Press statement delivered the President of MKMVA, comrade Kebby Maphatsoe
20 August 2017
The NEC of MKMVA met for the first time after we have been elected at our very successful 5th National Conference in June.
The meeting noted that the NEC made a good start after our Conference, and that MKMVA participated fully and effectively in the National Policy Conference as well as the NEC Legotla.
However, the NEC was also very aware of the huge challenges that faces the ANC, and that the upcoming five month period up to the National Elective Conference in December will probably be one of the most decisive periods in the long history of the ANC. The NEC resolved that Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK) had always been the sharp cutting point of the spear and backbone of the ANC, and that MKMVA representing that proud history of MK - now more than ever - will have to fulfil our role as the defender and advancer of our revolution.
The NEC emphasised the importance of the unity of the ANC and of MKMVA. It was particularly noted that we have to speak with one voice pushing for Radical Socio-economic Transformation, and the advancement of the Second Phase of our National Democratic Revolution (NDR).
In this context the NEC stated that our detractors and the enemies of the economic empowerment of the majority of black (especially African) people know the critical role that MK had always played in the advancement of our revolution, and that is why they are going out of their way to try to cause splits within our ranks.
The parallel structure that these enemies are trying to establish, in the form of the so-called MK National Council, is nothing else but a renegade and unconstitutional structure with the specific aim to divide us, and to avoid MKMVA from playing its historically critical role. The NEC expressed the view that we must always remain committed to unity, and our doors must always be open those cadres in the MK National Council who are prepared to see the light, correct their deviant and factional ways, and return to the fold. However, our commitment to unity must always be principled and informed by sound revolutionary commitment for the full liberation of every single South African.
Sadly there are those who still call themselves only in name comrades, but they have materially advanced so well during the past 23 years of having collaborated with the White Monopoly Capitalists, that they no longer want to pursue the Second Phase of the National Democratic Revolution (NDR). The reason for their divisive and factional behaviour is that they have a vested interest in maintaining the neoliberal and pro-white monopoly capital status quo. They are making common cause with their White Monopoly Capitalist sponsors and handlers in order to divide – and if need be – destroy the ANC in order to achieve their objective. The NEC noted that these so-called ‘comrades’, are the enemy within.
Their undisciplined behaviour is deliberate and purposeful, and their ultimate intention is to engineer regime change. Thus the NEC resolved that MKMVA we must close ranks and defend the ANC.
With regards to the no-confidence motion in President Zuma and the ANC government that was defeated in the National Assembly on Tuesday the 8th of August, the NEC expressed our happiness that this spurious and counter revolutionary attack by the opposition parties was staved off, and expressed its gratitude for to the majority of disciplined ANC MP’s who stood strong.
The MKMVA NEC furthermore concurred with the views of the NEC of the ANC that ulti-mately the reason for the motion of no-confidence was not simply about removing President Zuma as president, but to remove the democratically elected ANC government from power, and to replace it with a tame White Monopoly Capital puppet government.
The so-called personal hatred for President Zuma is only a smokescreen, the real reason why they want to remove President Zuma and his administration is because they fear his expressed commitment to the implementation of a programme of Radical Socio-economic Transformation. The NEC noted that it must never be forgotten that President Zuma is the only President since democracy dawned in 1994 that challenged the iron grip that White Monopoly Capital had on the Treasury. Control of the Treasury is central to the plans of White Monopoly Capital to continue their control of our economy, and when President Zuma showed the courage to challenge that, it had really shaken them up. That alone en-sured that President Zuma was declared enemy number one by White Monopoly Capital.
There are no limits to how far and low they are prepared to go. Their fear of, and hatred for, the President goes so far that they are prepared to kill him, and as it was revealed there were no less than three attempts to try and poison him. The NEC expressed its utter shock about these and calls for thorough investigations to determine who were responsible for the attempts to kill the President, and that they must be brought to book. Furthermore, the context and background that informed these attempts to kill President Zuma must be investigated, and those who are ultimately responsible and the reasons for their conduct must be exposed. Because the President is a soldier, and a fighter, he managed to survive – but the President’s survival should not lead anyone to take the seriousness of the situation any lighter.
The NEC was throughout our discussions clear that we cannot be soft with White Monopoly Capital and their agents and killers. Similarly we cannot be soft on the betrayers and enemies within our own ranks who make common cause with them. Therefore the NEC wel-comed the decision of the last meeting of the National Working Committee (NWC) of the
ANC that all of those ANC MP’s who have voted in favour of the no-confidence motion must be disciplined. We understand the logic that those who have openly declared their defi-ance of the voting instruction that they have received from the NEC and from the ANC Par-liamentary Caucus, must be dealt with first because they are known. However, the rest of the renegade ANC MP’s who have voted in favour of the motion should not be left of the hook. If we do so they will continue to hide, like the underground moles that they are, within the ranks of the ANC and continue to undermine the organisation with the ultimate intention to destroy the Liberation Movement.
The NEC was clear that we must be serious about protecting our unity and to move for-ward with our programme of Radical Socio-economic Transformation (RET), and thus we have no choice but to deal with all of these dastardly betraying moles. Those who voted in favour of the motion must be pursued and exposed, and once they are exposed they must be disciplined.
While the NEC welcomed the decision of the ANC NWC that all those MP’s who voted in favour of the motion must be disciplined, it was emphasised that the discipline dished out to them must not be token, but that it must be real and that the punishment must fit the severity of the crime that they have committed against the ANC. As MKMVA we will, together with all other progressive forces within the ANC, monitor this process of exposing the errand ANC MP’s as well as the disciplinary action that they should be subjected to.
We do not want any tokenism and limp slaps on their wrists!
All of the MP’s who become known to have betrayed the ANC should be forced to resign from parliament. Ideally they should themselves acknowledge the wrong that they have committed and fall on their own swords, but since it is unlikely that they will do so the ANC should force them to resign. They should also immediately, pending the outcome of the disciplinary procedures against them, be suspended from the ANC, and this should mean that they must not be allowed to carry out any actions whatsoever on behalf of the ANC.
These steps are the minimum steps that are required and are critical for the protection of our revolution. The NEC also demands that Derek Hanekom must with immediate effect be removed from his position as chairperson of the NEC Disciplinary Committee (DC). Hanekom has proved himself to be one of the most undisciplined and deceptive people in our ranks. He has openly supported Makosi Khosa, Pravin Gordahn and Mondli Gungubele among others in their defiance, and there can hardly be any doubt that he himself also voted in favour of the no-confidence motion. The fact of the matter is that he himself should resign from parliament and be subjected to disciplinary action. For Hanekom to continue to chair the DC will make a mockery of the whole disciplinary process that need to be launched against the betrayers and that just simply cannot be allowed. Overall with regards to these issues the NEC noted that it is not us who have declared war, these be-trayers have declared war and as the good liberation soldiers that we in MKMVA are, we must take the enemy on blow-for-blow and protect our revolution.
The NEC noted that the severity of the onslaught against our revolution inside the country is internationally matched and backed up by the severity of the onslaught of right-wing reactionary forces that are controlled by monopoly capital. We have seen the wave of so-called colour revolutions that spread throughout the Arabic countries, the Middle-East, Eastern Europe, and Latin America. Many of the counter- revolutionary regime changes that have been effected have been funded by the likes of the Open Society Foundation of George Soros – the very same Open Society Foundation that funds the Save South Africa campaign, and the journalist investigative organisations AmaBungane and Scorpio that are in the service of the mainstream media of White Monopoly Capital.
One of the recent victims of these so-called colour revolutions was the legitimately elected President of Brazil, Mrs. Dilma Rousseff, who was impeached because of the betrayal of some of the MP’s of her own party in a non-confidence vote that was very similar to the non-confidence vote that we have just defeated. The similarity between what happened in Brazil, and what was is being attempted here in our own country is uncanny and should not be ignored. The current international balance of forces are not favourable to us, and the NEC resolved that we should close ranks and as far as possible protect our revolutionary gains because there is no doubt that throughout the world there are reactionary forces making common cause to derail us. This is why BRICS is so critically important for us. The opening of the regional offices of the BRICS Bank on Thursday the 17th of August here in Johannesburg by President Zuma was a critical event and the NEC welcomed it warmly. The NEC commend-ed President Zuma for the decisive manner in which he is moving ahead to consolidate our position and role within BRICS. This is critical for the process of consolidating and protecting the progressive and socialist orientated developmental international forces. Monopoly capital (and specifically in South Africa White Monopoly Capital) is aware of this, and that is part of the reason why they are all the time intensifying their attacks and efforts to re-move President Zuma from power.
The NEC noted that one should not forget that historically these are exactly the same forces that made common cause with the apartheid regime. Just recently very disturbing, but important, information became available about how some of the most prominent members of White Monopoly Capital such as Christo Wiese (owner of among other companies, the Shoprite-Checkers and Pep-Store groups), Bernie Lubner (the owner of PG Glass, who had passed away), Koos Bekker (Chairman of NasPers), Nicky Oppenheimer (of De Beers and Anglo American) and Johann Rupert (owner of Remgro and Richmond) funded the National Party with millions and millions of Rands, right up to the very last days of its existence. When some of our so-called comrades like Trevor Manuel and Pravin Gordhan now make common cause with them, and even try to sacrifice our very own ANC President in order to protect them, we must understand how deep and severe the betrayal is. In this regard the NEC noted that just last week Pravin Gordahn was the recipient of the so-called ‘Humanitarian Award’ at the ABSA Jewish Achievers Awards, and that it was handed over to him by Stephen Koseff (the CEO of Investec) and Adrian Gore (CEO of Discovery). The other guest of honour at this annual function where WMC congratulates themselves with how they manage to stay in control of our economy was the former Public Protector, Thuli Madonsela.
White Monopoly Capital never rests nor ceases with their efforts to prevent us from gaining control of our economy, as part of the progressive forces in the ANC we must continue to analyse the situation and prepare ourselves about how to effectively counter their moves and advance our own progressive agenda. That is why the NEC invited Professor Chris Malikane, who is Associate Professor of Economics at the University of the Witwatersrand and also Special Advisor to our Minister of Finance, comrade Malusi Gigaba, to address us about Radical Socio-economic Transformation and how to advance our NDR agenda against the forces of White Monopoly Capital. This was indeed a very important part of our meeting. Because, as the vanguard of our struggle, MKMVA has to be clear about our poli-cies and objectives, and we must be able to effectively advance those policies in our branches in order to ensure that the correct Policy Resolutions will be adopted at our Na-tional Elective Conference, and also that the correct leaders are elected in order to im-plement these policies.
Without going into the details of our engagement with Professor Malikane we would like to highlight the importance of land restitution without compensation and the need to change the mandate of the South African Reserve Bank from being a so-called independent institution, to one that will implement government policy with regards to empowering the majority of black (especially African) South Africans.
The NEC also noted how Gordhan abused his powers when he was still Minister of Finance with regards to the illegal actions that he undertook against Oakbay. Gordhan’s application was a waste of money at a time when South Africa can least afford it. It is to be commended that the South African judiciary demonstrated its independence and was not swayed by the biased and pro White Monopoly Capital mainstream media. The NEC supports the view of the court that it is not appropriate for a member of the National Executive (Cabinet) to draw the judiciary into the exercise of his executive functions as was evidenced in this application.
Instead of making such spurious and vindictive driven applications the NEC noted that we should rather be supporting businesses that create jobs for every South African and that will help to break down monopolies in our most important industries, not dragging them through the courts with pointless cases.
From this perspective the NEC noted that Oakbay puts money where its mouth is in provid-ing many South Africans with a better future and helping them to have a chance in life. The true challenge is for big business in general to commit themselves similarly.
The NEC welcomes Oakbays commitment and financial pledge towards economic develop-ment through education and skills development, and call on other major businesses to do the same. What is required is that more of our country’s leading businesses must commit to help to change South Africa for the benefit of all, and not just the (primarily white) elite.
In dealing with the critical issue of black (especially African) economic empowerment the NEC noted with disappointment that there are an increasingly incidences where initial ad-vances in Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) are under threat, or are already being rolled back. In this regard, of particular concern for MKMVA is what is happening with the restructuring of Cell C. MKMVA is an original shareholder in Cellsaf (Pty) Ltd, which is a broad based Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) consortium that was awarded the 3rd cellular licence in 2001.
The NEC noted with concern the so-called restructuring of Cell C that was recently an-nounced by the Board of Cell C, Blue Label Telecoms, Net 1 and the Ministers of Communi-cations and Post and Telecommunications. This restructuring was concluded without the knowledge and approval of Cellsaf. It is tantamount to a reversal of Black Economic Trans-formation.
Instead of rolling Black Economic Empowerment back, the NEC believes that Cellsaf should rather lead the restructuring in a manner that will not have a detrimental impact on the current BBBEE shareholders such as ourselves, who have contributed significantly to winning the first truly black empowered mobile company in South Africa and to its growth and development. It must further be noted that MKMVA’s involvement was specifically premised on the understanding that our members who have made a huge contribution to the liberation of South Africa would eventually benefit. To see this now being undermined by this ill-considered restructuring, that once again benefits White Monopoly Capital and disadvantages black investors, is of grave concern to the NEC.
It is the understanding of the NEC that these counter revolutionary actions must always be seen in the context of counter-revolutionary forces within our Movement making common cause with the WMC enemies of our revolution. MKMVA will not get distracted by any these actions, we are clear and resolute about our objectives and the steps that we need to take to advance our cause.
The NEC reiterated that MKMVA will continue to protect the revolutionary integrity of our organisation and that of the progressive policy resolutions that we have adopted at our 5 th National Conference – especially with regards to Radical Socio-economic Transformation - and we will take all the necessary action to ensure that they are promoted and implemented.The NEC received a Report about the participation of our 29 member delegation in the National Policy Conference of the ANC, and it was noted that with regards to the Policy Proposals that came out of our National Policy Conference that they are progressive and very well formulated. Despite the efforts of some like Joel Netshitenze and Derek Hanekom to cause confusion and subvert the final proposals they have not succeeded. The NEC is happy that our MKMVA participants at the National Policy Conference made our own interventions and contributions to prevent them from succeeding, and the NEC expressed its pride at what had been achieved.
The NEC reaffirmed with acclamation the declaration that MKMVA previously made together with the ANCYL and ANCWL, in favour of comrade Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma as our candidate for the Presidency of the ANC. MKMVA does so because we first and foremost believe that Comrade Nkosazana is the best candidate, and we believe that it significant for our progressive agenda that she is in addition also a women.
Comrade Nkosazana is very much a person in her own right with a long and illustrious career in the liberation struggle. When one reads through her CV it is evident that she is a most capable comrade who does not need to stand back for any-one else in the ANC. There is absolutely no reason why she cannot stand for the highest office in the ANC. In addition comrade Dlamini Zuma is very clear about her unequivocal support for the implementation of Radical Socio-economic Transformation in order to bring about the Second Phase of the NDR. Her campaign slogan is: Radical Economic Transformation – Now or Never!
The NEC, however, noted with dismay that attempts to discredit comrade Dlamini Zuma are intensifying and we condemn these with the contempt that they deserve. MKMVA is convinced that these attacks on her happen exactly because she is so competent and clear about her commitment to Radical Socio-economic Transformation. We are disgusted by the sexist and patriarchal attempts to continuously reduce her to being the ‘ex-wife’ of president Zuma. The NEC commended her for the strong and progressive defence that she had put up against these attacks, stating that it is mischievous of people to use their patriarchy to smear her name. We agree with her that it is even worse when it comes from women and fellow comrades, who if they are honest and do not have hidden agendas know that she has an exemplary track record both in the ANC and in government. Comrade Dlamini Zuma is correct to say that this is a sexist agenda that wants to promote a narrative that women can’t lead, and that there always has to be a man behind them.
The NEC also expressed our concern about the proliferation of women candidates for the presidency of the ANC. This can only serve to undermine the chances of a strong woman candidate, like comrade Dlamini Zuma, to succeed. We do not deny the democratic right of any other candidates – including women – from availing themselves, but we do experience such decisions by other women comrades as undisciplined because the ANC Women’s League (ANCWL) has clearly pronounced their support for comrade Dlamini Zuma. It is our belief that this decision, in the context of our political culture of democratic centralism, should be respected and supported. We also believe that the proliferation of women candidates are ill-advised because it firmly falls in the category of divide and rule tactics that deliberately undermines the strongest and most progressive candidate.
The NEC stated that in line with our support for comrade Dlamini Zuma’s candidature MK-MVA will protect her from the vicious and unfair attacks that she is being subjected to, and spare no effort to secure her election. In this regard we will continue work tirelessly to build a deep and broad base of support for her, which will be anchored in every structure and component of the ANC and the South African society in general.
With regards to the road to our National Elective Conference in December the NEC sup-ports the initiative of the ANC Provincial structures to engage among themselves in order to build unity and to ensure clarity about policy positions. As MKMVA we are participating in this process and will continue to do so. Of particular importance is the decision of the NEC that MKMVA will work tirelessly to reach out to all our branches to convey our points of view, and to convince them to support a progressive policy programme of action to im-plement Radical Socio-economic Transformation. This is our top priority.
The NEC emphasised that while MKMVA commits itself to all of this we must always make sure that the welfare of our own members remain foremost in our minds. The programmes and projects that MKMVA advanced in order to contribute positively to build more sustainable and better lives for our members are critical and we will continue to build and expand them.
The National Office Bearers (NOB) reported to the NEC about important engagements with the Department of Military Veterans and with the Department of Human Settlements. These are of an ongoing nature and therefore we cannot go into the details of these dis-cussions, except to say that they are intended to make a significant improvement to the lives of our members. The NEC urges the Department of Military Veterans to speed up the benefits agreed to on for the Military Veterans. With regards to housing for military Veter-ans we resolved that their needs should be prioritised. The NEC believes that this work is very important because our members have made great sacrifices for the liberation of South Africa and they all deserve to live decent lives.
The NEC was clear that the improvement of the lives of our members as well as the broader programme of Radical Socio-economic Transformation that MKMVA is committed to, are two sides of the same coin. For MKMVA this is all about understanding what is criti-cally necessary in order to build a better life for every single South African.
Issued by Carl Niehaus, National Spokesperson, MKMVA, 21 August 2017
