on Wednesday is also a vote for the continuation of the efforts to secure justice for the Palestinian people and others across the world who seek freedom from occupation, oppression and imperialist aggression.

Issued by Alex Mohubetswane Mashilo, National Spokesperson, SACP, 28 May 2024