In the coming two weeks the eyes of the world will be descending into the city of Mangaung to witness one of the most historic and a rare moments that will forever occupy the front pages of the chapters of the history books of our national liberation movement. The leader of our national democratic revolution and our revolutionary alliance, the African National Congress, will be holding its 53th elective national conference at the same historic site where it was founded hundred years ago.

Our national conference will afford the people of our country and the whole world with an opportunity to reflect critically on the weaknesses and achievements of our national liberation movement over the past century and how to renew our struggles for the improvement of the living conditions of our people into the next century.

The conference will be a platform for the entire progressive movement of the world to celebrate the victorious achievements of the struggles of our people against the forces of imperialism and colonialism. Our 53th elective national conference will indeed be the highest form of the expression of the international working class solidarity and the determination of the suffering people of the world to triumph over the system of human oppression and exploitation.

Over and again our national conference will be a culmination to celebrate the hundred years anniversary of the unbroken record of rich history of glorious struggles led by our national liberation movement. Over the hundred years of its existence our movement has proven itself to be a genuine and true representative of the wishes and aspirations of the overwhelming majority of the people of our country. The celebration of the hundred years of the existence of our glorious movement is indeed a living testimony that the working class is the only reliable force capable of taking forward any revolution to its eventual conclusion.

We celebrate these milestone achievements of the people of the former colonial state of a special type during the time when the poor people of the world are traversing the most difficult epoch in the history of the working class struggles. The suffering people of the world are occupying the forefront trenches of our struggles for their own liberation under the most hostile and complex world socio economic circumstances dominated by the capitalist accumulation regime.

The collapse of the Soviet bloc and the subsequent consolidation of the unipolar economic relations has dramatically changed the balance of forces in the whole world. This eventual setback of the sudden collapse of the world communist movement compelled the working class to navigate itself under conditions of an aggressive post cold war transitional period perpetuated by the military industrial complex.

Our analysis of the prevailing international and domestic balance of forces asserts our exposition that capitalism is in perpetual crisis and therefore unable to resolve the insurmountable socio economic challenges confronting humanity. The escalating economic recession in the eurozone and the subsequent challenges posed by the climate change is an undisputed reality that the capitalist mode of production is incapable of resolving the contradictions facing the people of the world.

The phenomenal crisis of the world capitalist economy has plunged the working class into the deep ends of the acrimonious conditions of poverty, disease and underdevelopment. Our people have to contend with the realities that we can not resolve the contradictions of the class, race and gender inequalities bequeathing our society in isolation from the concrete material conditions defining the present world balance of forces.

In other words we have to understand that there is an inextricable relationship between the century old challenges imposed by apartheid colonialism on our people and the general socio economic crisis facing the entire people of the world. The struggles of the people of our country is about the freedom of the people of the world and the struggles of the people of the world is about the freedom of our own people.

It will equally be important that we use the opportunity of the forthcoming national conference to reflect deeply into the balance of forces and the extent to which they impact on the posture of our national democratic revolution. The overwhelming reality is that we are confronted by a tendency of a low intensity counter revolutionary activities from both within and outside the ranks of our revolutionary alliance.

Our national democratic revolution is under constant counter revolutionary thread posed by the remnants of the former apartheid colonial state and equally from some elements from within our own ranks both working in collaboration with the international monopoly capital. It is from this background that our people should understand the cause and effect of the offensive onslaught mounted by the DA and some of these elements from within our own ranks against our national liberation movement.

The symbiotic relationship between these forces of counter revolution is to undermine our collective effort to liberate our people from the socio economic bondage of the apartheid colonialism. Their underlying strategy is to protect and maintain the economic privileges the white minority accumulated over the period of the three and half centuries of super exploitation by imperialism and colonial powers at the expense of the vast majority of our people.

The unity and cohesion of our national democratic revolution is also threatened by the growing tendency from within our ranks that seek to erode the fundamental principles, culture and traditions of our national liberation movement. We are observing a growing phenomenon by some individual members of the ANC who are determined to define themselves outside the parameters of the constitutional prerogatives of our liberation movement.

Rigorous and systematic political education is therefore the only precondition to produce the calibre of particular cadres we require capable of taking forward the complex demands of the tasks of our national democratic revolution. We have to achieve this important work in order to enable our movement to respond adequately to the new fronts of battles we have to wage under the new improved conditions presented by our democratic dispensation. It will therefore be in the best interest of our movement and the future of our people to unearth the kind of a new calibre of cadres who will lead our struggles under the conditions of the present complex world order.

One of the most critical questions our forthcoming conference has to resolve is our correct theoretical understanding of the fundamental principles of inner party democracy and democratic centralism. The essence of these basic revolutionary principles of inner party democracy and democratic centralism is about the unity and cohesion of our movement and our national democratic revolution.

These are indeed the foremost revolutionary principles that have over the years of our glorious struggles became the cornerstones of the unity of our people and our movement against the repressive racist apartheid regime. Over the years it has been the responsibility of our collective leadership to foster the understanding of our people on the underlying relationship of the basic principles of collective leadership, inner party democracy and discipline and also the principle of criticism and self criticism.

On the 7th of September 1937 the founder of the Chinese communist party and the leader of the liberation struggles Chairman Mao Tse Tung had to say the following profound words

" We stand for active ideological struggle because it is the weapon for ensuring unity within the Party and the revolutionary organizations in the interest of our fight. Every Communist and revolutionary should take up this weapon.

But liberalism rejects ideological struggle and stands for unprincipled peace, thus giving rise to a decadent, philistine attitude and bringing about political degeneration in certain units and individuals in the Party and the revolutionary organizations.

Liberalism manifests itself in various ways.

To let things slide for the sake of peace and friendship when a person has clearly gone wrong, and refrain from principled argument because he is an old acquaintance, a fellow townsman, a schoolmate, a close friend, a loved one, an old colleague or old subordinate. Or to touch on the matter lightly instead of going into it thoroughly, so as to keep on good terms. The result is that both the organization and the individual are harmed. This is one type of liberalism.

To indulge in irresponsible criticism in private instead of actively putting forward one's suggestions to the organization. To say nothing to people to their faces but to gossip behind their backs, or to say nothing at a meeting but to gossip afterwards. To show no regard at all for the principles of collective life but to follow one's own inclination. This is a second type.

To let things drift if they do not affect one personally; to say as little as possible while knowing perfectly well what is wrong, to be worldly wise and play safe and seek only to avoid blame. This is a third type.

Not to obey orders but to give pride of place to one's own opinions. To demand special consideration from the organization but to reject its discipline. This is a fourth type.

To indulge in personal attacks, pick quarrels, vent personal spite or seek revenge instead of entering into an argument and struggling against incorrect views for the sake of unity or progress or getting the work done properly. This is a fifth type.

To hear incorrect views without rebutting them and even to hear counter-revolutionary remarks without reporting them, but instead to take them calmly as if nothing had happened. This is a sixth type.

To be among the masses and fail to conduct propaganda and agitation or speak at meetings or conduct investigations and inquiries among them, and instead to be indifferent to them and show no concern for their well-being, forgetting that one is a Communist and behaving as if one were an ordinary non-Communist. This is a seventh type.

To see someone harming the interests of the masses and yet not feel indignant, or dissuade or stop him or reason with him, but to allow him to continue. This is an eighth type.

To work half-heartedly without a definite plan or direction; to work perfunctorily and muddle along -- "So long as one remains a monk, one goes on tolling the bell." This is a ninth type.

To regard oneself as having rendered great service to the revolution to pride oneself on being a veteran, to disdain minor assignments while being quite unequal to major tasks, to be slipshod in work and slack in study. This is a tenth type.

Again Chairman Mao had to say the following about the principles of democratic centralism and inner party discipline " Democratic centralism recognises the different levels of political consciousness that exist in the revolutionary party and identifies those outstanding individuals with exceptional ability whose talents, experience and capabilities match the demands of particular periods in the development of the party.

Such ‘professional' revolutionaries also impart the necessary stability and continuity which is essential to the success of the party. At the same time, democratic centralism is aimed at ensuring that leaders remain accountable to the collective decisions of the party as a whole.

Democratic centralism is the fundamental principle that enables the party of the proletariat to function in a co-ordtnated and disciplined manner. it is the weapon that the revolutionary party uses against the attempts of the class enemy. with its entrenched, highly centralised, ideological and political apparatus. to confuse and disrupt the revolutionary forces".

It is against this background of the understanding of the core principles of democratic centralism and inner party democracy that we consider reversing the decision of the resolution taken during the Polokwane conference to erode the powers of the President of the movement. Our understanding is that the Polokwane intervention to remove the powers of the President of the movement was a temporary measure to respond to a particular political circumstances, of a growing dissatisfaction by the membership of our movement against the abuse of state power to settle political scores.

The prevailing political circumstances of a growing phenomenon of anarchy and tendency to undermine our collective effort of building on the unity and cohesion of our movement can be attributed to our tactical maneuver to strip the powers of our President. It will not be in the best interest of our national democratic revolution to have a lame duck President under the prevailing conditions of the most hostile and complex international and domestic balance of forces.

The political repercussion of the decision we took to erode the powers of the President of the movement has come to haunt us today. The enemy of our national democratic revolution from both within and outside the ranks of our movement has turned to abuse the very same tactical maneuver to undermine and denigrate the office and therefore the image of the President of our movement and our Republic.

One of the most important characteristics that distinguish members of the ANC from the rest is their ability to adhere themselves to our fundamental principles of collective leadership. The character of the ANC as a liberation movement over the years has been defined by its tenacity to adhere itself to our fundamental principle of democratic centralism.

Phatse Justice Piitso is the former ambassador of South Africa to Cuba and provincial secretary of the SACP in Limpopo writing this article on his personal capacity.

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