South African Communist party Gauteng to picket at National Treasury

11 April 2017

SACP Gauteng Province held a successful Provincial Council (PC) over the weekend, Sunday, 09th April 2017, Cosatu House, Johannesburg.

Meeting was addressed by comrade Madala Masuku, and also had in attendance comrade Grace Pampiri, both members of the 13th National Congress Central Committee (CC) and Politburo (PB). PC was attended by delegates from the branches of the SACP in the province. PC is the highest decision making body in between the Provincial Congress.  

PC received a report on the decisions of the Politburo adopted by the Special Central Committee held on Monday, 03rd April 2017. This followed the meeting of the Politburo held on Friday, 31st April 2017 that resolved that Zuma must resign for plunging our country's sovereignty, economy and financial institutions into deep crisis following the controversial reshuffling of Cabinet. PC unanimously adopted the Special CC report.   

On the Class contradictions undermining the National Democratic Revolution (NDR) and the revolutionary Alliance

PC noted that the class contradiction is sharpening more than ever before and that the SACP must raise the class question even more prominently. PC resolved that our country faces a class contradiction and antagonism of corporate capture of the state led by the Gupta Class Project, constituted of a parasitic web and network of class forces that bears great resemblance albeit with different features to those of the 1996 Class Project.

PC resolved that the Gupta Class Project that controls and has captured an internal ANC faction known as the "Premier League", constitute the most serious threat to our national sovereignty, economy and financial stability post April 1994.

PC resolved that the Gupta Class Project, at the core of which is the foreign Gupta dynasty, seeks to turn our country and hard worn democracy into a semi-colonial playground to pursue its backward, corrupt and primitive accumulation regime finally destined for Dubai, yet another foreign destination.

We resolved that just as the mining monopolies of the Imperialist Western countries left a legacy of mining sink-holes and polluted mining dumps, the Gupta dynasty will leave our country with a junk credit rating.

We have no doubt that the Gupta dynasty as the centre of the Gupta Class Project, will severely undermine the governance of our State Owned Enterprises (SOE), financial institutions and leave a litany of corrupt deals and a wasted democracy.

PC resolved that that the Gupta Class Project, just like the 1996 Class Project has relegated the Alliance of the ANC, SACP, COSATU and SANCO to the periphery, thus repositioning itself as the real centre of power in the National Democratic Revolution (NDR).

As correctly stated in the Politburo statement, we strongly condemn attempts by the Gupta Class Project to capture the regulatory and oversight institutions of our financial and banking system.

We noted desperate attempts to acquire the Habib Overseas Bank, acting in cahoots with the Venda Burial Society (VBS) Mutual Bank that loaned President Zuma R7.8 million as part of the R264 million settlement on the Nkandla matter following Public Protector's remedial action.

We are also aware that as a short and quick route to riches, VBS is engaging the 6.8 million member Twelve Apostle Church to issue them with ATM cards to place the new bank in the same "premier league" as the now junk Absa, Standard Bank, Nedbank and Capitec.

We are fully aware that whilst the Gupta dynasty is desperate for a commercial bank that meet its illicit and corrupt dealings, it also seeks to reposition the new bank for the capture of the social grants.

We have no doubt that this will be achieved either as a private equity partner of the Post Bank or act as just another distributor with the mainstream monopoly commercial banks depending on which option pays the best or come first.

It is for this reason that the Guptas are having their parasitic eye firmly plucked on the expiry date of the CPS contract following the Constitutional Court decision. It is this desperation to have a firm foot as yet another round of corporate capture by filing an urgent court application to have the license that finally turbo-charged the firing of the former Finance Minister, comrade Pravin Ghordan.

We are convinced that the controversial timing of the firing of comrade Pravin Gordhan although delayed, was meant to ensure that at the time of the filing of court papers by the Gupta dynasty, he will not be able to file opposing papers as Minister of Finance. This explains the desperate use of the so-called Intelligence rogue report now controversially denounced by Minister of State Security as a report unknown to him.

We have therefore decided that in line with the Constitutional Court decision on the social grants distribution contract currently captured by the CPS monopoly capital, we mobilize the working class to fight for the creation of a sound, stable, effective and efficient Post Bank as the sole distributor of the social grants.

We will in the context of the SACP's long standing Financial Sector campaign fight for the creation of a truly state owned Post Bank free of private equity partners to end the monopoly of the commercial banks, including the Gupta's commercial bank patiently waiting in the wings of the CPS-SASA contract

We are now more than ever convinced that with the world economic crisis and the slow economic growth, the Gupta Class Project will stop at nothing to loot our country and smile all the way to Dubai, just as the imperialist colonial masters did back to Europe.

We firmly believe that whilst the NDR is not yet collapsed, it has degenerated to the lowest level with high prospects for its implosion and rupture in 2019, unless we defeat the Gupta Class Project now and not wait for 2019 as we may experience the defeat not of the Gupta Class Project, but the electoral defeat of the ANC led Alliance.

We are certain that if this were to happen, it will indeed be a set moment as our country will now be in the hands of a full blown counter-revolution, a real possibility in our province considering the outcomes of the last local government elections.

Provincial Picket to National Treasury, Friday, 21st April 2017

PC resolved to hold a provincial picket at National Treasury in the City of Tshwane on Friday, 21st April 2017. The picket follows a protest march that was declared illegal by the collaboration of the Democratic Alliance controlled City of Tshwane and National Treasury.

We decided on the picket and not a protest march to avoid National Treasury's deliberate sabotage of our protest march as it happened last week Friday. In a picket, we do not require National Treasury's abuse of power to decline receipt of memorandum of demands.

The provincial picket will serve as the formal launch of our count-down to the 18th April 2018, that is, eleven (11) month from now towards the termination on of the CPS social grant distribution contract.

We will highlight through our picket the demand to set up a proper, sound and financially sustainable Post Bank as the only and most suitable distributor of the social grants. We believe that as an alternative to any private equity partner, worse the Gupta dynasty, the Cooperative Banks Development Agency (CBDA) created in 2009 can serve as the real progressive social partner. 

We will also highlight the demand for defence of our national sovereignty and sound financial institutions. We will also highlight corruption, waste and looting of state institutions as the real cause of the junk status rating of our economy.

We will use the provincial picket to highlight the need to implement the directive of the court that a Judge be appointed to preside over the investigation of the stature capture report by the Public Protector.

We believe that as the "smalla-nyana battles" rages on in the courts, we must not yet again place the elderly, children, people with disability and poor women at yet another panic moment leaving the matter again to the courts.

We believe that fights and divisions at the highest level in SASA and Department of Social Development will deny the leadership of government to focus on the real task at hand. 

We believe that the fight for the Post Bank to have full capacity to distribute social grants is critical to the defence of our social security system to protect the vulnerable, working class and poor.

We are more that ever determined to fight outsourcing and privatization of the distribution of social grants as we believe that the fully owned state Post Bank is the only revolutionary way forward consistent with the radical economic transformation of a real and not junk economy.  

We will therefore every month be on the picket line.

On the protest march by the opposition parties

We have noted the planned protest march by political parties that represent different shades and factions of the bourgeoisie and the ruling classes to take place tomorrow, Wednesday, 12th April 2017.

We strongly believe that the protest march vindicates our view that society is presented with two options, on the one hand is the Gupta Class Project, legitimized and used by the ANC faction known as the "Premier League". On the other hand, stand the right-wing opposition parties led by the DA -EFF enemy camp.

It is therefore clear that the revolutionary class interest of the working class can only be represented by the vanguard party, whilst other forces, including the supposedly revolutionary forces may vacillate and act cowardly before a clear class question.

We also believe that the DA-EFF right-wing has no moral standing and integrity to protest tomorrow as they are standing on the racist shoulders of the Emperess and Queen of Colonialism, Madam Godzille.

We therefore dismiss their planned protest march with contempt. 

Organized cowardly attack against SACP at a government Chris Hani event

We have noted the lumpen attempt to provoke SACP members at the government organized event by the City of Ekhuruleni yesterday, 10 April 2017 celebrating and honouring comrade Chris Hani. A blood thirsty organized mob and gang of hooligans some of them armed with guns attempted once more to spill blood and let it flow right into the grave of comrade Chris Hani.

We have no doubt that these blood thirsty warlords were organized and mobilized by the faction in the City of Ekhuruleni linked to the "Premier League" and therefore the Gupta dynasty. We strongly condemn the attempt at bloodshed, whilst we thank and applaud our members who acted with restraint under extremely provocative conditions.

We are sure that by attempting to spill blood on the grave of comrade Chris Hani, they have been exposed for who they really are. These are political chameleons that pretend to love comrade Chris Hani whilst they deeply hate his own organization, the SACP.

We are aware that this faction is careless on its management of power and politics as it preside over a power sharing arrangement that is literally tantamount to walking on eggs with the hope that they will not break. They are sitting on a coalition that is at the mercy of the single man controlling the AIC, and who is the de facto "Mayor of Ekhuruleni", the only man who knows the lifespan of the coalition and may pull off the plug at any time.

We have therefore identified City of Ekhuruleni as the weakest link in the revolutionary chain, and as part of developing a comprehensive programme of action to confront this tendency; we will in the immediate and short period propose the following to the next Central Committee meeting:

- That SACP after engaging the Chris Hani family, organise its own commemoration of comrade Chris Hani. This can be done within the Chris Hani month without competing with the government event. We believe that given the reality that the ANC power and control of the City is on tenterhooks, and that if counter-revolution were to eventuality happen, this Chris Hani event will be dumped or undermined as it happened in Tshwane with the Solomon Mahlangu commemoration.

In this regard, we will organise an SACP commemoration of comrade Chris Hani before end of April 2017.

- That the SACP after consultation with the Chris Hani family consider buying back the house of comrade Chris Hani that is currently owned by the City, to ensure that in case the single man power arrangement in Ekhuruleni was to be switched off, SACP can preserve the legacy and property of comrade Chris Hani.

We are confident that the conduct of the Premier League faction in the City of Ekhuruleni will not be able to unite the Alliance, ANC and the revolutionary people of Ekhuruleni. We will attend to the Ekhuruleni contradiction and conundrum as we move forward.

Issued by Jacob Mamabolo, Gauteng Provincial Secretary, SACP, 11 April 2017