NUMSA'S INITIAL RESPONSE ON THE SACP's DISCUSSION DOCUMENT: "LET'S NOT MONUMENTALISE THE NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN"

15 May 2013

The National Office Bearers (NOBs') of the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) notes and welcomes the release the South African Communist Party's (SACP) discussion Document titled: "Let's not monumentalise the National Development Plan".

As Numsa we have been calling for a detailed critique of the National Development Plan (NDP) given its neoliberal outlook and anti-working class posture particularly in relation to the fact that it does not alter the colonial character of the South African economy and the dominance and control of White Monopoly Capital and Trans National Corporations.

Therefore, the SACP's public document provides a space and an opportunity for the two leading formations of the working class - the SA Communist Party and the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) to interrogate and solicit a shared working class perspective on the NDP.

"The SACP's call for the Alliance to engage with the NDP is to be welcomed, however, Numsa is deeply worried that critical policies of our ANC-led government are never subjected to a proper prior Alliance discussion and Alliance partners as an afterthought must than struggle with what has been developed by bureaucrats steeped in neo-liberal thought. This happened with GEAR and many other key policies. This does not bode well for what the Alliance must achieve" - says Numsa Deputy General Secretary Karl Cloete

Numsa will study the SACP's document to make recommendations to the SACP, COSATU and the leader of the Alliance - the African National Congress (ANC) itself. The document could not have come out at a better time as we are preparing for the COSATU Central Executive Committee (CEC) meeting, our own National Executive (NEC) Meeting scheduled for the 22 -until- 24 May 2013, and the much awaited Alliance Summit in June and October 2013. As part of our preparations for the CEC and the Alliance Summit we will discuss the document with the intention to conclude a Numsa response, and also influence COSATU NDP discussion processes.

A critical examination of whether the NDP advances the objectives of the Freedom Charter and the Second Phase of a radical National Democratic Revolution is to determine whether the following liberal tenets are not central to the National Development Plan (NDP);

1. Trade liberalization

2. Financial liberalization

3. Labour Market Deregulation

4. Limited Role of the State

5. Fiscal austerity

6. Tight monetary policy

7. Central Bank indepedence

In this debate of the NDP within the Alliance there should be no holy cows given that the crises in the US and Europe has completely discredited the Washington Concensus and Neo-liberalism.

Statement issued by Castro Ngobese, NUMSA National Spokesperson , May 15 2013

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