David Masondo, YCL National Chairperson: Speaking Notes on the Smiso Nkwanyana Memorial Lecture, presented at UKZN Pietermartizburg YCL Branch August 10 2009

What Smiso Nkwanyana stood for?

1. It is appropriate to commemorate the life and times of the late comrade Smiso Kwanyana around the theme of independence because he fought against national, class and gender dependency. And more importantly for the independence SACP as a necessary organizational condition for working class liberation from all forms of dependency.

Whilst my input will focus on the independence of the SACP in the post-2009 state, it is worth restating the importance of the struggle for national, gender and class independence.

2. In our SA context, national oppression/ racial forms of political domination structured our society in such a manner that black people, including black women, could not determine what was good for them. And national oppression was linked to the installation of the racialised capitalist class system which denied black people not only political independence, but also economic independence as a prerequisite for their (i.e. black people) economic dependency on white capitalists.

3. Once the system of racial capitalism was established, the racial colonial state was used to deny black people their national and class independence. Smiso knew that without the destruction of capitalism, national independence will not fully enable the racially oppressed to wholly exercise their choices and participate in broad socio-political life.  He also knew that end of legal racism will not end racism.

Racist responses to the appointment of black people in the post-2009 state

4. Interestingly, but not surprisingly, in the last few weeks, there has been a growing pattern that suggests that black people are appointed to positions of responsibilities because they  either belong to this or that ethnic group; or loyal to this or that political leader; and/or their political association to the ANC. But, whenever white people get appointed, no one ever bothers to dig into their political affiliation or ethnic origin because it is assumed that the colour of their skin makes them inherently competent.

5. According to this racist logic, John Parker, the newly appointed Anglo American chairperson and Gill Marcus, the new Reserve Bank Governor are appointed on the basis of their competency. And the recently appointed Justice Ngcobo has been appointed because he was the only dissenting Constitutional Judge on the Jacob Zuma's Constitutional right to privacy.

Congratulate Justice Ngcobo, and commend Judge Hlophe

6. As the YCL, we congratulate Justice Ngcobo for his appointment as the Chief Justice of our Constitutional Court, and commend Judge Hlophe for standing up against white racists held bent to destroy any black person who dare raise a finger at racism in our judiciary and society in general It would seem a black person is competent only if she/he sucks up to the white racist establishment. Here, to be independent is to be dependent on the white conservative liberal opinion.

7. One does not have to be a fan or friend of Judge Hlophe to commend the man for his bravery against racist conservatives in the bench.

Justice Ngcobo, as the YCL we trust that you will not be a good native at the service of the racist establishment!

8. We have no reason to believe that you (i.e. Ngcobo) will seek popularity from white supremacists by conforming to the conservative interpretation of the law.  We trust that you will take up the fight to transform our racist and elitist judiciary, including interpreting the law in the interest of the poor. In memory of Smiso, we hope you will emulate Bram Fischer, Griffiths Mxenge, Joe Slovo, who were genuine non-racialist committed to the establishment of a truly egalitarian society in which law will not be used to protect racial, gender and class privileges.

Contemporary struggles of the poor and the 3rd Force

9.  In the last few weeks, we have seen poor people's struggles for better wages and access to basic services (e.g. houses, water).  It is our view that there are four forces behind these protests.  Of course the immediate causes of these protests vary but the underlying cause, and the First Force behind these protests is the private ownership and control of our economic resources for profit making.

10. For instance, the immediate and main problem in Diepsloot is lack of access to land for housing. And it is not as if there is no land. There is enough land, but it is in white hands. Therefore, part of the solution to these protests is to distribute land to the poor and build houses. This requires bold leadership to tackle white landlords head on without any fear. Sleeping with the poor for one night won't help.

Nationalisation accompanied by democratic control and allocation of our land will play a major role in the development of our poor communities.

11. It is the effects of the 1st Force which are forcing workers to embark on strikes for better wages.  For an example. The Tiger Brands and Pioneer Foods collude and raise the price of bread, thus making the cost of living for the poor very expensive. The immediate working poor's response to this business' criminal act is to demand better wages. Whilst we should condemn destruction of public property and burning of councilors' houses during protests, the people to be arrested are the Tiger Brands of these worlds who commit horrendous crime against the poor.

12. The 2nd Force is our capitalist state which essentially protects and defends private owners of property through the police and many of its laws, including our Constitution which guarantees the right to private ownership of productive economic resources.

13. The 3rd Force is our inability as the ANC-led movement to build the subjective/ organisational capacity of our people to confront the 1st force and take over our economic resources to the people as a whole in line with the Freedom Charter.

14. The 4th Force is political parties such as the white DA and black DA (i.e. COPE) - the shop stewards and spokespersons of the First Force - committed to defend racial inequalities.

15. The 5th Force is these quasi-federal provinces which have become unnecessary bureaucracy in our state system. We should disband these provinces and take all the political and administrative staff to our municipalities if we are serious about building the institutional capacity of our local government to facilitate conditions for the development of our poor communities.

State power and SACP's independence in the state

17. Smiso also understood that it is one thing to have an interest in something. But it is another thing to have power to achieve what you want. It is for this reason, that he spent a lot of his time organizing student power through building and leading SASCO to fight for the immediate interests of students in institutions of higher learning. He also built the working class' organisational power through building the SACP.

18. He was clear in his mind that for the working class to exercise its organisational power, the Party must be independent. It should be able, amongst other things, to decide on what it wants to do, including democratic control of its cadres in the state.

19. The key question we should answer in memory of Smiso is: whether our SACP will be in a position to exercise its organisational power in the post-2009 state within the current institutional make up of the Alliance.

20. My answer to this question is : our SACP will face two constraints within and outside the state, namely (a) institutional constrains arising out the current configuration of the Alliance  and (b) class power of business on the state.

21. And to overcome these constraints,

a. There must be institutional change in the SACP's the mode of entry into the state as well as accountability mechanisms; and (b) there must be popular working class campaigns will be necessary to shift the balance of class power against business

22. What is not my argument?

a. This is not an argument for breaking of the Alliance. Instead it is an argument for its real reconfiguration. It is an argument for a democratic marriage between the SACP and ANC. (b) This is not an argument for abandonment of the Communist contest for the ANC. And (c) this is not an argument against SACP's participation in the state.

Cautionary notes

22. In discussing this issue we should not (a) exaggerate the presence of the SACP in the state (b) Or under-estimate our presence in the state (like the ultra-left do) and (c) we should not discuss this question from what the ANC wants and thinks. That is to say, we should start by asking if the ANC will agree or not - important as this is. Instead we should start by stating what we want.

23. Constrain Number 1 : The state's inherent dependence on business

a. The state, like workers, depends on business to reproduce itself.

To illustrate, to deliver social services the state needs to create the necessary conditions for capitalists to invest. Productive investment means higher growth, which in turn means potentially more wages for workers and profits for capitalists. Thus enabling the state to grow its tax revenue base.  Because states do not control significant investments, they tend to depend on business to invest their resources, which enables the state to generate its own income by taxing wages, salaries and profits.

b. All successive post-1994 state leaderships have sought to lure business to invest in South Africa. The pre-2009 state leadership's strategy had been to make the costs of doing business cheaper through neo-liberal economic policies and at the expense of the poor.

c. Business, through various means, including stating its economic policy preference, has been exerting pressure on the post-2009 state.

All politicians are subjected to the power of business. However, specific policy and programmatic outcomes are not inscribed in the structure of capitalism itself. There are other alternatives even within the limits of capitalism.

24. Conditions under business can be forced to make progressive compromises

a. It is not out of the passivity of the working class that business makes concessions to the poor.  Instead, they are forced to do so by organised and mobilized working class power. In the absence of mass struggles, there will be no reason for business to make any concessions.

b. In the last 15 years, the SACP could not effectively challenge the ANC's neo-liberalism because Communists in government were materially dependent on the ANC, but ideologically committed to the Party. And this generated political conflicts which eventually led to the out-voting of many of the cabinet ministers out of the SACP leadership. We argue that this will only happen if the working class shifts the balance of power through mass struggles, as well as making certain institutional changes in the SACP's modes entry and exit in and from the state.

25. Constrain number 2 : Unreconfigured alliance as an institutional constrain

a. Unquestionably, there have been significant consultations in the development of the 2009 ANC elections manifesto and selection of public representatives, particularly for the national and provincial cabinet committees. But the post-Polokwane and 2009 elections have not resolved a number of fundamental questions with regard to the independence of the SACP within the state. However, SACP cadres are in the legislatures as ANC members and under the whip of the ANC, and the modes of accountability as well as the tasks of communists in the legislatures in relation to the independent role of the Party in the legislatures are not very clear.

b. Assigning a significant amount of power to the ANC to elect and select SACP cadres within the state generates conditions for the subordination of the SACP to the ANC leadership. ANC Premier can unfairly SACP MECs.

26. Quota for the SACP to overcome institutional constrain

a. The mode of entry, exit, and accountability should change. Mode of entry of the SACP into the should include quotas. These SACP members should be deployed by and accountable to the Party. This does not mean that communists should not be elected into the ANC lists in their own right, and should abandon their communist conduct and values once they are elected to the ANC list.

b. To realise the quota at the municipal level, the Alliance must agree in principle that certain wards should be contested under the banner of the SACP.  In the same way as the SACP has been doing in the last elections, the ANC shall also mobilise its members to vote for an SACP candidate in these wards.

Mass work to overcome business power

a. Doubtless, quotas for the SACP in the legislatures and executives, will not resolve all the problems associated with being in a capitalist state, but it will provide the necessary conditions for the SACP to maintain its independence and control over its deployed cadres. Parliamentary work is not a substitute for mass work including by SACP parliamentarians. In fact, the 90% the marginalization of the Party in some provinces can be explained by its (i.e. SACP) weaknesses on the ground.

b. Building and reconfiguring the Alliance should be accompanied by strengthening the Party structures capable of leading popular campaigns on the ground. Otherwise, the Party will be reduced to a political party begging for positions from the ANC leadership.

c. Communist parliamentarians and ministers in their capacities as SACP activists and leaders must not hesitate to join mass actions even if they are against parliament or the state.

d. The pre-condition for the strength of the Party within the state and the reconfigured Alliance, lies in our ideological and organizational strength in broader society and within the ANC.

Ideological tasks of the Party in relation to the ANC

27. Who says the ANC cannot be socialist? The ANC does not have to be a communist party to fight for socialism. Therefore, there is nothing that prohibits the ANC from adopting socialism as its ultimate emancipatory vision. The ANC is a human made organization, and we should not naturalise its ideological orientation.  In fact the ideological orientation of the post-Morogoro ANC had been explicit on the class question - it envisioned a socialist society. There is a lot of textual evidence to validate this claim.

Statement issued by YCLSA Head Office, August 10 2009

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