Zuma, Gays, Oppression and Freedom

Today at 10h00 the Gauteng Red October Transport Campaign will be launched at UCS Building, corner Rissik and Smit Streets, Braamfontein, led by the SACP Gauteng Province. The national launch will take place in Qwa Qwa. There will be a Branch General Meeting (BGM) of the SACP Johannesburg Central Branch at 10h00 tomorrow, Sunday, at the SATAWU offices, 13th floor, Old Mutual Building, 29 Kerk Street, between Loveday and Harrison Streets, Johannesburg. Matters before us include the consequences of the COSATU 9th Congress, the upcoming YCL National Congress in December, and the next SACP Gauteng Provincial Council. Debate around the COSATU Congress at the Communist University yesterday was lively and revealed big challenges that require critical thought, determination, leadership and prompt action at scale. On Monday at 16h00 at WISER, 6th floor, Richard Ward Building, Wits University East Campus, Raymond Suttner will present a review of the ANC’s history since unbanning in 1990, or some similarly defined review of post-apartheid politics. Suttner’s paper is already out, but the Communist University does not yet have it. This could be a controversial discussion, and worth taking part in for that reason. The next Harold Wolpe event, on the other hand, is set to be a love-in between two politically identical people (Ferial Haffejee and Mondli Makhanya), and therefore of no educational use. Communists support people in their struggles against persecution, without applying sectarian tests to the victims. Dreyfus was not a Communist. Nor is Malcolm Kendall-Smith. It is a question of unity in action against the oppressor. In this regard the great words of Pastor Niemöller often come to mind: 'First they came for the Communists, but I was not a Communist, so I said nothing. Then they came for the Social Democrats, but I was not a Social Democrat, so I did nothing. Then came the trade unionists, but I was not a trade unionist. And then they came for the Jews, but I was not a Jew, so I did little. Then when they came for me, there was no one left to stand up for me.' The SACP and COSATU supported Jacob Zuma in his struggles against victimisation by the Maduna/Ngcuka clique, who were using law enforcement agencies as a political tool, thereby degrading the legal system as well as threatening a de facto coup d’etat. As part of his contribution to this unity in action, Zuma volunteered publicly, without being forced, that when he was through he would reveal the details of the plot against him. Ten days ago his case was struck off the roll by Judge Msimang in Pietermaritzburg. What is Zuma waiting for? At a press conference he called on the Friday following his court victory, Zuma was asked the question repeatedly: Who plotted against you? He declined to answer. Instead, later the same weekend, he started some nonsense (of which we do not have the full text) against gay and lesbian people, only to apologise later (see the link below, plus for good measure, Oscar Wilde’s “Soul of Man Under Socialism”). If Jacob Zuma does not speak out in the way he undertook to do, then he has broken a promise, and so it is reasonable to ask: Why? It becomes reasonable to ask: Has Jacob Zuma been bought off by the same coalition of forces that orchestrated his persecution for the last six years? Or is he merely reverting to political type? Nobody should be surprised if the latter is the case. Jacob Zuma is not the Deputy President of the African National Congress for nothing, as his speech to the COSATU 9th Congress demonstrated. This situation confirms the correctness of the longstanding policy of independence and autonomy of the SACP and COSATU. It adds strength to the call for independent SACP Members of Parliament. But it does not take one atom away from the correctness of defending the oppressed, even in spite of themselves. Next week’s Communist University will discuss James Heartfield’s “Death of the Subject Explained”. Below is a link to the brief concluding chapter from the work. The following week we will discuss Peter McLaren’s and Gustavo Fischman’s essay on Gramsci, Freire and Organic Intellectuals, which may well give us clues as to how to deal with the current situation within the organised working class and beyond in South Africa. The SACP Gauteng Arts and Culture Newsletter is also linked below. The page numbering is not working properly. Apologies for that. Today’s Business Day Weekender contains some discussable material, if you can get it. More on that possibly tomorrow. Click on these links: On remarks made about gays and lesbians, Jacob Zuma (281 words) 1891, Wilde, The Soul of Man Under Socialism (14381 words) Conclusion - The Subjective Factor, Heartfield, DOSE, 2002 (617 words) SACP Arts and Culture Newsletter - Sep06 (download)