SACP Membership Month Statement presented by 2nd Deputy General Secretary Comrade Solly Mapaila, Standerton, Sunday 07, September 2014
Advance and deepen the second radical phase of our democratic transition: Build working class power in all key sites of struggle!
Today marks the beginning of yet another very important campaign in the life of any organisation, but the SACP in particular. We are here to launch the Membership Month.
During this period we extensively reflect on the calibre of cadres we have and the calibre of cadres we want. During this time we renew ourselves, and our commitment to service for the people. We renew our commitments to the basic values of our Party. We go back to the basics.
Build Party organisation!
The first task of SACP members it to serve the Party organisation and build it as a weapon of working class struggle.
During the month of September we urge all Party cadres to pool their energies to attend to the issues of new members. We should ensure that we recruit, train and involve them in the daily life of the Party. This is crucial. But we must not make the mistake of waiting to service our members and their needs only during the Membership Month, September. This task is ongoing, as it is with serving the people all the time.
Every Party member belongs to the most important and elementary structure, the branch. It is from here that each cadre's work amongst the working class is directed on a daily basis. Every Party member is duty bound to establish a Party unit/forum in any sphere of influence where they are located - be it their workplace, an NGO they serve in, or a sports club they belong to, a cultural group or burial society, in the train or bus to and from work, to mention but a few public spaces.
Interacting with non-Party members and the general public is even more important than meeting other Party members who share the same views. The principal task of every member is to ensure the proper and organised presence of the Party and its worldview in all the affairs and facets of society.
Once every Party member is in touch with the basic units of our organisation, the branch, they will be allocated tasks in standing committees or ad-hoc committees according to the conditions of the time and place and capability of the members.
Members must be introduced to the revolutionary theory of Marxism-Leninism through both political education and activity.
Those members who distinguish themselves in the work that they carry out in our branches will then be identified by other members and nominated to Party constitutional structures such as the Branch Executive Committee or higher leading organs. Because the Party is a national organisation, those who lead our branches will interact with the leadership of other branches in the different forums within the Party.
We are mentioning these basics to make three important points. First, the branch remains a critical base from which to carry out Party work. Secondly, a person cannot be a communist without carrying out branch duties. Any member who fails to do this is committing an act of disservice to the Party and the people. Thirdly, the leadership in the Communist Party should not be an outcome of factional dealings or be determined by those who have money. Party leaders must be assessed by their attitude and aptitude in performing their duties and responsibilities. The election of Party leadership is the preserve of Party members and Party members only. It cannot be determined by tenderpreneurs.
Communists are aware that the successful execution of the working class revolution and its financing is not a matter that can be left to chance. Hence they pay their dues and subscriptions to the Party no matter how little they earn. This is very critical, because we cannot rely on our class enemies to fund us. We are aware of the difficult conditions that many of us face - but we dare say the task to fund our collective organisation must not be left to chance.
Serve the people!
The second most important task of a Party member is to serve the people. We must work with the people through their organisations while revolutionising them at the same time. The role of revolutionaries is to change the living conditions of the people for the better. That is the reason we embark on struggle. We must demonstrate the need to change the whole organisation of society and how the prevailing form of organisation is the source of their problems, exploitation, inequality, unemployment, poverty and so on. Populists and demagogues would like to suggest that these problems have been created by our revolutionary movement. This is the product of lazy brain work and trivial thinking.
Develop yourself and the Party!
The third most important task of Party members is to develop themselves politically as well as the Party. If a Party member, because of reasons such as work, health conditions or any reason brought to the Party for evaluation is prevented from participating in its normal work - that should be taken as an opportunity to read and study; this must be an uninterrupted work of every Party member at all times.
Political and ideological training of our cadres is important, and at all times than ever before. Our branches must spearhead political education. Often we make the mistake of characterising political education as only fit to happen in big city hotels once a year with this or that leader coming to "deposit knowledge" to branch or district delegates. There is room for such centralised educational activities, but we need to strengthen the work of branches in the field of political education.
To build socialism we need revolutionary cadres steeped in the theory and practice of Marxism-Leninism.
There is a difference between theory and practice. Theory guides practice and practice confirms or rejects theory.
This means the Party must pay special attention and be strict on recruitment and selection methods of members. We should identify comrades with the best of human values and nurture them into communist revolutionaries, because:
Not everyone who comes into our revolutionary ranks becomes a revolutionary;
Not everyone who joins trade unions becomes an active trade unionist;
Not everyone who joins the Communist Party becomes a communist;
We need a Party of iron discipline to produce the calibre of cadres required to advance and take responsibility for our revolution without asking for anything in return for personal gain.
The Communist Party like any revolutionary party has always demanded from all its members, irrespective of their position, strict abidance to its principles, norms and values.
Defend the revolution!
Our movement is under severe attack from our ideological opponents - both from the right and from the "left". As we forge ahead with the revolution this will become acute. The revolution is bound to affect, in one way or another, the class interests of those fundamentally opposed to it. It is the duty of Party members to defend the Party, our entire movement, and the revolution. No one can defend the Party and the revolution better than its members.
Both conservatives and their political representatives in the DA and big private capital today have the audacity to say our movement is no longer the same. "Left-wing" childishness is used to inflame the emotions of our people in the name of being more "radical" or "revolutionary", promising them this and that, which they will never be able to deliver.
Both the conservatives in the DA and their analysts coalesce around one thing with those in the populist-parallel-left represented by the likes of the EFF grouping, Irvin Jim and now lately Zwelinzima Vavi who more and more frequently plays into their agenda. Over and above accusing our movement of selling out - they have all identified the ANC President as an entry point for launching offensives against our entire movement.
Unless we strengthen our members politically these empty drums could likely confuse them - for they make the loudest noise.
Our message to all those who form part of the offensives against our movement while cancer-like claiming to be still part of it is: You will not emerge unscathed! Conversely, those who launch offensives from outside, our message is: You will not emerge unscathed when our movement responds!
The Marxist-Leninist Party, the weapon of the working class!
When we carry out our work during recruitment, let us take time to explain the nature and character of the organisation we are recruiting new members into. We must explain to our people that ours is a Marxist-Leninist Party. There are many varieties of "Marxists" out there. The reason they are masquerading as political hit men outside the Communist Party and sometimes critiquing it destructively is that they do not believe in the collective action of the working class organised along Leninist principles:
1. The election of leading cadres from the branch level to the Central Committee is the responsibility of Party members.
2. The affairs of Party organisation are managed by the highest organ, which is the National Congress which meets periodically to determine policy. In between Congresses, the Central Committee is the leading organ that directs the affairs of the Party.
3. The Central Committee does so by taking due regard to the views of members - hence we have in our Central Committee representation of provincial structures; in our provincial structures we have representation of districts; representatives of provinces and districts are guided by branches through frequent District and Provincial Councils.
4. There is therefore space for democratic debate in the Party.
5. According to the principles of democratic centralism, once the leading organ has resolved on a matter that has been up for debate democratically, we call for maximum unity in implementation and action. At this stage all members of the party subject themselves to the decision, including those who held a different view; the views of the majority, trained in, and applying, the scientific principles of Marxism-Leninism must prevail.
Agitate for a socialist South Africa!
We should be able to agitate for socialist alternatives in our daily lives. As we say "Socialism is the future; Build it now". We should plough the seeds of socialism in the here and now. We must demonstrate what the elements of socialism are; we must build a momentum towards and capacity for socialism. In this context the agitational role of the SACP must be pointed out. We need to be clear of the role of the Party and what socialism is.
Build the elements of, momentum towards and capacity for socialism!
For those who want to join our struggle for a more humane and caring society, socialism is:
Social ownership and control of the means of production;
Concrete change of the living conditions of the majority for the better; this will require radical economic change to happen, and the end capitalism to give way to socialised economic ownership and control;
Ending all forms of human exploitation and therefore ending the system of exploitation, capitalism;
Economic and social justice for all, the majority of them is the working class;
Economic and social justice for all the people;
Equality for all the people;
The total eradication of minority rule in all facets of life; socialism is the highest form of democracy.
Let us face this truth, inequality, unemployment and poverty under capitalist social relations of production will never end. Under social democratic capitalism the sharpest edges of these problems can be blunted in varying degrees, but they will still cut. The bottom line is that capitalism produces and perpetuates poverty, inequality, joblessness and environmental degradation.
Combat anarchism and workerist tendencies!
The SACP has an organic relationship with the progressive trade union movement. This is anchored on Marxist-Leninist fundamentals. As Karl Marx and Frederick Engels (1848) state in the Manifesto of the Communist Party:
"The Communists, therefore, are on the one hand, practically, the most advanced and resolute section of the working-class parties of every country, that section which pushes forward all others; on the other hand, theoretically, they have over the great mass of the proletariat the advantage of clearly understanding the line of march, the conditions, and the ultimate general results of the proletarian movement."
It is on the basis of this very same principle that the Communist Party is part of the Alliance with the ANC and COSATU, and has historically played a leading role in building and defending this Alliance as well as its individual formations. The Party has thus translated the fundamental principle of Marxist-Leninist organisation into our national democratic revolutionary framework, in pursuit of our revolutionary struggle - i.e. not anarchic struggle. In fact, it is this very principle that some opportunistic elements are attacking relentlessly in their offensive against the Party and the ANC, and against the Alliance, including COSATU.
Marxism-Leninism
It is therefore important to reflect a bit on our translation of Marxism-Leninism in the context of South African conditions. Obviously, our point of departure is based on the Party Programme ‘The South African Road to Socialism'. This Programme articulates our Medium Term Vision.
The advanced form of Marxism as practiced by Comrade Vladimir Lenin and the Russian revolution inspired us through revolutionary teachings and set for us an example we have important lessons to learn from.
Leninism is a revolutionary theory of the proletariat in the epoch of imperialism and the working class struggle for power: "dictatorship of the proletariat", which is the highest form of democracy under majority rule in terms of class analysis. As the Soviet communist historian and theorist V.V Adoratsky puts it: Leninism "teaches the working class how to conduct its fight and how to secure victory, seize power, consolidate its gains and lead the toilers in their struggle against exploitation. It also teaches how socialism is to be built up".
Lenin had sought to teach the workers to wage class struggle for workers' power. The relationship between the Marxist-Leninist Party and the trade unions is derived also, but not entirely, from this basis. Lenin's major contribution to Marxism was his theory of Party organisation which Marx never dealt with. At the core of this theory is the principle of democratic centralism, involving diversity in debates and discussion but unity in action once a decision has been taken, and all its pillars include:
Proletarian democracy;
Unity in action;
Collective leadership;
Criticism and self-criticism - with a major focus on constructive criticism;
Accountability and control.
This is a critical strategic and tactical factor and should always be at the forefront of discipline in the Party and service to the people in the revolution.
This is very important that we explain for various reasons. One of those reasons is to let you know why there are some people who speak as "Marxists" but who are outside of the Communist Party. They do not believe in the principles of collective leadership. They run some one man shows and attempt to subordinate the organisation of the working class struggle to their whims. We are raising this as well to deal with an element of permanent rebel tendencies that has gripped its hold on some in our Mass Democratic Movement. There are permanent groups to oppose our movement from within. In the process some members are turned into members of other members. Such conduct has no room in the Party. We must work hard to continue mounting a deadly blow to this tendency.
A strong working class party can only lead a successful revolutionary programme if it is united. The organic unity of the Party is therefore an important task of all members. No member must through wrong thinking seek to weaken and divide the Party, through their actions and through personal conduct.
Be active on the ground, take action to achieve change!
Marxism-Leninism is not an abstract article of faith. On the contrary, conclusions reached from a Marxist-Leninist analysis, particularly on the question posed by Lenin: ‘What is to be done?' depend on carrying out a revolution. No amount of analysis alone can alter the character and content of change without action in the direction pointed out from the analysis. Marx in the 1845 ‘Theses on Feuerbach' eloquently captures this as thus: "The philosophers have only interpreted the world, in various ways; the point is to change it".
Lenin in his address at the Congress of Russian Young Communist League in 1920 had this to say:
"Without work, without struggle, a routine knowledge of communism obtained from communist pamphlets and books would be worthless, for it would continue the old divorcement of theory from practice, that old separation which constituted the most disgusting feature of the old bourgeois society".
Defend our democratic gains, defeat the capture of state institutions by hostile forces!
There is an agenda that seeks to hijack our revolution through capturing and turning state institutions against it. If this agenda is not dealt with, urgently and decisively, our democracy will be weakened from within state institutions.
Let us now look at the Office of the Public Protector.
For a while now, Madonsela's actions and utterances suggest that she believes, despite claims to the contrary, that she is above other state institutions supporting democracy, the Executive and Parliament included. Not least her latest letter to the President by its hostile tone and innuendo has the effect of deepening negative public perception about the President and our democratic institutions, like other previous documents from the Office of the Public Protector under her stewardship this letter has been leaked to the media.
As it happened in previous cases, there is no clear accountability how this has happened. The worst is that the Public Protector went all out to accuse an unnamed senior ANC leader for leaking the letter. The ANC has since challenged Madonsela to name that leader. Did she do it? Not at all. Instead she came back to say this was hearsay from the media, but then this before vacillating again between the two positions at a later stage. This backed a question why then did she authoritatively spread that hearsay conclusively as if it was a determination by the Office of the Public Protector. There can be no doubt her conduct impacted on the image and integrity of the ANC negatively.
Clearly some of the behaviours by Thuli Madonsela confirm the existence of an ‘above-all' attitude. This has the effect of undermining other branches of the state and relevant institutions.
In the run up to her press conference, according to media reports Thuli Madonsela said we must "back off" and thereby stop expressing our views about the conduct of affairs handled by the Office of the Pubic Protector. At the press conference she said something to this effect. We must assert the fundamental principle of the Freedom Charter, the clarion call that: The people shall govern.
It is when citizens are told to "back off" from the state, as Madonsela said, that state institutions become isolated from the people and democracy. Without any shred of defence they thus begin to serve private personal, political and class interests. As citizens we should not allow this to happen unchallenged. Neither must we allow critical voices to be trivialised and simplistically to be characterised as attacks - this is done to justify ill-conceived actions supported by the opponents and enemies of our democratic revolution.
The South African society is organised differently from the conferences where, as observed by the ANC, Madonsela badmouths our country and government leaders, and in doing so also uses matters that are yet to be concluded, and for this receives applause. In South Africa, freedom of expression is not an exclusive preserve of the "like minded" - the freedom to agree; it is equally importantly freedom to disagree and to disapprove publicly when a state institution is used in a manner other than what it was originally established for.
The Public Protector has handed over to Parliament her investigative report into the security upgrades at the Nkandla residence of the President - this after stating through the media that she would not hand over the report to the President. Parliament is attending to this matter in terms of the powers vested upon it by the Constitution, and needs to be given both space and time to do its work.
In particular, the Office of the Public Protector is accountable to Parliament, and has to respect Parliamentary processes. Initiating parallel processes on the same piece of work that Parliament is duly working on, and in this case the investigative report handed to it to consider, as well as well as other associated documents, is, despite claims to the contrary, tantamount to undermining its bona fides and functions.
Many of us as citizens and revolutionaries not only respect but will defend the Office of the Public Protector as we do with other state institutions that affect our lives in one way or another. THIS INCLUDES, IF NEED BE, DEFENDING THAT OFFICE FROM ATTACKS EMANATING FROM UNWARRANTED CONDUCT BY ANY INCUMBENT. We fought for the birth of this democracy, and we will continue the struggle for it to grow and mature to its fullest. Communist cadres were in the frontline of our liberation struggle, and in the negotiations from which our country's Constitution was developed. State institutions established to support democracy form part of our Constitution. This is the fruit of our struggle and our work.
While we fought and negotiated for the birth of our democracy, others, who are concentrated in today's DA, were only concerned about the so-called qualified franchise, which is nothing but an undemocratic arrangement for a minority in the name of democracy. After all, apartheid was a qualified franchise and a democracy to those who supported it. Today very few are brave enough to admit that they ever supported apartheid, and this includes the majority of DA members and supporters. The DA as a party of white privilege has no democratic credentials. It did not taken part in the process of struggle for majority rule, which is why many in its ranks and who support it in the media and elsewhere remain anti-majoritarian in their attitude to democracy.
The circumstances in the late 1980s and early 1990s forced us to adopt certain compromises in order to remove apartheid and take a major step forward. We never had any intention of remaining forever in the compromise positions. This is why today we are talking about the second radical phase of transition, the reason why our enemies in the DA, apartheid operatives, imperialists and our detractors will stop at nothing to infiltrate and use state organs to disrupt our democracy.
It would be naïve, for example, to think that all the operatives who served the apartheid state with varying degrees of willingness and who were maintained in various branches of the state after 1994 embrace the democratic process that we are driving through the national democratic revolution. It will be naïve, too, to think that the relationship between former prosecutor Glynnis Breytenbach and the DA started only on the day that the DA announced her as its Parliamentary candidate. According to news24 (2014-01-26), Breytenbach's name was one of the six that the DA had kept confidential when it released its consolidated lists of candidates.
In defence of our democracy, and In line with our programme to build working class power in all key sites of struggle, we must fortify all our trenches to ensure that no outside or foreign agenda finds its way into any public institution to undermine and destroy our revolutionary democratic process from within the state.
Beware of an emerging trend to use the courts to pursue a counter-revolution.
There is an emerging trend to place prosecutorial decisions on review by the courts and to have the courts charge people by instructing the National Prosecution Authority to do so. This must be looked at seriously as it has the potential of fundamentally altering the principles that underpin our democracy, in particular the principles of institutional independence and separation of powers.
If the courts charge a person how can the prosecutor be independent and how can the very same courts carry out a fair trial or handle appeals arising out of trials from the charges they instructed the prosecution to press? The courts are beginning to do this also because some in the judiciary have turned against politics, which is not a new phenomenon but a common consequential reaction of those who fear people's power in a bourgeoisie liberal democracy.
An overwhelming majority of the proto-Fascist party the EFF that disrupted Parliamentary proceedings last week were not born during our liberation struggle. They have never participated in a war. That is why they find it simple to use military titles and engage in pseudo-military hooliganism. The behaviour of these rascals, however, must be nipped in the bud. In addition, more work is required to identify if there is, and to expose, the controller behind this tendency.
Let us remain vigilant in protecting state institutions established to support democracy from populism and abuse by external forces including narrow opposition parties which have no interest in building a united and democratic South Africa.
Let us remain vigilant in defending our democracy!
Let us take responsibility for the revolution.
The SACP has adopted the dialectical connection between the struggle for socialism and the National Democratic Revolution as the South African Road to Socialism. In this regard, we seek to advance, deepen, defend, and as our 13th congress added, take responsibility for the National Democratic Revolution.
The SACP has observed with concern the emergence of an oppositionist tendency within the ranks of some sections of our movement. This tendency has been seeking to dissuade against participation in the implementation of the National Democratic Revolution through the Alliance and the state. It tries to isolate Communists and is therefore profoundly anti-Communist. It is a manifestation and hybrid of external interference, opportunism and what Lenin (1920) referred to as an ‘infantile disorder'.
While reacting negatively towards the participation of communists in the state, the advocates of this tendency have at the same time been lobbying within our movement in order to be elected into leading positions through which they will participate in the state. Alternatively, they have set up processes to create new organisations through which they hope to achieve participation in the state by contesting elections.
Combat sectarianism! Wage the struggle for the success of the revolution!
All Party members have a duty to continuously agitate for the success of the revolution. Given the diverse nature of our country, we must emphasise that driving the message of the revolution at a branch level requires the language best understood by the people in any particular area.
The basic we must begin with, for example, is the circulation of Central Committee decisions as communicated at the end of each meeting through a public statement. We must distribute amongst the people Party literature - we have an online version of Party publications The African Communist and Umsebenzi which comes out every Thursday. This must reach the ground. Our branch study groups have to read every edition of our Party publications and translate them from English where they are not yet translated. The same must be done with the works of Karl Marx, Frederick Engels and Lenin, among other revolutionary theoreticians.
Once we have empowered our members and we have communicated decisions of the leading organ then they will stand up like SACP Mpumalanga Provincial Secretary Comrade Bonakele Majuba. This week he exposed the falsehoods that Irvin Jim, for example, has been spreading about the SACP, ANC and the Alliance. Mr Jim has been distorting our views in order to present himself as a martyr of the working class struggle.
Jim and his leadership clique in NUMSA have been at the forefront of dividing COSATU; in turn they have been accusing everyone else of the conduct that is theirs. Communists must never behave in a "holier than thou" manner. Communists should apply the principles of constructive criticism and self-criticism, not self-praise. They should not react to constructive criticism by insults and walkouts. They must learn from their mistakes and accordingly correct their behaviour.
Communists carry out their duties in fraternal formations as members in their own right. This applies in the ANC as well; for they correctly understand the need to deepen the National Democratic Revolution as our most direct route to socialism.
Communists who are workers employed in any sector, must join and play an activist role in the progressive trade union movement, under the banner of COSATU. Their role is not to divide the trade union movement and turn it into an instrument to attack the liberation movement. They must be constructive in their criticism and they should never forget to engage in constructive self-criticism. They should not participate in the trade union movement to shape it in their own image and hold it at ransom to their personalities.
Communists should be at the centre of making sure that COSATU is united and that the workers have a powerful tool in their hands to confront capitalism. They must appreciate that breakaways and divisions in workers' organisation will only serve the exploiters. They must never play into the hands of such agendas in any manner whatsoever.
In the same way, communists do not work to divide the Alliance. They do all they can to safeguard its unity, understanding that the Alliance is an alliance around a minimum programme and does not replace the existence of its independent partners. They are mindful of different class permutations in the Alliance. Through their conduct and attitude to work by democratic means, communists must win over the middle class into the programme of the working class. Communists are not sectarians.
Communists understand that we must use the unity of our Alliance to fight back an offensive that seeks to water-down our democracy and reduce it to what we call "democracy lite".
Liberals want to hijack our institutions of democracy and exert liberal values and modus operandi on them in order to weaken our revolutionary determination to drive a radical second phase of our transition.
As revolutionaries we must be alive to foreign interests, and their collaboration with certain elements in our country to weaken the liberation movement. They are working hard to capture our leading organs that are meant to administer justice and use them against our leaders. They have occupied a pole position in painting a picture that our government is corrupt and everything about politics is inherently corrupt except liberalism. In this narrative nothing is being said about the corrupting practices of the private sector.
Of course we must fight corruption within our ranks. Stealing from the poor cannot be excusable. However, our fight against corruption must be principled. What the doomsayers never say is that it is the Alliance that is at the forefront of the struggle against corruption. The efforts of the Alliance partners in the fight against corruption are under-reported.
That is why communists must be active in the battle of ideas, including the media, so that we have space to tell the truth.
Let us remind each other who we are.
We are not only in Alliance with the ANC, but we are members of the ANC in our own right. There is therefore no ANC without us. Even where the outcomes of strategic and tactical considerations do not go our way, we abide by them as ANC members in line with the revolutionary principle of democratic centralism.
Communists do not suffer from the problem of "external locus of control". Instead of searching for scapegoats when things go wrong, we must first and foremost engage in self-introspection, identifying our own weaknesses and embarking in a struggle against them. We must then reposition to provide the leadership content that can be accepted by others. We therefore have no luxury to relate to the ANC as that other organisation.
Let us build a strong SACP!
Let us build a strong ANC!
Let us build a strong COSATU!
Let us build strong SANCO!
Let us build a strong Alliance!
Let us prioritise both political and numerical growth of our membership!
Issued by the SACP, September 8 2014
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