SACP+GS+to+COSATU+General+Strike,+18+May+2006

18 May 2006
=SPEAKERS NOTES OF THE SACP GENERAL SECRETARY TO COSATU General Strike=

1. SACP wishes to state its full support for today’s General Strike and communists are actively participating in all the marches taking place in various parts of the country.

2. The SACP regards unemployment and poverty (and HIV/AIDS, which is complicated by these) as two of the most serious problems facing our country, and indeed are revolution

3. The dominance of US-led imperialism, coupled with our own domestic economic policies have brought huge profits and other benefits to South African capitalism. Since the democratic breakthrough of 1994, average levels of productivity have risen significantly

4. Yet, South African capitalism is not reinvesting these profits back onto our economy to create jobs and fight poverty. Instead we are seeing retrenchments, casualisation, persistence of racial inequalities and racism, including the apartheid wage gap and generally intensified exploitation of the working class

5. Our government will have to accept the fact that our economic policies, especially since 1996 have largely benefited the capitalist class but with a declining share of GDP accruing to workers

6. We also notice the growing arrogance of a spoilt capitalist class and its management, as shown by intransigence of many sectors to address and meaningfully engage with the workers

7. The SACP would especially like to single out the employers in the security industry as representing some of the most backward labour practices, seeking to divide the workers by striking a deal with sweetheart unions representing minority of workers

8. Much as we condemn the violence that has been associated with the SATAWU strike, the blame must however be placed squarely on the backward, apartheid type labour practices of the security industry. Their behaviour is provocative in the extreme, showing the extent to which this industry has become the new refuge of some of the former apartheid police, intelligence and army generals. We say to these employers seek a solution with SATAWU as a matter of urgency!

9. The reasons for this must be clear to all, that the current economic path the country has taken is unable to resolve the major problems facing the working class. And most importantly CAPITALISM IS INCAPABLE OF RESOLVING THE PROBLEMS FACING OUR COUNTRY

10. This strike action is important in highlighting the extent to which our economic policies of pursuing restoration of capitalist profitability as a basis for creating jobs and fight poverty are inappropriate

11. This action is also important in building the capacity of South Africa’s working class to lead a different economic trajectory. As we have said before, just the as the working class was the main motive force in the struggle to defeat apartheid, it is the working class that should be at the head of the struggle to transform the current accumulation regime in our country

12. One of the biggest dangers facing our revolution is that of combining public service with private accumulation interests. All our leadership are also targeted by capitalism, tempted with shares in an attempt to compromise our revolution. This is a danger that faces all of us. Working class mobilisation is also important to safeguard the values of our national liberation movement; service to the people without expectation of personal gain

13. We are also nowadays told, even by some within our movement, that the biggest problem in South Africa is that there is too much distance between the political class and the economic class. In other words, the merging of the political elite with private capital is presented as a key task of the national democratic revolution

14. The task of the working class is to disrupt the emerging alliance between some of our cadres in the state and private capitalist interests. The biggest threat to our national democratic revolution is that ‘money’ will triumph over the people’s will. Building working class power is essential in order to invert this phenomenon, by ensuring that the people’s will triumphs over ‘money’. It is the task of the working class to build its power to ensure that public service is separated from private capital accumulation.

15. The SACP also supports the fact that this strike is also about the unequal global relations between developed and developing countries, the unjust regime of the WTO

16. As usual, our detractors will seek to ridicule and delegitimise this COSATU action. They will tell us that ‘strikes do not create’ jobs and that ‘a general strike is a political strike’. Indeed a general strike is a political strike, precisely because it seeks to point out that the task of transforming the current accumulation regime is of fundamental importance in consolidating and deepening our national democratic revolution. Without such transformation the very advance of the national democratic revolution is at stake.

17. As the SACP we say Qina Cosatu, forward to quality jobs for all, forward to socialism!


 * Issued by:**
 * Blade Nzimande**
 * SACP General Secretary**


 * For Information Contact:**
 * Malesela Maleka – SACP Spokesperson**
 * 082 226 1802**

832 words