Peace The Priority

The recent articles in various newspapers, including City Press, about Cyril Ramaphosa’s possible rebirth as a political contender meant little, on the face of it. They were a transparent example of empty boosterism. What they signal is not the return of Cyril, but the demise of the Phumzile project. The reason for the ruin of Phumzile Malmbo-Ngcuka’s presidential ambitions is the lurking presence of husband Bulelani, who is now a heavy member of the grand bourgeoisie. What the grand bourgeoisie, always lethally competitive within its own ranks, must have as state leadership on behalf of its class is a non-player. This is what damns Cyril’s chances, too. Not only is he too personally embroiled in monopoly finance capitalism. He also has the fatally feared backing (according to the City Press) of the rogue bourgeois Mzi Khumalo. The other big bourgeois cannot afford to give too much power to one of their own. They would prefer a Louis Bonaparte, or else a reformist stooge, of which there are many examples in the world. Tony Blair is one. The relative neutrality of the bourgeois state is not a complete myth. Of course it is not neutral in class terms. It exists to maintain the relation of capital. As Issa Shivji has recently reminded us, in a magnificent chop-job on the modern Bentham, Hernando de Soto: Capital is not a thing, it is a relation. Thanks to Patrick Bond, Shivji’s lecture will go out from here tomorrow. The neutrality required of the state is not that between class and class. The neutrality that is required is that between bourgeois and bourgeois. State power must not be allowed to be used by one bourgeois to subordinate the rest. Such a thing would be fatal to the bourgeoisie as a whole. Hence the recent rehabilitation of Jacob Zuma in the eyes of the bourgeois media, which we may expect to proceed further during the coming collapse of the second set of charges against him, i.e. Bulelani Ngcuka’s “prima facie case” that never was. A Zuma presidency will not be a proletarian dictatorship. Nor will it be a triumph of one big bourgeois over the others. Hence, and for both these reasons, it looks more and more like the safest option. This is what the proletarian leadership has been trying to tell the stupid bourgeoisie all along. And the penny is beginning to drop, at last. The first priority of the proletariat is peace, and rightly so. Working-class activity is peaceful activity. The tripartite alliance has kept the peace, and with it the potential for the advancement of political consciousness. We have had enough experience, in South Africa, of the random violence of the irrational dogs of war. We have enough examples of war in front of us even today, such as Iraq, Palestine, and Lebanon. If you have any doubts about the necessity of peace, read the two linked accounts below of the situation in those three countries. These are bourgeois wars: bourgeois on bourgeois. They are business wars. South Africa has to avoid them at all costs. The collapse of the WTO Dohar Round has made such local Imperialist wars more likely all around the world, even to the remote “Southern Tip” of Africa. For an example of the peaceful, international way the working class does its business compare the third link, on FAWU’s campaign for the Kraft workers. This is how working-class consciousness advances. It is only possible in a peaceful world. War destroys everything. Click on these links: Nothing Good Can Come from This War, Uri Avnery, Counterpunch (1890 words) More Than 100 Iraqis Being Killed Each Day, P Cockburn, Counterpunch (2150 words) FAWU calling Kraft consumer boycott, national, international action (464 words)