Proud Communists

Although there has been no proper communication from the branch office bearers, it appears that there will be a Branch General Meeting of the SACP Johannesburg Central Branch today at 10h00 in the usual venue, which is SATAWU offices, 13th floor, Old Mutual Building, 29 Kerk Street, between Loveday and Harrison Streets, Johannesburg. The scheduled date was last Sunday, July 16th, being the third Sunday of the month, and comrades (including our veteran and CC member Esther Barsel) did turn up at the appointed time and waited. However, the SACP Gauteng Provincial Council (PC) was held on that day. One of the main items on the agenda for today is a report-back of the dramatic events of that PC, and its subsequent repercussions. SACP branch member, founder member of the Communist University, and previous Johannesburg District Chairperson Zico Tamela was elected Provincial Chairperson at the July 16th PC last; but it now appears that SACP Gauteng Provincial Secretary Vishwas Satgar is disputing Cde Zico’s election. And there are other particulars that may be best left for the branch to hear directly, only because all the details are not yet clear. The first of the further two main items on the branch agenda for today (which the CU only received quite late last night) is the report back from the recent SACP Johannesburg District Congress, which among other things took a position on the “State Power” debate initiated by the SACP’s discussion document, which itself was partly a consequence of Johannesburg Central’s resolution to the SACP Special National Congress in April 2005. So this matter is of great interest and importance to the branch. The other main item is to be a presentation on the lessons to be drawn from the recent SATAWU security guards strike, another matter of great significance and importance. The SACP is not a clandestine party. It has forced itself into a position of legality following a forty-year period of persecution (1950 to 1990). It is not to be separated from the masses and it has no secrets from the masses. Let nobody, whether from inside or from outside the party, tell Communists that their deliberations are to be kept hidden as if they are once again forbidden. The Communist University is under pressure to divorce itself from its historic mother body, the Johannesburg Central Branch of the SACP. It will never do that. It would rather meet under a tree than go back to the dark days of pretence and disguise that illegality and persecution forced upon the Communists in the days of National Party rule in this country. The Communist University is open to all and has wide support. Let it continue to take its place honourably among others without special restrictions or special pleading. It must defy restrictions. It must not apologise for its existence. Friday’s ANC Today contains, after ANC President Thabo Mbeki’s weekly letter, a long anonymous article entitled “Our 21st century Marxists declare war on black capitalists”. It will not be archived by the Communist University. The issue of anonymous articles in publications of the ANC, which are partisan in an open national debate is a scandal. The leadership of the ANC has no business to issue anonymous articles at all. Such statements should be in the name of a structure, which duly and constitutionally adopted them, or by named officers in their official capacity, or by named individuals as individuals. An anonymous “line” sent down from above with no attribution is a shocking violation of everything the ANC should stand for. Comrade Eddie Webster (of SWOP, CHI and HSRC) objected to yesterday’s post. Everything possible will be done to provide him with a remedy. Best of all will be for him to have the most prominent right of reply that can be arranged. In all other respects: “We stand by our story!” There are no links today. The Israeli colonialists continue to “degrade” (destroy) Lebanon and to kill people there and in Gaza. The press is full of lies about it. There is no end to this war other than the destruction of colonialism and the institution of one-person-one-vote in a unitary state of Palestine.