Political charlatans like Julius Malema and Jara Mazibuko have no moral authority to accuse Nelson Mandela of the crimes committed by the apartheid regime.

11 January 2016

In the recent few months there have been an offensive onslaught to denigrate the political stature and integrity of our former President Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela. At the forefront are the hooligans of the Economic Freedom Fighters and the United Front and the movement for socialism. 

During his recent visit to Britain, addressing his financial backers, the core of the extreme right wing and the most fascist group in Europe, the leader of the EFF Julius Malema, accused Madiba of having sold out our national democratic revolution. Few days ago, the leader of the so called United Front and the movement for socialism, Jara Mazibuko, attributed the problems of racism in our country to the failures of the project of Madiba rainbow nation.

It is indeed untold in history that political charlatans like Jara Mazibuko and Julius Malema, could charge the father of our nation, for the heinous crimes committed by imperialism and Apartheid colonialism against our people. This venomous attack by the two pseudo revolutionaries, is nothing else but a demonstration that they are devoted footsoldiers of the enemy of our people. 

Never in the recent history of the world revolutionary movement was a titanic leader of the calibre of Nelson Mandela produced by the struggles of the oppressed and exploited masses of our people. He was profoundly one of the most extraordinary and tenacious freedom fighters against social and national oppression, and for the freedom and dignity of the human race. 

Nelson Mandela was a rare but the most outstanding heroic leader of the struggle for the liberation of all of humanity. He belongs to the category of the few but rare spices in the history of the development of human society.

Madiba was never a sellout out, he was a mountain eagle, a selfless and most outstanding volunteer of our struggle for the liberation of the overwhelming majority of the people of the world. He stood true to his revolutionary principles by spending twenty seven years in Robben Island prison fighting for the freedom of our people. 

He stood firm to the foundation of the ideas of a non racial, non sexist, democratic and prosperous society. He was a true architect of our ideal national democratic society. 

Throughout his life he was opposed to black domination and white domination. An important theoretical preposition which is of tremendous political significance to the kind of a society we want to build. 

The generations of man to come will treasure his immense contribution to the cause of our struggle for the development of the humanitarian sphere. For his entire life he fought the vicious apartheid regime which he understood to be the most pernicious and sinister form of imperialism. 

The task of the present day generation is to defend the legacy of Madiba against the vulgarism of the Economic Freedom Fighters and the United Front and the movement for socialism. Our task is to safeguard our national democratic revolution against the vulgar notions of opportunism. 

The revolutionary science of Marxism Leninism teaches us that opportunism by its nature is a manifestation of the highest forms of counter revolution. It teaches us that in every revolution there is always counter revolution. 

President Nelson Mandela was a revolutionary, a freedom fighter and  a true student of Marx and Lenin. He understood Marxism Leninism to be a true science and art of creativity which opens new horizons to humanity.

His generation mastered the essence that our theory is not utopian but a scientific revolutionary theory for transformation of society. They understood our theory not to be about memorizing dogmatic formulas and postulates.

That our theory is a magnanimous tool of analysis to make humanity understand the unfolding world material circumstances better. They grappled with historical and dialectical materialism and worked hard to apply it in accordance with concrete material conditions. 

The opportunist movement can not comprehend the necessity of applying historical and dialectical materialism in accordance with realities of the material world. They always misinterpret this historical practice to be a departure from the teachings and revolutionary traditions of Marxism Leninism.

In his polemics, the leader of the world revolutionary movement, Vladimir Lenin, always say the following about the teachings and revolutionary traditions of Marxism" the duty to preserve the revolutionary traditions calls also for the analysis of the conditions in which they are applied, and not for simple repetition of revolutionary slogans which were important in specific conditions".  

He would always ridicule opportunism for its dullness and sterile dogmatism. He would say" they have memorized, but have not understood, they have learned by heart, but have not considered. They have mastered the letter, but have not grasped the sense". 

The world revolutionary movement appreciated bourgeour democratic revolution to be amongst the necessary stages in any revolutionary processes of the development of human society. It understood that the contradictions imposed from time to time by the unfolding worldwide transition from capitalism into the future society of socialism. 

Therefore the development of human society is not determined by wishes of individuals but the development of material conditions existent in any society. Wishes of individuals cannot determine the social and economic status of society. 

In history, individuals can play a prominent role in so far as their understanding of the contradictions of the historical needs of society and conditions for its development. It is therefore not for the opportunists of the EFF and the United Front to determine the cause of our struggle by their wishful thinking.

The question of the unity and opposite of our struggle is the most complex. It derives its theoretical formulation from contradictions of class struggles in our society. 

Our young generation must therefore understand that in all class divided societies, capitalism nurtures and creates imaginary dividing lines between human beings, race, gender, religion, ethnic affiliation and nationalities. They must understand that racism is a manifestation of inherent contradictions within the capitalist production relations.

It is for the same reason that Nelson Mandela summoned the diverse society of our country into the project of nation building and formation. The construction of a rainbow nation was not his wishful thinking but an objective reality he was determined to achieve. 

Throughout history the people of our country themselves have being a monument of the struggles for their own emancipation. Our people have been instrumental in the struggles against imperialism and apartheid colonialism. 

They cheerished the objectives of our national democratic revolution to be the liberation of the black people in general and the Africans in particular. The achievement of our historic mission is the construction of a non racial, non sexist, democratic and prosperous society. 

This is an achievement founded on our theoretical understanding of unity as a necessary precondition for the success of our revolution. The unity of our people is a guarantee for the success of our revolution. 

Nelson Mandela is a mountain eagle. His contribution to the freedom and dignity of the people of our country and the world will remain a birthmark of our new nation.

Cde Justice Piitso if former Provincial Secretary of the SACP in Limpopo, former Ambassador to Cuba, and writes in personal capacity