SACP Call to the people of South Africa
The SACP calls upon the people of South Africa to come out in their numbers to cast their votes on 22 April 2009. We especially call upon the workers and the poor of our country to go out and vote for an overwhelming victory for the African National Congress, as part of the realization of the vision of the Freedom Charter - the People Shall Govern.
We fully agree with the ANC President, Cde Jacob Zuma that the power of the message of the ANC was that it focused on what is to be done, rather than negative campaigning against other political parties. The Democratic Alliance's ‘Stop Zuma' campaign is nothing more than a desperate act to appeal to the basest racist instincts of the DA's core constituency. Cope's anti-ANC message also reinforces our view that this party has nothing to offer the people of South Africa, but is a group of disgruntled elites and fugitives from the Polokwane democracy. Our people are not going to be fooled.
As South African communists we have, over the past few months, been in most of the four corners of our country: in the remotest of rural areas, in the informal settlements, the townships, hostels and thousands of workplaces. We have, through our door-to-door visits, red forums, and through our pamphlets and posters, reached out to millions of the workers and the poor of our country.
Through all the above work the message from millions of the workers and the poor is very clear; ‘Yes the ANC must continue to govern by being voted overwhelmingly and convincingly'. To millions of our people the ANC-led Alliance is the only formation that knows best where our people come from and the tasks that lie ahead. Our people have said that by voting for the ANC they are not voting for an organization that is apart from them, but by voting the ANC they are voting for themselves.
The popularity of the ANC amongst the mass of the people of our country was convincingly demonstrated by the massive numbers who attended the ANC's Siyanqoba rallies over this last weekend. These rallies drew together people way beyond 600 000 in ten different stadia all over the country, all united behind an overwhelming victory for the ANC. Last weekend's ANC gatherings, linked via satellite to listen to the message of the ANC President, Cde Jacob Zuma and from Alliance leaders, were the first of their kind in our country.
The SACP also built on its year-to-year contact with our people through our popular Red October Campaign to take forward the message of the ANC's election manifesto as part of the SACP's own contribution to the ANC's election campaign.
The SACP however calls on all our people and their various formations not to demobilize after the elections, but to redirect the energies unleashed during the election campaign into building organs of people's power to drive the implementation of the ANC's election manifesto. For instance these energies should be directed into building street committees to fight crime; people's land committees to drive faster rural, agrarian and land reform; people's education committees for quality education; viable local health committees for quality health care for all; and to build even stronger COSATU unions for quality jobs.
The SACP, guided by its Medium Term Vision, will continue to play its part in strengthening our Alliance, and the mobilization of the working class beyond the elections, so that this class remains the leading motive forces in consolidating and advancing the national democratic revolution.
Let the workers and the poor of our country come out in their numbers to vote for the ANC on Wednesday!
Statement issued by the SACP, April 20 2009
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