SACP and Cosatu bilateral strategy session statement
22 September 2016
The leadership of the South African Communist Party (SACP) and Congress of South African Trade Union (COSATU) met in a two day bilateral strategy on Tuesday to Wednesday 20-21 September 2016 in Johannesburg.
The two working class formations of the tripartite alliance exchanged analyses on the political situation in South Africa, the conditions facing the working class. The bilateral meeting shared perspectives on the need to unite the widest range of progressive forces and work together to develop a united and coherent response to the current political challenges facing the national democratic revolution.
These two organisations have therefore agreed to strengthen constant engagements on the state of the national democratic revolution, including assessing its challenges, opportunities and threats on an ongoing basis in order to develop common perspectives on the way forward and joint programmes as well as joint campaigns.
The balance of forces both within South Africa and internationally have seen massive attempts at subverting the interests of both the workers and the working class at large under capitalism’s rapaciousness. This system holds sway over virtually the entire globe and its brutality and barbarism is intensified by the fact that it has been mired and bogged down in a systemic crisis since 2008 with no end in sight. The crisis has affected the workers and working class the most.
There was consensus from both COSATU and the SACP that we need to consciously implement decisions from our own bilateral engagements and particularly intensify our part of class struggle. We agreed that the two formations should jealously guard their unity. The SACP and COSATU cannot afford to be found wanting when other class forces are shaping the future of our country.
Both the SACP and COSATU accepted the epic responsibility of building democratic working class power in all key sites of struggle and significant centres of power!
Our immediate tasks include strengthening our organisations, salvaging the African National Congress (ANC), our strategic ally, uniting the ANC-led alliance and ensure that it rigorously defines the basic content and strategic tasks of the second radical phase of our democratic transition.
The SACP and COSATU will work together to ensure a review of the National Development Plan (NDP) in line with the ANC-led alliance’s 1st September 2013 national summit declaration. The summit agreed that both the SACP and COSATU expressed a valid critique of the NDP and that it must accordingly be reviewed. The alliance must walk the talk, match words with deeds. That is our joint message from our bilateral strategy session as we move forward to push to progressive policy changes in the best interests of the workers and the working class. We will not allow other class forces to subvert the aspiration of the working. We will push very hard to achieve a paradigm shift
The socialist axis of the tripartite alliance as represented by the SACP and Cosatu will convene a series of strategic discussions with the Progressive Youth Alliance (PYA) with the objective of assisting in building the youth movement based on principled programmatic relations.
COSATU and the SACP agreed to work together to strengthen trade union organisation and political work of COSATU industrial unions. This immediate task includes uniting COSATU industrial unions, rebuild democratic worker control, quality service to members, shop steward training and political education.
COSATU will continue to encourage members and leaders of its affiliates to join and be actively involved in the SACP and uphold the party’s ideological, political and organisational discipline, as well as engage in collective and self-cultivation to become vanguard cadres.
A team led by the Deputy General Secretaries of COSATU and the SACP will develop a joint recruitment campaign that will include servicing COSATU affiliates’ members and workplace visits. This campaign will include the revival of the Chris Hani Brigade, joint political schools between COSATU Central Executive Committee and the SACP Central Committee, and rigorous re-invigoration socialist forums.
COSATU and the SACP will work together to mobilise for the International Day of Decent Work to take place on the 7 October 2016. On this day, we will rollout political in various centres of working class organisation across the country and demand a living wage, accelerated implementation of the National Health Insurance (NHI), integrated and reliable public transport system and a comprehensive social security, among others.
COSATU and the SACP are fully committed to fighting corruption and corporate capture both in the trade union movement, political organisation and the state including Sate Owned Enterprises
Issued by Sizwe Pamla, National Spokesperson, COSATU, 22 September 2016
