2005-11-16,+SACP,+COSATU,+and+Pres+Mbeki+on+violence

Gauteng Province 7th Floor North State Buiding, Cnr Market and Kruis, Johannesburg, 2000. P O Box 1522, Johannesburg, 2000 Tel: (011) 3339177 Fax: (011) 333-6394
 * South African Communist Party**

14 October 2005

Press Conference
= Response to the South African President =


 * As committed South African patriots, the South African Communist Party in Gauteng Province together with COSATU Gauteng Province, would like to publicly respond to the statements made by the President of the country on the weekend, in his online ANC letter to the nation, regarding violence in Khutsong community and the burning of trains in Vereeniging.**

The media is invited to a press conference at the provincial office of the South African Communist Party:

Date: 16 November, Wednesday

Time: 11pm

Venue: 7th Floor, North State Building, Cnr Kruis and Market

For Further Information Contact:

Vishwas Satgar Siphiwe Mgcina

Gauteng Secretary Gauteng Secretary

South African Communist Party Congress of South African Trade Unions

082 775 3420 082 465 8336


 * From ANC Today, Letter from the President**

= “The good and the ugly!” (part) =

…

However, when we left the inspiring precinct of the Sutherland Observatory, the town of Sutherland and the Hooglands Karoo, once again we came face to face with an ugly face of our reality that seems determined to impose itself on our country as its dominant feature.

I refer here to the sporadic criminal violence allegedly provoked by our national socio-economic challenges, which some in our country, whether consciously or not, seek to defend as justifiable “anger and frustration” provoked by supposed failures of our government.

In the days immediately preceding the commissioning of SALT, this violence found expression in the burning down of public property, such as municipal offices in Merafong Municipality in the Carletonville area, and the burning of Metrorail passenger train coaches in the Gauteng Province.

Every genuine patriot who engaged in struggle to liberate our country and people from apartheid tyranny is “angry and frustrated”, given the pervasive stubbornness of the colonial and apartheid legacy that has meant continued poverty and underdevelopment for many of our people.

Nevertheless these genuine patriots understand very well that it will take a protracted struggle to eradicate this legacy. Constantly, they remind themselves of the words of the African patriot and revolutionary from Guinea Bissau, Amilcar Cabral - tell no lies: claim no easy victories!

The genuine patriots who fought for our liberation will tell no lies to disguise the challenges we continue to face, arising from more than three centuries of white minority rule. They will make no claim that it is easy to eradicate this legacy, because they know that this would be a lie.

The genuine patriots who fought for our liberation know that it can never be their task as revolutionaries to join hands with the forces of reaction to oppose a popularly elected government that is led by their own movement.

They are determined never to take it upon themselves to advance the right wing agenda, based on the assertion that the legacy of colonialism and apartheid is a product of the acts of commission and omission of the democratic order.

The genuine patriots who fought for our liberation, who are engaged in struggle to strengthen the democratic state as a social instrument to serve the masses of the working people, know that the destruction of public property, valuable assets owned by the people, can only serve the interests of those who want to weaken the democratic state, against the interests of the people.

It is the task of our movement to mobilise the people to protect public property, which is held in trust by the state for the people. We should not allow hooliganism to pose as legitimate public protest, resulting in the destruction of social investment paid for with the people’s money and undermining the right to the free expression of views by the citizens.

We should not be diverted from this task by claims of “anger” that are regularly advanced to justify criminal behaviour. For their part, the law enforcement agencies must act firmly to enforce the law, ensuring the safety and security of all citizens and property.

SALT is yet another outstanding example showing the progress our country is making as it engages the challenge of reconstruction and development. The ugly violent activities we have seen, which have included the destruction of public property, private houses and looting, should not be allowed to sully the achievements of the democratic order born of the heroic struggles of the people.

Thabo Mbeki

From: http://www.anc.org.za/ancdocs/anctoday/2005/at45.htm#preslet