2005-11-29,+Statement+of+SACP+Augmented+CC,+Nov+25+to+27,+2005

= **Statement of the SACP Augmented Central Committee, Johannesburg 25-27 November** =

The Central Committee of the SACP met in Johannesburg over the weekend of 25-27 November. The regular CC was augmented by the presence of provincial treasurers, organizers and gender coordinators, and by district secretaries. The Young Communist League, various sectoral units of the Party, and alliance partners were also present. The CC discussed the political report of the secretariat, analyzing the major features and challenges of the current period.

The CC agreed that the tensions that have impacted upon the ANC and its alliance partners around the situation of ANC deputy president, cde Jacob Zuma, are symptomatic of systemic problems that require a comprehensive response. The SACP and its alliance partners need to ensure that we respond in a unified, determined and responsible manner to these challenges.

The SACP’s approach to the situation of cde Zuma continues to be informed by the position we adopted at our previous CC in August. At that CC, the SACP endorsed the resolutions of the ANC’s National General Council that reaffirmed cde Zuma’s position as deputy president of the ANC, and committed the ANC to support for him through the difficult period he is facing. This support was never understood by the SACP to be support for a presidential succession campaign. Nor have we ever understood this support to be factional, or to be directed against any other grouping within the alliance.

The CC reaffirmed that we will continue to offer principled support to the ANC’s deputy president. This support will be carried forward within the discipline of our organization and it will continue to be coordinated by the constitutional structures of our alliance. The CC encouraged those who so wish to contribute to the Friends of Jacob Zuma Trust Fund.

The CC also reaffirmed the decisions of the last alliance 10-a-side that agreed that perceptions of a conspiracy against cde Zuma were widespread. We agreed at that 10-a-side that we needed jointly to discuss, assess and remedy the causes for such perceptions.

Among such causes is reckless and factionalist rumour-mongering. The SACP warns strongly against the grave dangers to our movement and our country of such reckless actions that poison the air and make it extremely difficult to address the real issues. In this respect, the CC firmly rejects a report in today’s Sunday Times that CC member, cde Ronnie Kasrils, had been “hauled before” the CC and “made to answer” for his actions as Minister of Intelligence. Cde Kasrils did indeed address the meeting in his capacity as an elected member of the CC. The CC did not ask for, nor did it receive a briefing on any operational or other confidential work of the Department of Intelligence or NIA. Cde Kasrils did, however, brief the CC on the approach of his department and of government in general to ensuring professional, non-partisan and effective intelligence services. The CC welcomed the input by cde Kasrils, indeed he was applauded. The CC noted that in many international cases where elements within the security organs of state placed themselves above the law, it has invariably been the left, progressive and trade union formations that have been among the first victims.

However, perceptions of conspiracy are not just rooted in irresponsible and factional rumour-mongering. There is also a widespread concern that there is an uneven handling of corruption cases, and that some are immune to prosecution. Corruption is one of the most serious threats to our new democracy. It must be dealt with fearlessly and across the board. Corruption is directly linked to the class agenda of key sectors of capital, it is the means for fragmenting and undermining our attempts to build a people-friendly and progressive national democratic state.

There have also been certain acts of omission and commission in the handling of cde Zuma’s specific case by some within the state organs. The Public Protector and the Hefer Commission have drawn attention to and criticized some of these acts on the part of the NPA. These matters have still not been adequately investigated and remedied and action must be taken to ensure that this is resolved. While respecting the independence and the constitutional responsibilities of all organs of state, it is absolutely imperative that no individual or collective within the state acts above the law. It is the responsibility of all South African citizens (the ultimate guardians of our constitution) and of popular formations to remain vigilant in this regard.

**The state and capitalist accumulation**
As part of the SACP’s project to promote discussion around an in-depth analysis of the post-1994 South African state, the CC engaged with a discussion document on this topic. The CC agreed that much of the recent turmoil within our movement is, in fact, symptomatic of the deepening crisis of a particular class project to shape the post-1994 state. In the CC’s view, this project has sought to consolidate a powerful presidential state whose objective has been to restore South African capitalism to growth on the mistaken assumption that only capitalist growth can generate the resources required for redistribution to address the crisis of poverty and under-development in our country.

While some success has been achieved in consolidating capitalist profitability, this restored accumulation path has not ameliorated the crisis of underdevelopment, it has actively deepened it. This state-driven project has also sought to manage the ANC and its movement in a largely centralized and technocratic manner, eroding collective leadership, internal organizational democracy, and traditions of activism and popular mobilization.

The SACP is encouraged that the National General Council of the ANC and subsequent intra-Alliance engagements have demonstrated that our concerns in this respect are increasingly shared by a growing number of comrades in our movement.

**Gautrain**
The CC considered the proposed Gautrain rapid rail project. We believe it is one of several examples of state-led projects whose logic and impact will be to enrich established and emerging capital while effectively entrenching and even deepening the gap between the so-called “first” and “second” economies. The CC calls on government to halt the Gautrain - projected to cost the national fiscus more than R20 billion in the construction phase alone. We call on government to devote resources and energy to address, instead, the plight of millions of daily commuters in under-funded and often ageing and dangerous minibuses, buses and Metrorail trains. This is the priority. The CC also expressed its support for the campaign for safe, affordable and accessible public transport taken up by the SACP and COSATU in Gauteng.

**Review of 2005 – the year of the SACP cadre**
The CC reviewed the SACP’s activities over the past year. The CC noted with approval that membership has grown very rapidly in the past 7 months, with some 6000 new members recruited, bringing our national membership to 36,357.

This growth is the direct result of our activism on the ground in our campaigns around hunger, land, cooperatives, and for the transformation of the financial sector. In Merafong on the West Rand, to cite one notable example, SACP cadres and structures have been able to provide leadership in an explosive situation in which there was a leadership vacuum. This localized leadership has emerged organically out of intensive door-to-door work by our structures in the context of our alliance Know Your Neighbourhood Campaign.

The CC salutes the disciplined organizational work by our structures in Merafong, and we call on government to listen to the voice of a community that overwhelmingly wishes to remain in Gauteng province.

**Local government elections**
The CC received reports on SACP and alliance work in preparation for next year’s March 1 local government elections. The SACP structures and activists will be working flat out to ensure an overwhelming ANC victory around a progressive election manifesto with which we are at present engaged. The reports received by the CC demonstrate good alliance cooperation at the national level and in many provinces.

However, in the case of some provinces, and notably the Western Cape and North West, the CC expressed concern at a pattern of deliberate marginalisation of the SACP and COSATU in election work. The SACP has already taken up these concerns at a national level with the ANC. The Party’s commitment to an ANC election victory should not be abused or simply taken for granted.

**COSATU’s 20th Anniversary**
The CC sends its warm and comradely greetings to COSATU on the occasion of its 20th anniversary. For the SACP this is also a moment of celebrating two decades of a rich, comradely alliance between our two formations. Together we have taken up the battle against an economic system based on exploitation of the majority and private profits for the few. Together we have opposed privatization. Together we have sought to high-light the job-loss blood-bath that has engulfed our country over the past decade. Together we have endeavoured to find programmes to address joblessness, casualisation and underdevelopment. Together we have committed ourselves to making the second decade a decade of workers and the poor.

**16 days of activism against violence against women and children**
The CC received an extensive report from our Gender Commission and decided to intensify our programmes on gender equity, including by involving more men in these activities.

The SACP believes that we must work with our allies and other formations to build a progressive women’s movement in our country. This is an absolutely central requirement in the struggle to overcome the crisis of underdevelopment.

The CC fully endorses the “16 days of activism against violence against women and children”, and urges our members to participate actively in the programme.

**Forward to 2006**
This is our last CC for 2005. It is a year in which our slogan – “Communist cadres to the front” – has been actively implemented in numerous localities and across a wide front of struggles. The year 2006 will be a critical year for our entire liberation movement. In many respects we are at a cross-roads. The democratic breakthrough of 1994 can be irretrievably compromised and betrayed by a downward spiral of factionalism, rumour-mongering and careerism, all fuelled by capitalist values of individualism and personal enrichment. Or, we can emerge strengthened from the present turmoil with a clear, mass-based line of march. The SACP is convinced that the latter is the route that we shall collectively embrace. In line with this conviction, the CC has resolved on a programme of action for 2006 under the slogan: “Communist cadres to the front – for people-centred local development”

Issued by the SACP


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Kaizer Mohau

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South African Communist Party (SACP)

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