ANCYL President Julius Malema's speaking notes on the opening of the Youth League political school, Croco Lodge, Krugersdorp, July 1 2009
Welcome to the National Political School of the ANC YL.
We are here today as a direct mandate of the 23rd National Congress of the ANCYL, as it resolved on: The need to intensify political education so as to imbue ANCYL members into the culture and traditions of the congress movement; AND The need for the establishment of an institutionalised political school in line with the ANC 52nd National Conference resolution on political education.
The Political School here should achieve the following concrete objectives:
1. Understanding on ANCYL Political Education Manuals.
2. Prepare ANCYL Educators to educate all structures of the ANCYL and members of society.
3. Enhance and harness ANCYL members' understanding of education themes.
4. Prepare members to be the true defenders of the ANC and the broader revolutionary movement.
The school has to happen in the manner we have designed it because we need to define and clearly induct all our members on the understanding of our revolution.
It is our strong conviction as this generation of the ANC YL that any revolution that does not reproduce its ideas is bound to fail.
We cannot fail and will never allow failure because we are aware of the failures that have characterised many revolutions across the world. So we need political education for majority of our people.
The Political School is for Educators who will after our sessions, be deployed across the country to teach and educate our members and members of society about the revolutionary movement and make them understand the direction of the National Democratic Revolution.
The school has to happen because we need to produce cadres who properly understand the character of our movement and where it is going.
The kind of education we teach here is the kind of education which leads to practical outcomes and contribute in building better, sustainable livelihoods for all our people.
Our members should understand the meaning of the Freedom Charter as the maximum political programme of the ANC, and not only understand it, but gain the capacity to give it practical meaning.
The Freedom Charter remain the uniting force of all our people in recognition that indeed we need to construct a nation that belongs to all who live in it, black and white.
The Freedom Charter brings hope to the people of South Africa in their call that "Free medical care and hospitalisation should be provided for all, with special care for mothers and young children"
The Freedom Charter is indeed a beacon of hope for all our children in appreciation of the fact that in our democratic society, "Education [should] be free, compulsory, universal and equal for all children; [while] Higher education and technical training should be opened to all by means of state allowances and scholarships awarded on the basis of merit".
Indeed, "The Land should be shared among those who work on it", while "All are equal before the Law".
We should particularly emphasise and remind ourselves that "no government[and we add, No leadership of a liberation movement] can justly claim authority unless it is based on the will of all the people".
At this moment in time, when the imperialist forces are realising the accepting the failure of capitalism, we should ask whether the time has not arrived for the government of South Africa under President Zuma to make sure that the State owns the Mines and other means of production as called for in the Freedom Charter.
The Freedom Charter unites us in recognition of the fact that for genuine liberation, "the mineral wealth beneath the soil, monopoly industry and banks should be transferred to the ownership of the people as a whole".
The truth is that the main vehicle to transform and better the living conditions of our people is through the transfer of wealth from the few to the majority, and we should do that with determination.
We have to accept that the implementation of the Freedom Charter will not please everyone. Our responsibility and obligation is to please the majority of our people, so we should not be worried that there will be problems when the Freedom Charter is implemented. It should be implemented.
Like one of the scholars said we should call on all delegates in this political school that they should "Always bear in mind that the people are not fighting for ideas, or the things in anyone's head. They are fighting to win material benefits, to live better and in peace, to see their lives go forward, to guarantee the future of their children...
We have a responsibility to put in place, as a matter of urgency, a nationwide political education programme that focuses on the politics and values of the ANC. The members of the NEC, supported by members of the PECs, need to undertake the political education programme. Most importantly, we need to implement the mass political education campaigns agreed upon in our various meetings and gatherings.
We need to build unity in the movement through whatever programme we do, and that unity is defined along common understanding of our National Democratic Revolution and the strategic goal the Freedom Charter. We should however understand that the best form of unity is unity in action. The best way to develop political consciousness is to engage comrades in political work.
We will as part of our political education programme, build true cadres for social change. A cadre is somebody who is forever prepared to learn, learn more and learn forever. As the Chinese proverb goes "Live as if you are going to die tomorrow and learn as if you are going to live forever.
Every cadre whatever the position in the organisation and whether an old hand or newcomer must study hard. The higher the position you occupy the harder you must learn for the higher your position the heavier your responsibilities.
To those who are familiar with a theoretical character, you will recall that every practice produces a theory, and it is true that a revolution can fail even though it is based on perfectly conceived theories, nobody has yet made a successful revolution without a revolutionary theory.
NO REVOLUTION HAS EVER SUCCEEDED WITHOUT A REVOLUTIONARY THEORY, and we need to always build on that character to strengthen our movement.
A concrete example of a failed revolution is that of Zimbabwe, where a revolutionary movement neglected its theoretical ground in favour of an individual's views, guidance and direction. Zimbabwe would not be where it is today, if the National Liberation Movement was guided by proper and consistent revolutionary theory.
We all agree that a cadre is a exemplary member of our movement; the subject is therefore relevant at all times. We are referring here to an all-round cadre, an organic revolutionary, a person who is able to interpret practically each message communicated to society by the leading organs of the movement.
We need cadres with a high political consciousness in order to counter the ongoing ideological onslaught against the progressive forces.
All this relates directly to the examination and resolution of the problem of cadreship. Cadres need to overcome all theories of reaction, which separate theory from practice and vice versa. The question is not only to increase individual productivity, but also to use co-operative methods in creating a new productive force made up of cadres that operate as a single collective force.
The interconnection between a cadre and organisation goes thus: A strong organisation releases a potential strength in each person and the strength of each person makes the strength of the organisation. To that extent the opposite is equally true.
DISCIPLINE
In this political school, we expect all delegates and participants to be disciplined.
All members of the ANC YL should appreciate and value of being members of the ANC, and always carry documents of the ANC and ANC YL wherever they are found, particularly the Freedom Charter, Strategy and Tactics and Resolutions of the last Congresses of the ANC and ANC YL.
Members of the ANC YL should always own the flag of the ANC and understand their colours. Every meeting of the ANC YL should have a flag of the ANC and members understand what it means, because to many of our people, the colours of the ANC represent freedom and emancipation from slavery.
You should always be on time and constructively contribute to all the issues under discussions.
We will never allow any of the delegates here to miss sessions or fail to be on time for the sessions,
Because you are cadres who are being trained to be commissars, you should lead by example and illustrate to all that you can be disciplined and do whatever is expected from you.
The Political School will result in the writing of exams by all participants, and we expect all disciplined cadres to pass their exams with distinction.
We will soon be visiting provinces to check and understand what provincial leaders are doing in their respective provinces and we believe that they will all be intensifying our political education programme.
Thank very much!
Source: ANCYL
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