SACP MPUMALANGA MEDIA STATEMENT
The Provincial Executive Committee met on the 8th August 2010 at eMalahleni SACP Provincial Office to process Political and Organizational reports on resolutions taken by our 7th Congress. We also met to review the current political climate facing our province and further came up with interventions to strengthen our internal capacity in order to pursue struggles of the working class against poverty, unemployment and the growing inequality amongst historical disadvantaged masses, with the poor becoming marginalized and put on the periphery of development in our country in general and in particular our province.
We have noted with concern, the influence of money and patronage in the structures of the movement. Money and state power patronage is being abused to hijack the movement by tenderpreneurs, in order to also hijack the state for purposes of self enrichment and looting of state resources. The recent mass protests that took place in the province were caused by tenderpreneurs who felt, they were not getting enough tenders for accumulation in the main.
The PEC also noted an alarming shock, the Hollywood dramatic arrest of a journalist, in order to instill fear, not only to journalists but to whoever exposes corruption in our province. We want to re-iterate our resolve to intensify our campaign and struggle against corruption, no amount of intimidation will deter us. On the same breath we call on journalists, to stop abusing their privileged position, by being brought to tarnish other people's characters politically without proper verification of facts. We believe that, if what we saw happening to that journalist is the way police will behave, then we are degenerating into a police state.
We have also noted with concern, that for the past 16 years, the capitalist tendering system has always been a source of corruption, conflicts, crime, divisions and poverty in our country. All major conflicts in the movement and the alliance are caused by tenders, or struggle for tenders. We feel that rather than tendering, let's strengthen the public sector to deliver to our people. The tendering system has failed the people of South Africa, instead, it has intensified corruption especially in Mpumalanga.
As part of celebrating Women's month, the PEC is calling for the speedy implementation of the National Health Insurance, statistically, the majority of those infected and affected by HIV/AIDS are women in our country and the province. There is a link between HIV/AIDS and child mortality which is mostly affecting poor working class women in the province.
We further observed the unhealthy state of youth unemployment, which poses the greatest danger of social instability in the country and in the province. Due to this challenge, young people find themselves being manipulated by those, who have money to further their reactionary political agendas. We call upon government to intensify its programme on youth empowerment and skills development that will create economic opportunities and employment for young people.
We fully support the on-coming public sector strike and further call for the overall transformation of the public sector and parastatals (which are being abused by elites to enrich themselves). We further call on the President to intervene, public servants don't only need better increment but complete restructured improvement, as per his own admission when he was campaigning to be president.
We will be having a joint march against corruption together with COSATU on the 14th September 2010 in Nelspruit. The march is supported and agreed upon by all Alliance partners in the province.
As a build up to the march, there will be district marches against corruption in all our four districts during the month of August.
Statement issued by Lesetja Dikgale SACP Mpumalanga spokesperson, August 10 2010
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