Revolutionary Tasks and Unity in Action

Umsebenzi Online as always is an indispensible read. The one that came out yesterday (see link) addresses the present conjuncture and the tasks of the COSATU 9th Congress, throwing aside the diversionary obscurantism of the bourgeois media on the way. “In a historic show of unity on a single industry issue, the leaders of the three federations pledged to mobilise their members in support of the agreement,” says the second linked document. This joint statement issued yesterday by the three trade union federations, COSATU, FEDUSA and NACTU in support of the bilateral trade deal between South Africa and the People’s Republic of China is a rare one, but shows that organisational working-class unity is always possible, especially on a clear class issue like a question of trade and/or unemployment. COSATU GS Zwelinzima Vavi spoke for masses of people yesterday when he said that he thought the shooting in Meadowlands, the night before the new Zuma trial, of the Gauteng Chairperson of the Friends of Jacob Zuma Trust, Zobaphi Sithole was a “hit” (an assassination). This is the second or possibly third such murder of friends (in general) of Jacob Zuma, and it shows the ruthlessness of the class enemy. Allister Sparks in the Star yesterday conjured up a vision of revolutionary terror (not archived). He wrote of “…a chain reaction of intra-revolutionary revolutions - from the Girondins to the Montagnards to Robespierre and the guillotine; from the Mensheviks to the Bolsheviks to Stalin and the terror, before it finally produces a thermidorian reaction; from Khrushchev to Gorbachev - and a gradual return to normality. But by then, many people have died, economies have collapsed and rebuilding is a long, hard haul.” Sparks should return to the reporting standards of his famous youthful exploits in the Transkei and ask himself: Who is actually eliminating who? His liberal vision of attenuted, safe revolution is not available. It is not the revolutionaries but the status quo that delivers violence. In another report (not archived) Cde Vavi said "It is clear to anyone inside that court that the ship is sinking," and "The facts and lies don't mix." A report on News24 is headlined “Zuma trial stalls in legal mire”. The time is coming when the state’s ship will have gone under entirely. Let us hope the judge is going to stop the trial. it is becoming absurd as well as dangerous. COSATU’s Western Cape provincial structure sends an unequivocal message of support. See the full linked text by clicking below. POPCRU will be marching in Pretoria on Friday, in one of many industrial actions which are still continuing. See the link. Last but not least, Communist University reader, Gunnett Kaaf, had a letter published yesterday concerning O.R. Tambo International Airport. Read the full thing by clicking on the links. Click on these links: Umsebenzi Online, 6 September 2006, Tasks of the 9th COSATU Congress (2435 words) Joint Trade Unions support China deal, COSATU Media Release (686 words) Chairman of Friends of JZ Trust dies after being shot, Mercury (394 words) COSATU Western Cape statement on leadership issues in COSATU (375 words) POPCRU marches to the Department of Transport 8 September 2006 (265 words) Just commend without blaming, Gunnett Kaaf, Letters, B Day (268 words)