SACP,+Statement+of+the+Augmented+Central+Committee

South African Communist Party, Media Release, 26 November 2006
=Statement of the Augmented Central Committee=

The Augmented CC of the SACP met in Johannesburg over the weekend of 24-26 November to review the year to prepare for a challenging 2007. The Augmented CC brought together the regular CC, provincial chairpersons, secretaries, gender coordinators, and treasurers, district secretaries, and a YCL delegation.

2006 has been a year in which the steady growth of the party has been maintained and accelerated. In November 2005 party membership stood at 36,357. Today it stands at 50,076. This growth of party membership is directly related to many other realities.

2006 has been a year in which the gridlock on open policy debate, and comradely review and critical assessment has finally been broken. We believe that the SACP CC discussion document released in February this year helped to open up a broad SACP, intra-Alliance and public debate about the achievements, challenges and failures of our post-1994 period.

Many of the themes taken up by the SACP in our discussion document and in many preceding interventions of the past period are now more and more in the mainstream. The criticism of the moral ravages of a capitalist system, with deeply entrenched colonial features, on our country, our state and our movement, has now been raised at the highest level.

The weaknesses and dangers of narrow BEE and other forms of elite empowerment, de-linked from transformation for the majority, are now common cause amongst a wide spectrum of South African public opinion.

Wholesale privatization of key public and state-owned assets is no longer the flavour of the year, although regrettably this shift in policy has not come soon enough to prevent terrible damage done to key public assets like Telkom, or to the morale of many public sector workers, including teachers and health-workers.

We welcome signs of a greater seriousness in government in dealing with the HIV/AIDS epidemic, and to a perspective that understands that the challenges of our society cannot be met bureaucratically, top-down, by government alone without the active participation of millions of ordinary South Africans, not least those directly affected by the challenges confronting us.

We welcome the impact that the SACP’s Red October campaigns have had on many fronts. The National Credit Act, passed in parliament this year, is a direct outcome of our Financial Sector Campaign, as is government’s promise to consider abolishing compound interest on mortgage bonds for low cost housing. We also welcome government’s consideration of some kind of amnesty for the indebted poor. In welcoming this, we reiterate the SACP’s clear position – we call for a one-off amnesty.

We welcome the Minister of Social Development’s recent comments sympathetic to a reconsideration of a Basic Income Grant. The affordability of such a grant needs to be considered against a broader question – can our democracy be indefinitely sustained in a country in which half the population is living in poverty and the level of unemployment is around 40%. A BIG would also avoid the many problems of corruption that are besetting our present means-tested and limited social security net.

Two years ago, the SACP launched a Know Your Neighborhood Campaign. We welcome the fact that the ANC has now taken this up as the centre-point of its Imvuselelo organizational revitalization drive. We call on all SACP members to demonstrate their usual activism and dedication in taking forward this critical ANC campaign focused on door-to-door work, building sustainable livelihoods around effective local Integrated Development Plans.

We welcome also the fact that the plight of millions of South Africans who are public transport commuters now enjoys widespread attention and concern. The crisis of public transport is something that the SACP has fore grounded in this year’s Red October campaign.

In the midst of many prevailing negative realities and challenges, the broad left shift in public debate and discussion is apparent in many other areas, some seemingly paradoxical. Earlier this month, the SACP was invited to speak at the NAFCOC national conference, under the theme of this conference “GEAR, ASGISA or Socialism?” This does not mean that NAFCOC has become a socialist organization, but it is another indicator that 12 years of economic “modernization”, globalization, of elite BEE and of mainstream capitalist growth has brought little or nothing to millions of small business-people, petty commodity producers, and township based services who find themselves in a worse situation than ever before. The SACP will continue to work actively among the millions of traders, hawkers, taxi operators and cooperatives. A socialist-oriented national democratic revolution is the only hope for sustainable livelihoods for the entrepreneurial efforts of the so-called “second economy”

There are other indicators of the same broad shift which the CC noted. Among these is the remarkable, grassroots popular response of small town in Mpumalanga and KZN along the route of the return of Cde Moses Mabhida’s body to his Pietermaritzburg home. The SACP salutes the living memory of our former general secretary and ANC and SACTU stalwart.

Notwithstanding many positives the SACP also noted many problems that have arisen in the course of the year. Government’s principled commitment to building cooperatives is not matched in practice by clear policies and programmes. The advances made in our Financial Sector Campaign are, at present, compromised by the tendency for the big deals agreed upon at the Financial Sector Summit to be implemented to the detriment of the agreements that will bring about serious transformation for the poor.

The coming year will be a year of the SACP’s 12th National Congress in July, but also of the ANC’s policy conference in June, and its December National Conference. Policy development will be a key priority. What we have learnt from our own experience over the last few years is that policy transformation can only happen if it is backed by active popular campaigning and consultation.

In 2007 the SACP will take forward its existing campaigns, seeking to unite them around local integrated planning. The broad theme of our campaigning work will building working class power to implement a Freedom Charter vision.

In recognition of the leftward shift of politics and social development the Central Committee discussed the outcome of COSATU congress and expressed appreciation that workers took important resolutions some affirming this left ward shift.

The CC met with the representatives of POLISARIO and discussed the grave political developments in Western Sahara and condemned the atrocious activities perpetuated by the Moroccan government. We call on the United Nations to expand its mandate in the SAHARAWE Republic to include investigations on human rights abuse and atrocities committed by the Moroccan government on the people of Western Sahara, and further call on the SA government to play a meaningful role to affirm the independence of the SAHARAWE people and work towards a lasting solution.

The CC met and discussed with the representatives of the Free Burma campaign about the oppressive military regime in Burma and called for the intervention of the international community through the United Nations. We express our solidarity with the people of Burma and in particular Comrade Aung San Suu Kyi who continues to face severe restriction and constant imprisonment.

We further call on the US government to release the Five Cuban heroes who are unjustly languishing in American jail for fighting terrorism directed against Cuba. The US regime has transversed international law and even its own institutions of justice preventing their release and blinded by their obsession to throttle Cuba and its successful Socialist system. We further call on our government to strengthen its economic and trade co-operation with Cuba including strengthening the successful medical training and exchange programme. The continued US aggression against sovereign states and reckless militarism does not accord the US the moral authority to fight against terrorism and has instead increased new form of unilateral US state terrorism.

The CC discussed the growing levels of women and children abuse and reaffirmed its believe that it’s the poor who are most affected. This is a reflection of deep-rooted problems of skewed development and an entrenched patriarchal system which we must fight against. The SACP affirms its principle on gender equality, respect for women and children and opposition to all forms of violence and abuse perpetrated against any one, and women and children in particular. Against this background the CC resolved to build a strong Progressive Woman’s Movement and strengthen our campaign to eradicate the abuse of women and children. We will engage the South African society behind this campaign even beyond the 16 Days.


 * Issued by the SACP.**

For information Contact:

SACP Spokesperson Tel: 011 339 3621 Fax ; 011 339 4244 e-mail: **Malesela@sacp.org.za**
 * Malesela Maleka**

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