YCL+discussion+document+on+Strategy+and+Tactics

Second NATIONAL CONGRESS Discussion Document
=Towards the Young Communist League Strategy & Tactics:=


 * //Socialism in Our Life Time: Build Working Class Power Now!//**


 * 13 – 17 December 2006**


 * A. INTRODUCTION**

1. The Young Communist League, as an integral part of the working class movement, is struggling for socialism in which the development of human beings as opposed to profit will be the basis for production and organising society. It is in this society, which is linked to communism, where working class power in all spheres of lives will be utilized to achieve human development based on democracy.

2. There are a number of human-made conditions on our road to communism. The YCL as an integral part of the working class movement led by the South African Communist Party is required to develop a strategy and tactics to remove these obstacles.

3. A proletariat strategy is a general plan of the working class aimed at achieving its strategic objective, namely socialism and ultimately communism. It enables the proletariat to determine its immediate and long-term goals, slogans, tactics, class allies, and appropriate forms of organization in each phase of its struggle for socialism. Since these are not designed in abstract, this also requires a comprehensive appraisal of the objective conditions under which the proletariat conducts its struggles and the contradictions it seeks to resolve. This paper is an attempt to facilitate discussions on the YCL Strategy and Tactics to achieve socialism in the South African material reality under the leadership of the SACP as the leading organ of the working class.

4. In doing so the paper: a) Outlines the international and South African class, national and gender conditions on our road to socialism in order to clarify our strategic class enemy, and strategic and tactical class allies in the current conjuncture. In order to facilitate discussions within the YCL, the paper raises more questions than answers. It is hoped that the Congress will provide answers to these complex questions. Furthermore our inability to provide empirical data on some of the questions may make it difficult for us to reach certain strategic and tactical conclusions. b) In the light of the strategic setbacks suffered by the working class in the last ten years, notwithstanding certain advances, the paper asks if the NDR is still the appropriate road to socialism. The document answers this question in the affirmative, but argues that the 1996 class project has facilitated the degeneration of the revolution. The fundamental task of the working class is how it asserts its hegemony and leadership in all spheres of society in the current period where capitalist logic and values are increasingly becoming dominant and accepted as a natural way of organizing society. c) The paper then attempts to develop certain pillars and tasks aimed at facilitating the assertion of working class hegemony and leadership in the current conjuncture. The pillars are mainly derived from the manner in which the SACP Medium Term Vision has conceptualized sites of power, including the state.


 * B. CLASS, NATIONAL AND GENDER CONTRADICTIONS ON OUR ROAD TO A SOCIALIST-ORIENTED NDR BASED ON THE FREEDOM CHARTER**

5. The fundamental contradiction between the working class and the capitalist class is never found in pure forms in almost all capitalist social formations. They are mediated through different concrete ideological, political and specific economic mechanisms in different concrete societies. In different periods of South African capitalism the contradictions between labour and capital were mediated through racial and patriarchal forms of political domination.

6. Social classes are social, political and economic carriers of the capitalist system. It is for this reason that our strategy needs to determine key strategic class opponent(s) on our road to socialism. Historically white monopoly capital has been the strategic opponent of the social forces in the ANC-led Alliance.

7. The SACP-COSATU-ANC Alliance-led National Democratic Revolution has been predicated on the conceptualization of the South African racial and patriarchal capitalist society as Colonialism of a Special Type. The CST was based on the oppression of the black working class to facilitate the process of exploitation. British imperialism gave citizenship to white people, and blacks were incorporated mainly into a colony of a special type as providers of ‘cheap’ labour to be exploited in the industrial structure based on primary product production, mainly mining. The Colonialism of a Special Type theory argues that the //consequential// contradictions in the South African formation have been racism, patriarchy and ethnicity, which were largely //determined// by the class relations. This is not to say that capitalism necessarily and always requires racism and patriarchy to survive. However, racism and patriarchy provide favourable and facilitative conditions for these contradictions to emerge. The strategic aim of the NDR has been to dismantle CST through the transfer power to the people (proletariat, middle strata, peasants) led by the proletariat.

8. In South Africa, the programme for the NDR was (is) the Freedom Charter which was aimed at taking over the commanding heights of the economy and placing them under the national democratic state control, and surviving spaza shops owned by the private petty-bourgeoisie in the form of small traders, manufacturers and small farmers would be subjected to state control in the interest of the people. This would inaugurate people’s democracy or national democracy under the leadership of working class in which a mixed economy would be constructed. In this framework, mixed economy did not mean a social democratic economic system, rather it meant a transitional form of economic system after the seizure of state power by the working people during which the remnants of the capitalist system are still intact but are progressively eliminated. Hence the NDR was conceptualised as socialist oriented.

9. The youth does not exist outside society – it is an integral part of society. As pointed out earlier, the fundamental contradiction under capitalism is between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat. The youth is a microcosm of the class society in that it shares certain class interests and loyalties. While the youth is not a class category, there are class stratifications amongst the youth, that is, the youth can be characterized as proletariat, lumpen-proletrariat, students[1], capitalists, petty-capitalist, peasants, middle strata etc.

10. Given the legacy of CST in South Africa, these class stratifications have also assumed racial and gender character and its destruction or reconstitution will also reflect the class, gender and national character of this stratum. A majority of African youth in particular and blacks in general were systematically and consciously underdeveloped by the colonial Apartheid capitalist state as a natural consequence of CST. Black young people were drawn into ‘cheap’ labour and provided with Bantu education, etc. It is not by accident that today young people in South Africa are not homogenous in racial, gender and class terms – it is a direct consequence of CST. A majority of the proletariat, lumpen-proletariat and peasant youth are black in general, though this is gradually changing as this section is being co-opted by white monopoly capital into the structures of capitalist production and distribution.

11. South African social formation also had an imprint on the forms of resistance of young people. The form and content of the South African capitalist structure gave rise to the organisational forms through which the class, gender and national struggles are fought – it gave birth to the revolutionary Alliance composed of the SACP and COSATU as led by the ANC. In the youth sector, this led to the formation of the Progressive Youth Alliance, which was preceded by a number of heroic youth struggles representing the interests of the youth in class and national terms. The political organ of the proletariat youth is the YCL. The political organ of the student youth is SASCO and COSAS, religious youth – YCS and SUCA, and the ANCYL is the organ of all these sections.

12. Colonialism of a Special Type is not static, and therefore class allies mobilized and organized against it should also not be static. The key question that needs to be posed is what has actually happened to Colonialism of a Special since 1994, what are tactical and strategic questions posed by this reality and what are the //consequential// contradictions that have emerged? How should we characterize the post-Apartheid South African society, and what tactical and strategic challenges does this pose for the working class? What is the class structure of post-Apartheid South Africa, and does it warrant a reconceptualisation of CST?

13. One of the key tasks of the NDR has been to resolve the //consequential// contradictions of racial/national and gender oppression. Is the national question resolved? Racism and sexism are //consequential / subordinate// contradictions of the neo-CST in the post-1994 South Africa. A majority of black people still experience //systemic racism// and //sexism.// All black classes, with few exceptions, still experience systemic racism.

//The working class and the subordinate contradiction//


 * The history of CST manifested itself in casualisation, unemployment and lack of access to basic needs, which still continues to affect the black working class. The key question that needs to be posed is whether this racialised and genderised //subordinate// contradiction can be resolved through a capitalist-oriented road or socialist-oriented road? The former has been dominant in the last twelve years, and it has been proven to be incapable of dealing with the legacy of the CST. It has been based on a dominant capitalist logic in our values and economic policy choices. The socialist-oriented resolution of the legacy of the CST would still be based on commodity production and would accommodate certain aspects of capitalist production, but the dominant logic and orientation would be socialist. For instance the dominant logic for distribution of the means of production and working class reproduction will be based on each according to ability and need as opposed to ability to pay. How does the working class make its political economy dominant in society?

//The middle strata and the subordinate contradiction//


 * There has been a growth of the black middle class since late Apartheid. The middle strata, though not reliable, still faces structural racism or the national question. We suggest that the proletariat should contest this class given its vacillatory character. What should be the strategic and tactical alliance between these strata, and the working class? What are the common demands?

//Landless peasantry and the subordinate contradictions://


 * The CST class structure in the countryside has not fundamentally changed. There is a black rural petty bourgeoisie that accumulates through petty commodity activities such as brick-making, small farming, running shebeens and housing construction, which have grown significantly. However, the African petty-bourgeoisie, which has been dependent on the circulation of commodities in shops, is in danger of being wiped out by the extension of white monopoly capital.
 * The rural proletariat is still subjected to the capitalist logic accompanied by racist killings. What are the key tasks in relation to the rural proletariat, and the landless poor in the countryside?

//Black capitalist class and White monopoly capital: Subordinate contradiction//


 * During the early period of the colonial domination, the African bourgeoisie has been suppressed through colonial and Apartheid legal instruments. The white capitalist class was the main exploiter of the black working class. There is increasing co-option of the black middle strata and petty-bourgeoisie in the neo-colonial post-1994 South Africa. There are also contradictions between white monopoly capital and emerging black capital over access to capital as the means of production to exploit labour. The capitalist ambitions of the emerging black capitalist class were thwarted by legal mechanisms, but under neo-colonialism, they are thwarted by interest rates and collaterals. This contradiction does not merely arise because established capital does not want to nurture a black capitalist class, but the emerging black capitalist class is contesting the terms of its nurturing.


 * This black capitalist stratum is not homogenous and has its internal fissures. They can be differentiated in terms of their origins of capital accumulation and their current location and roles within the ownership and possession of the means of production.

14. White monopoly capital which has been the strategic enemy of the NDR, rules through co-option of the aforementioned black capitalist strata. Whilst the strategic enemy is still white monopoly capital, there is a growing alliance between the emerging and emerged black capitalists with white monopoly capital. Does this constitute a new ruling bloc? How should the working class relate to the black capitalist strata and why? Should it be a contradictory relationship of unity and struggle of opposites with all the strata of the capitalist class? Does the working class have the same enemy with some sections of the black bourgeoisie? 15. At the economic level the //consequential contradiction// finds expression the crisis of underproduction of consumer goods arising of the colonial industrial structure that focuses on ‘primary commodities’ and hence the need for an industrial strategy. But this may not happen if the working class is not in power because an industrial strategy is about political choices around the accumulation of wealth. In this regard, the Mineral-Energy Complex which is predominantly owned by white monopoly capital is not interested in industrialization. The presence of the manufacturing foreign capital (e.g. seven automobile) are mainly interested in capturing the markets in SA. Therefore to resolve this contradiction the working class needs power to determine accumulation that will produce industries that will also produce the means of production and consumer goods. How does the working class exercise its power to deal with this contradiction in the accumulation path?


 * C. RECLAIMING THE SOCIALIST-ORIENTED CHARACTER OF THE NDR**

16. Given the existence of imperialism and the legacy of national and gender contradictions which can be characterized as neo-Colonialism of a Special Type, the NDR based on the Freedom Charter is still the appropriate road to socialism. However, it is important to note that 1996 class project has degenerated the NDR based on its class interests and particular reading of the balance of power and it has also capitulated to US-led imperialism. The key question for the revolution of our time is how does the working class assume its leadership role of the NDR in the current period? And what does this mean in concrete terms. The section that deals with the pillars / tasks of the YCL in relation to the state, economy, community, ideology and international work attempts to elaborate on this.

17. We should also examine the politics of the NDR which was the basis for the ANC-led Alliance strategy to transform the CST social relations in order to deal with its post-1994 Alliance conundrums. To illustrate, this is an alliance of class forces united against white monopoly capital in the era of 20th century imperialism. The early ANC was mainly a representative of urban and rural petty-bourgeoisie social agents who suffered national oppression. Of course there have been periods in which working class leadership was dominant within the ANC. The SACP is the organ of the working class which also suffered national and gender oppression, and COSATU is an organ of organized workers whose labour power has been bought by capital. The alliance was the organizational expression of the fighting class forces against the CST. The strategy identified the working class as both the //main// and //leading// force[2] in the national liberation struggle and social emancipation. This was so because the working class possesses political power (capacity and resources) to sustain the struggle for the transformation of social relations. The first challenge that we have to deal with is: what have been the effects of leaving the organizational leadership role of the working class to the ANC? Is the socialist strategy based on an alliance with the ANC still viable?

18. One of the //consequential// contradictions in relation to the working class and the state is that state power is now concentrated in the //dominant bourgeoisie// in the ANC which has identified as its mission the modernization of the capitalist economy at the expense of the working class. This has been rationalized on the basis of a particular reading of the international balance of power. Secondly, due to the lack of post-elections mechanisms of monitoring and accounting of the SACP-COSATU supported ANC-government, the working class organs have facilitated conducive conditions for this bourgeoisie to capture the state, which is a key site wherein power is concentrated and exercised. As a result power is unevenly distributed within the ANC and its allies. The SACP, COSATU and the ANC itself have no significant impact on state policy. If the ANC-led Alliance is still a viable option for our socialist strategy, is it properly structured to enable each alliance partner to play its independent role in the current conjuncture?


 * D. THE INTERNATIONAL BALANCE OF POWER**

19. It is true that one of the objective constraints for the NDR is imperialism, recently known as ‘globalisation’. Since the ‘collapse’ of the Soviet Union, the US-led imperialism has gained upper hand on how societies should be organized. This is based on the neo-liberal ideology, which is also in a crisis. Our 1994 April breakthrough took place within this hostile global environment.

20. Does the ‘collapse’ of the socialism in the USSR and Eastern bloc in general suggest that we should capitulate to imperialism, economically regulated by the World Bank, IMF and WTO? Of course, we should neither be voluntarists nor capitulate to the whims of US-led imperialism. We should not over-estimate the strength of the enemy camp. There are massive struggles internationally against imperialism. The struggles in Latin America attest to this. We should also elaborate tasks on the international front.

21. The current shifts[3] and delinking of the NDR from the socialist future are not just about a particular reading of the balance of forces. Rather, the international balance of power (which is not static) is used to justify certain class interests. In trying to frame the discussion on the international balance of forces, we suggest that we need to focus on the reading of the balance of forces in terms of what it is today, that is, as it exists in the current conjuncture and how we should analyse it. Put simply how do we come to a conclusion that the balance of forces is hostile or not?


 * E. WORKING CLASS ROAD TO POWER WITHIN THE TERRAIN OF ‘CONSTITUTIONAL DEMOCRACY’**

22. The post-1994 Constitutional democracy has broken away from the repressive legal and political relations of domination and compulsion which denied black people political rights. In the previous system, the bourgeoisie extracted surplus value from the black working class through politico-legal relations of overt compulsion. While the repressive apartheid laws have been repealed, the key pillars of capitalist relations that are maintained and reproduced by the state are still intact. Put differently, Apartheid reproduced relations of subordination and exploitation structured around gender and racial lines are still a feature of our society. 23. The ‘liberal’ Constitutional democracy is important, but not sufficient to address the legacy of CST. Socialism should not be interpreted as opposed to democracy. It should be seen as a continuation of the democratic struggle. It is the working class that has been at the centre for democratic freedoms in South Africa and the world in general. As the working class youth and the working class we should defend some of the democratic reforms in the Constitution because they lay conditions for our struggle for socialism. The current Constitutional democracy allows us to organise, fight and spread revolutionary ideas in society. This condition enables us to build elements of proletarian democracy in which we are able to build working class organizations such as trade unions, press, schools, and youth clubs and hold working class meetings and demonstrations. It is these conditions of democracy that enable us to make revolutionary reforms such as National Youth Service, better education, right to work, and HIV-AIDs treatment, being fully aware that these cannot be sustained within a capitalist framework. 24. The SACP strategy under Constitutional democracy has been to engage in representative institutions under the banner of the ANC and be independently represented in corporatist structures such as NEDLAC. Furthermore, this has been accompanied by uneven mass based campaigns which have impacted on some aspects of government policy. To what extent do the SGBs, CPFs, NEDLAC, and Institutional Forums in Higher education advance working class power? Haven’t these institutions bureaucratized and institutionalized class conflict, and also been overwhelmed by the dominance of bourgeoisie of our society? How should the YCL engage with representative institutions, including the SRC? Should we model our representative institutions along the Paris Commune in which there were principles of immediate recall of representatives, and representatives did not earn more than an average worker. 25. In the 1980s, the working people began to develop organs of people’s power which took different forms, namely street committees, courts, village committees and SRCs, to express their notions of democracy. How do we develop organs of working class self-rule? Are the current representative institutions viable organs of working class self-rule? 26. Our strategy in relation to power in general has been to identify key centres of power which must be contested and captured. The SACP Medium Term Vision has been useful in this regard. It has identified the //state//, //community//, //economy// and //ideological// //struggles// as key centres of power to be contested and captured. In addition to the key centres of power identified by the SACP’s Medium Term Vision, the YCL should give a distinct youth dimension to these struggles, and provide concrete meaning and programmes to the contestation and capture of power. What should be the concrete programme of the YCL in relation to the economy, the state, community, ideological struggles, workplace and mass movements, including the ANC and ANCYL?

27. It is important to characterize the current South African state, and how the working class should relate to it. Firstly, in addition to an attempt to theorize the post-Apartheid South Africa, we also need to conceptualize what kind of post-Apartheid state we have. There are //two// levels at which we can characterize the South African state. First, we can define the state in terms of its class orientation and effects on the capitalist system as a whole. In other words what is its class orientation and dominant logic? We need to challenge the notion that the South African state is not capitalist, but a ‘class-contested reality’. The concept of a contested state is misleading because it does not clarify the dominant class character of the state. To say the state is contested is not different from saying that a factory under capitalism is contested therefore is not capitalist. If we were to follow the logic of a ‘contested state’, we could reach a conclusion that the South African society is contested, and therefore it is not capitalist. To say South African society is capitalist does not mean that it is not being contested. Yes, we should avoid a metaphysical characterization of the state in an ‘either/or’ fashion. But our dialectical analysis must always capture the //dominant// aspect of the object we are analyzing. The state is contested, but the dominant character of the state is capitalist, therefore the South African state is a capitalist state. 28. The South African state is capitalist judging by its class orientation and effects. The logic of the post-1994 has been to increase the rate of profitability of South African capitalism, as the SACP document argues. But surprisingly the state is not explicitly characterized as capitalist, but as a contested state according to the SACP Discussion Document. Therefore the document implies that the capitalist class rules indirectly in the post-Apartheid South Africa. We rather need to characterize and assert the dominant class character of the state. 29. The **//second//** level of characterization of the post-1994 state is what type of a capitalist state? Is it developmental, social-democratic, neo-liberal, neo-colonial etc? Does it have relative autonomy from classes? Is the notion of Bonapartism useful? 30. We suggest that the South African state should be characterized as a neo-colonial capitalist state of a special type, because it has reproduced the key features of the CST including in the countryside through the traditional authorities. The post-1994 state is a neo-colonial state of a special type that facilitates decolonization of a special type. The state is in the hands of the dominant and capitalist oriented black middle strata and presides over white monopoly capital which is reproducing the //consequential// contradictions of the CST. 31. The other question is how the SACP, as the organ of the working class, should relate to state power? We also need to ask what has been the experience of the working class and the SACP’s relationship to state power. We argue that the SA Communist Party members’ participation in representative institutions through the ANC ticket has not been helpful. This has also caused tensions within the SACP and between the SACP/COSATU and the current bourgeoisie-led ANC. Communists went into government under the ANC ticket in the first decade of our democracy and communists implemented ANC government neo-liberal economic policy – Growth Employment and Redistribution (GEAR). Below are some of the tactical options that are being discussed within the SACP in relation to state power: (a) Democratically defeating the dominant bourgeoisie stratum and its project because it uses the working class as its //main// social force during the elections in order to ascend to state power. This will require a totally different ANC which is working class biased and guided by the Freedom Charter as its immediate programme. The socialist strategy based on the Alliance with the ANC continues.
 * Working class and state power**

(b) The working class should assert its independence outside the ANC and form anti-capitalist alliances with broader working class organizations, including building an independent electoral platform.

(c) The SACP as one of the organs of the working class can put forward an electoral conditional pact with a bourgeoisie-oriented middle stratum-led ANC or working class-led ANC. In this case, the SACP does contest elections but gives the ANC conditional electoral support which will include the following:

i. Forwarding SACP candidates to parliament, executive & parastatals ii. These candidates will be directly accountable to SACP policies iii. The SACP candidates will be subject to recall iv. They shall not be involved in business v. They shall engage in extra-parliamentary mass struggles


 * YCL and ideological struggles**

32. The process of class struggle and class formation underway in South Africa has been accompanied by fierce overt and covert ideological struggles through which classes interpret and justify the maintenance or destruction of the capitalist system. In trying to position the YCL in the current ideological war, we should reflect on (a) the role, function and significance of the ideological struggles, (b) the current dominant and conjunctural bourgeoisie ideologies and (c) the development of a few immediate ideological tasks for the YCL.

33. Why should we concern ourselves with ideologies? Ideologies play a key role in reproducing the capitalist system of subordination, exploitation and domination through legitimising the capitalist social class structure. Bourgeois class domination requires both ideological and repressive apparatus[4] to protect its class interests. Bourgeois ideology conceals and distorts reality. Under pre-capitalist class modes of production, social relations of exploitation and domination were overt and the exploiters found ideologies to legitimise the system of oppression and exploitation.

34. We need to discuss the role of the YCL in relation to different sections of the youth in these ideological struggles. The proletariat youth has objective class interests with the entire proletariat; therefore it is the most consistent fighter for national liberation, transformation of gender relations and socialism. This section, like the proletariat, has suffered the brunt of the restructuring of the capitalist economy during and after the Apartheid capitalist state. The student youth are at the centre of the ideological state apparatus, therefore they could be mobilized to play a revolutionary role in the struggle for revolutionary ideas. The capitalist youth is the enemy of the proletariat, therefore it is interested in the bourgeoisie ideology. The middle class youth is amorphous and unreliable.

35. What should be the role of the YCL in organising, mobilizing and building proletariat class-consciousness for communism amongst the youth? We can only deal with this question if we understand the dominant conjunctural bourgeois ideologies and the mechanisms through which these ideas are spread, as well as the nature of the capitalist crisis.

36. Since the 1970s neo-liberalism has become a dominant way of organising capitalist societies. Liberalism is a bourgeoisie ideology to fight feudalism and entrench capitalism. It is based on individualism and the ‘free market’. Liberalism assumes that individuals are naturally rational, self-interested and greedy. State involvement in the economy retards individual interests, according to this perspective. It argues for the ‘non-intervention’ of the state in the ownership, control and distribution of economic resources. This confines the state to a role of a ‘machingilana’ to prevent violence in private relationships and to provide guarantees to capital to protect private of ownership of the means of production and enforce contracts, thus maintaining capitalist class relations. There is also a version of liberalism, which recognizes the role of the state in relations of distribution of surplus value through welfare state programmes. It is important to mention that this form of liberalism was dominant when the working class was on the offensive against capital epitomized by the Great October Bolshevik revolution.

37. Social democracy, which was the dominant reactionary ideology in the working class movement during the Second International, is also being touted as an alternative to neo-liberalism. This ideology which glorifies reformism is gaining support within the working class movement in South Africa. This ideology accepts capitalism as the only viable way of organising society. It argues for ‘regulated capitalism’ in which workers’ rights, social welfare and ‘full-employment’ is guaranteed. At the political level, this ideology uncritically supports bourgeois parliamentary democracy in order to regulate capital.

38. In South Africa there has been a convergence of ‘cultural’ conservatism (through Christian or narrow ethnic fundamentalism, e.g. Zulu nationalism propagated by Buthelezi) and neo-liberalism. This ideology is supported by IFP, ACDP, FF-plus, of course they are distinct and have their own nuances, but share support for a similar capitalist framework. On the one hand, they support a neo-liberal economic framework, yet they want the state to intervene in restricting abortion, same-sex marriages, instituting corporal punishment and prayer in schools and ‘safeguarding’ conservative family values.

39. Conceptual national populism is mainly used by the middle class to mobilise the proletariat by using an anti-imperialist rhetoric and using symbols and language popular amongst the proletariat. The emerging black bourgeoisie uses nationalist ideology of common interests amongst the historically oppressed to legitimise their capital accumulation. In other words, nationalist ideology has strongly re-emerged in South Africa under the rubric of Black Economic Empowerment, whereby capital accumulation by the black bourgeoisie is justified.

40. Liberation theology argues for the need to fight alongside the poor and identifies capitalism as the source of poverty. This ideology speaks in class terms as opposed to the rich and poor, and would accept Marx’s analysis of the capitalist system and socialism as an alternative way of organising society. In other words, they adopt a class analysis as a way of understanding society. Their political and economic practice includes forming consumer and producer co-ops, credit unions and labour unions. Like in all fronts of class struggles, the bourgeoisie has also launched an attack against liberation theology. There is a conscious effort to build different church movement against liberation movement. The religious right as represented by the ACDP, FF plus, UCDP, etc propagate reactionary ideas on abortion, gay rights, patriarchal family structure, and have strong opposition to socialism and certain aspects of liberalism to advocate for cultural conservatism. Having identified the contrasting ideological roles played by different religious perspectives, we need to identify ways of deepening the ideological and class struggles that arise. What should be the role of the SUCA and YCS? What should be the relationship between the YCL and the religious youth?

41. The concept of //ubuntu// is increasingly being bourgeoisified in the current political discourse. How do we give the concept //ubuntu// Marxist humanist content? In addition to the dialectical materialism as a way of thinking, how should the progressive values of //ubuntu// be disseminated in our school curriculum?

42. The patriarchal ideology is still dominant and is perpetuated despite the relatively progressive laws in place to deal with gender oppression. Violence, in which working class young women are serious victims, has been used to maintain and perpetuate patriarchal power relations. Even though access to education is not based on gender, a number of young working class women are less likely to attend schools and university. Of course, this affects the entire working class since education is still a commodity. This is to say that when the black working class is not drawn into the system through NSFAS based on means test, it is mainly the male working class youth who have more access. In many instances young women do not also have a say in their own reproductive rights. They are not allowed to decide on abortion, sterilization and contraceptives partly because of certain ideological constructs embedded within capitalist patriarchal ideology based on nationalism, religious fundamentalism etc. In addition to this, young women’s right to sexual pleasure is also controlled and limited by the cultural conservatism through genital mutilation particularly in rural areas. Objectification of young women and men (but predominantly women) through beauty contests and sexist language in movies are also used to reproduce bourgeois gender stereotypes. What should be the role of the YCL in this, dealing with both bourgeois print and electronic media, including the SABC?


 * Tasks of the YCL in the ideological front**

43. In order to position the YCL to engage in ideological struggles in the current conjuncture we suggest the following:


 * Campaign on the need for teaching of dialectical and historical materialism and //ubuntu//
 * Intensify the Free Education Campaign
 * Build, enhance and deepen the Marxist-Leninist understanding of YCL cadres -therefore, political education and cadreship development should be central in our work
 * Work with and amongst the Progressive Youth Movement on the ideology of Marxism-Leninism
 * Identify state ideological apparatus for transformation. e.g. schools, higher education, SABC, community radio stations, etc
 * Identify our approach to SETAs
 * Link with working class institutions – NALEDI, Workers College, Chris Hani Institute and DITSELA
 * Recruit young organic intellectuals into the YCL and the SACP
 * Develop a YCL alternative media for youth – e.g. YCL newspaper, and working class daily paper


 * Youth and workplace struggles**

44. The YCL needs to organically link up with workers at the point of production. How should this link find concrete expression? What are the tasks of the YCL in relation to young workers and their economic organs, that is, their trade unions?


 * Youth and community struggles**

45. One of the consequential contradictions in the neo-liberal contemporary capitalism is commodification of services. How should we organize and position the YCL in this front? How should the socialist-oriented NDR find expression in the material reproduction of the working class? How do we assert the political economy of the working class in communities? What should be the role of the YCL branch in a community? What should be our role in relation to culture, sports and recreation in communities?


 * YCL and mass movements**

46. What should be the role of young communists in the mass youth movements?


 * YCL and the economy**

47. We need to reclaim the Freedom Charter. We must intensify our campaign on nationalization and socialization of the means of production. What are the tactical options to do so? Are factory and farm occupations viable in the current conjuncture?

48. How do we intensify the right to work campaign?


 * Our international tasks**

49. What are our international tasks? How do we build a communist movement in Africa?

[1] Students are further differentiated in terms of class origin, race and gender, and age. Students are not necessarily youth, but the majority of them are young.

[2] Leading force means a class which gives ideological and political direction of a movement, not in a conspiratorial manner but in terms of the orientation of a particular movement. For instance, during the French revolution, the bourgeoisie gave the ideological and political orientation of the democratic movement, and the proletariat and peasants were the main forces, not leading forces. In the Russian Revolution, the peasantry was a main force and the proletariat was a leading force. In our South African conditions the proletariat has been the leading and main social force. But in the current period the bourgeoisie is the leading force and the proletariat and the landless peasants are the main social forces.

[3] See ANC NWC Response to the SACP CC Discussion Document

[4] The ideological state apparatus refers to non-coercive state instruments such as education and the media, whilst the coercive/repressive state apparatus refers to the armed forces.