Cedric Gina, Numsa President, Numsa's Position on Media Attacks on its General Secretary, the Nationalisation Debate and Leadership Question in Cosatu, August 5 2011:
A. Background
We at Numsa are fully aware that as we approach 2012, the Centenary Year of the ANC, and the 53rd Conference of the ANC, the world in general, and the South African media in particular, will focus quite intensely on the elective Conference of the ANC. There is nothing wrong with this, in itself. South Africa, after all, is a significant social, economic and political player in world affairs after the democratic breakthrough in 1994.
We are also aware that next year Cosatu will be holding its elective Congress. Again, we are not surprised that both local and international media have already begun to speculate about who will eventually become the general secretary of Cosatu, should Comrade Zwelinzima Vavi indeed not make himself available for the position.
We do not overestimate, nor do we doubt the global and national significance of both the policy and leadership outcomes of the ANC Conference and Cosatu's Congress next year. Next year will also see the South African Communist Party hold its elective Congress. Again, we are happy to note the fluttering of global and media interest in both the possible political programme and leadership outcomes of this important communist vanguard of the South African working class.
The South African social and economic background to these and all the important political events which will take place in the formations of the ANC led Alliance is one characterised by two important threads that are running through the new democratic South Africa, post 1994: very determined efforts by the ANC government to make a meaningful change in the lives of millions of South Africans who were previously marginalised and consigned to the periphery of South African economy and society on one hand, and the stubborn, unrelenting persistency of Colonialism of a Special Type in South Africa which continues to reproduce racialised and engendered mass poverty, massive unemployment and extreme forms of inequality in the country.
Thus despite the commendable efforts by the ANC government since 1994 to tackle the many development crises and challenges it inherited from the Apartheid and English thoroughly undemocratic racist capitalist governments, the underlying untransformed systemic and structural features of a semi colonial economy and extremely racist and patriarchal society continues to defeat the large improvements in the delivery of mass housing to the poor, electrification of working class and rural communities, mass provision of safe water to working class and poor communities, and mass delivery of education and health services.
It is this contradiction - the persistence of a thoroughly racist and entrenched capitalist semi colonial economy and society underlying the mass democratic and popular government of the ANC - whose resolution is the essence of the intense economic, political and social debates and engagements currently going on in all the formations of the ANC led Alliance. Of course the entire South African society and all those outside South Africa who care for us are also involved in this discussion!
It is, in fact, the resolution of this contradiction upon which the various classes in South Africa are warring!!
B. The horrifying social and economic statistics of South Africa
Amidst all the good developments in mass provision of houses, water, electricity, rural improvement, a unified education system, free primary health care and universal access to public health facilities, wall to wall local government, successive transparent, free and fair and widely applauded national and local government elections, among other things that have happened since 1994, the following ugly picture, among many similar ones, continue to stubbornly remind us all of the untransformed racist, semi-colonial nature of South African economy and society:
- 16,7% of all officially employed people in SA earn less than R500 per month;
- 34,3% earn under R1,000 per month which is equal to USD1 per day;
- 60% of all workers earn less than R2, 500 per month;
- Poverty remains a reality between 40-50%; and
- In 2008 the top 20 directors of the JSE listed companies earned an average of R59 million per annum while the majority of black workers earned about R34, 000 per annum.
In racial terms, the following statistics must surely horrify any sane observer of the South African economic situation:
- The top directors earned 1723 times of an average worker;
- An African man earns in the region of R2, 400 per month whilst a white man earns around R19, 000; and
- White women earn in the region of R9, 600 per month, whereas most African women earn R1, 200 per month!
These pictures of course are produced by an over-concentrated economy in which a few monopolies rule. Real economic power is vested in the hands of predominantly white South African males, of course with an increasing participation of foreign capital and a sprinkling of black and African parasitic elites. Poverty is largely black, and essentially African.
Wealth and affluence are predominantly white. All reside in the same economy and geo-socio-political space! This is the semi colonial nature of South African economy and society. Naturally African women and youths suffer the most from the triple crises of criminal levels of inequality, mass poverty and massive and widespread unemployment.
We are happy to note that almost from all ideological spectrums there is no dispute on this score: South Africa must do something now about the criminal levels of inequality, mass poverty and massive and widespread unemployment. For example, Sim Tshabalala head of Standard Band SA (BD, 2011/07/07) says the following about this same ugly picture:
"The statistics are chilling: 65% of South Africans live on less the R550 a month - less than a monthly satellite TV subscription. 12% are desperately poor, struggling to survive on R150 a month. One in five children shows signs of malnutrition. The unemployment rate for black South Africans under 30 is over 50%. Two-thirds of 15-to-30 year olds who want work have never been able to find a job. The richest 10% of South Africans earn more than the other 90% combined. Few would deny that we are sitting on a powder keg which is ready to explode for there are plenty of struck matches around."
What is in dispute, however, is how these crises must be addressed! Sim, for example, goes on to happily propose more of the same racist capitalist system that has brought South Africa to its deplorable state since 1652 - he argues against nationalisation and proposes that South African capital must respond to this ugly picture by becoming more available to black people.
C. Numsa's socio-economic policies
Numsa is an affiliate of Cosatu. Cosatu is in an alliance with the ANC and the SACP. There is a lot that intersects, naturally and logically, flowing from these relationships. Numsa fully supports and subscribes to the socio-economic policies of Cosatu. With and through Cosatu, Numsa has the potential to influence policies of the ANC and the SACP. And this relationship is mutual - these formations do have influence on Numsa too.
Numsa has taken policy positions and pronounced on organisational, social, economic, political, cultural, international and other similar fields, and canvassed for its positions in Cosatu Congresses.
Numsa is a socialist trade union, unashamedly! We support the Freedom Charter in its entirety, and the foremost foundation policy document of the ANC in general, and its Alliance in particular.
Thus Numsa supports the demand for nationalisation and socialisation of the commanding heights of the South Africa economy and society. We are convinced that no real transformation in South Africa can occur without simultaneously applying radical redistributive measures. The entirety of South African wealth must indeed and truly be transferred to the people as a whole, if real liberation must be achieved! We have been saying this from our inception.
Thus we have called for the nationalisation of mines, banks, the Reserve Bank, major steel manufacturing, energy and other key sectors of the economy. Through such measures, we are convinced that the systemic and structural features of South African semi colonial economy and society (through redistribution and transformation) can be destroyed, and a more egalitarian, non-racist, non-sexist, inclusive economy and society established.
We have openly called for the overthrowing of the current neo-liberal macro and micro economic policies which privilege finance capital above employment and manufacturing to meet local needs and of course then exports.
We have taken decisions on the proposed government New Growth Path. We have been published on this and many other similar key debates in South Africa.
Numsa's policies are adopted after full democratic internal processing within the union, culminating into its National Congresses. In between Congresses, all members and constitutional structures and offices of Numsa and more importantly, the National Office Bearers, have the responsibility to promote, champion implementation the agreed upon policies.
D. Attacks and threats to life of our General Secretary
We have taken this trouble to explain all the above because it has become necessary to re-state the most obvious fact: that the burden to articulate and defend the policies and all other decisions of Numsa especially in the media falls largely upon the shoulders of the General Secretary, as he is the keeper of minutes and records of the union.
In the run up to 2012 and all the elective conferences and congresses of the ANC and its Alliance partners and formations, and the significance of the leadership outcomes of these political processes, we have become aware that representatives of certain factional and class interests both within and without the media have chosen to target our General Secretary as an individual, for attack, negative labelling and character assassination.
The central focus of the attacks are clearly designed to tarnish and destroy the image, character and person of our General Secretary, so that, in the intentions of his attackers, because of the announcement by the General Secretary of Cosatu that he will not be available in the next Congress for leadership, Comrade Jim may not qualify for the position of General Secretary of Cosatu.
Despite Cosatu having reversed Comrade Vavi's decision not to be available, some highly undisciplined and ideologically confused elements within the leadership of Cosatu continue to behave as if there is a succession struggle in Cosatu, and thus, together with some elements in the media, seek to weaken and destroy Comrade Irvin Jim.
Further, we are convinced that both these "nameless sources" in Cosatu and their handlers in the media wish, by tarnishing and destroying the revolutionary character and personality of Comrade Irvin Jim, to weaken and destroy Comrade Irvin Jim's capacity to defend and advance the interests of all the working class of South Africa in general and the members of trade unions in particular.
Comrade Irvin Jim, our General Secretary, has been most successful at faithfully and consistently articulating the policy and constitutional positions of Numsa since he was elected to that post. Seeing this, our class adversaries are terrified and alarmed!
The South African capitalist class, and all those whose economic and social interests for the moment coincide with this class, are alarmed at the success Comrade Irvin Jim is having in defending not only Numsa's policy positions, but as a leader in Cosatu, of Cosatu's positions too.
It is immaterial whether Comrade Irvin Jim as an individual believes in nationalisation of the commanding heights of our economy and society - he has an obligation to always and everywhere defend and advance this position. This is a Cosatu, SACP and ANC position as it is rooted in the Freedom Charter.
To argue, as moronically as Jan de Lange (Fin24, 5 July 2011) says that Irvin Jim is using the nationalisation demand to further his ambitions to be elected as Cosatu new General Secretary next year is not only the fictitious product of a mischievous journalists mind, it is a devious class ploy to eliminate Irvin Jim from the race for the post (when in fact there is no such a race!), sow divisions between Numsa and other affiliates of Cosatu, especially Nehawu and Num, and begin perhaps to prepare the grounds for the actual physical elimination of Irvin Jim by our class opponents - the real current owners of the mines, banks and other major economic assets on the pretext that Irvin Jim, should he become General Secretary of Cosatu, their assets will be expropriated.
It is beneath Numsa in general and our General Secretary in particular to act in the manner Jan de Lange portrays in his article. In his article, Jan de Lange not only parades his ignorance of the practices, traditions and revolutionary culture of our union and the Alliance, but also quite foolishly gives cheap ammunition to all those who have contempt at the quality of our journalism in the print media and those who wish to see this sector better policed.
Concocting a dangerous story such as Jan de Lange has done is truly fishing from the bottom of gutter journalism at the expense of those written about, but in defence of the class interests of white monopoly capital, especially that imbedded in mining.
Other newspapers and journalists have taken up this devilishly mischievous line, and are peddling it for the same ends: to defeat the popular and perfectly legitimate demands for nationalisation and socialisation of the commanding economic and social heights of South African economy and society.
We are at Numsa are extremely unhappy at the false media stories furnished by the said ill disciplined and ideologically confused elements within the leadership of Cosatu which, unfortunately, have also been expressed by the Mail and Guardian to the effect that Comrade Irvin Jim belongs to a faction led by Comrade Vavi, and that this faction seeks to remove Comrade Zuma from office in the 2012 ANC Conference. This is not only mischievous journalism; it is also promoting dangerous factional fights in the liberation movement. We totally condemn this fabrication of dangerous falsehoods.
E. An imbedded counter revolutionary force
While we at Numsa do expect the South African and global capitalist media to paint us red and attack us all the time for our principled revolutionary working class positions, we have noticed that as we move towards the important Alliance events in 2012 there is evidence of the mobilisation of an imbedded counter revolutionary tendency and reactionary force deeply entrenched and imbedded in all the formations of the Alliance and inside the ANC government, against a radical and truly socialist NDR.
Such an "inside reactionary tendency" is quick to mobilise around leadership factions, prolific and quick at throwing around labels against its perceived factional enemies, meanwhile all it seeks to achieve is to consolidate its positions inside our formations and in government, for its own ends.
Thus we now have our General Secretary being labelled a populist, workerist demagogue, opportunist, among other such nefarious labels.
The truth of the matter is that Socialist and revolutionary formations in the Alliance and especially in the SACP and Cosatu must combat, equally, the factional interests of such well embedded counter revolutionary factions and tendencies among us. To let them defeat us is to feed our real class enemies - the capitalist class - with cheap allies from among ourselves!
Comrade Irvin Jim is a senior member of the SACP who has held and still holds office in the SACP. Comrade Jim and other Communists serving in the trade union movement are bound by the SACP's Constitution which inter alia says;
"Members active in fraternal organisations or in any sector of the mass movement have a duty to set an example of loyalty, hard work and zeal in the performance of their duties and shall be bound by the discipline and decisions of such organisations and movement. They shall not create or participate in SACP caucuses within such organisations and movements designed to influence either elections or policies. The advocacy of SACP policy on any question relating to the internal affairs of any such organisations or movements shall be by open public statements or at joint meetings between representatives of the SACP and such organisations or movements."
He is a member in good standing of the ANC. He is an elected leader of Numsa, as our General Secretary. He is very well qualified and placed to articulate Numsa's policy and other constitutional decisions. This is why he was elected to that position.
F. The safety of our General Secretary
As a practising Communist, a serving trade union leader and member of the ANC, we are aware that our General Secretary is a real thorn in the side of the South African capitalist class and its allies. Numsa is further fully conscious of the danger to the life of Comrade Irvin Jim, especially in the light of the concocted media lies and labelling levelled at him.
Numsa will continue to take the necessary measures to protect the life of its General Secretary.
The history of this country, among other things, warns us that when a revolutionary Communist has the kind of persistent negative class media coverage such as the one now directed at our General Secretary, they run the risk of being assassinated.
We have been warned!
Statement issued by NUMSA, August 5 2011
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