Morogoro Not Forgotten

COSATU discussed the question of more effective solidarity between industrial unions at its 9th Congress in September. One result has been the meeting held yesterday between representatives of 10 COSATU-affiliated unions. See the linked document for details of the specific priority actions identified by the meeting. This document is placed first because it represents COSATU initiative. COSATU’s response to the ANC President, Thabo Mbeki’s remarks directed personally at SACP GS Blade Nzimande is principled and correct. See the linked document below. Among other things it quotes the Ekurhuleni Declaration of April 2002. In his already notorious “Notes for Political Overview”, Mbeki had written of “Blade Nzimande’s extraordinary arrogance which leads him openly to despise our movement, the 2002 Constitution of the SACP lays down an approach towards fraternal organisations whose spirit and intent Nzimande does not respect.” These ugly comments were leaked to the media during the NEC meeting. As COSATU’s statement points out, these notes of Mbeki’s, which are five pages consisting mostly of copy-and-paste quotes from various documents and speeches, were only later issued in hard copy and the Communist University has no time to transcribe them. Three points will have to suffice for now. The current SACP Constitution is the one passed at the 2005 (not 2002) Special National Congress. But this is not material. The clause quoted by Mbeki (which is one that the CU has often drawn attention to) has not changed. It says: “6.4 Members active in fraternal organisations or in any sector of the mass movement have a duty to set an example of loyalty, hard work and zeal in the performance of their duties and shall be bound by the discipline and decisions of such organisations and movement. They shall not create or participate in SACP caucuses within such organisations and movements designed to influence either elections or policies. The advocacy of SACP policy on any question relating to the internal affairs of any such organisations or movements shall be by open public statements or at joint meetings between representatives of the SACP and such organisations or movements.” Mbeki’s idea of the spirit and intent of this famous clause is revealing only of his own state of mind, because the meaning of the words is clear. Open public statements are what Mbeki is complaining about, such as Cde Blade’s speech to the COSATU 9th Congress and to the earlier SADTU Congress, and open public statements are what the SACP expects from its General Secretary. It seems that Mbeki wants to take possession of the SACP Constitution and give orders to the SACP, but the SACP is an independent organisation. Mbeki is not an SACP member and so holds no position in the SACP. Allies cannot order each other around. The second point is the quotation from Cde Nzimande’s speech to the SADTU Congress, with which the Communist University and its supporters are surely bound to heartily agree with. Why would the ANC President expect the SACP to have any other position than this? “People’s education must also include a SADTU-led campaign focusing on curriculum transformation and development in line with the developmental objectives of our country. The SACP is strongly of the view that amongst other things, it is now time that we demand the teaching of historical and dialectical materialism in our schools. The working class did not struggle for political liberation only for its children to be fed with capitalist propaganda daily at school. It is a shame that much as South Africa was liberated by a movement whose strategy and tactics was informed by this philosophical outlook, only capitalist ideology is taught in our schools. The SACP is committed to work together with SADTU to achieve this objective, and teacher development must include the training of our educators to be able to teach relevant modules on historical and dialectical materialism.” Thirdly, ANC President Mbeki quotes, again from the SACP constitution, the following sentence lifted out of a clause which we shall afterwards here quote in full: “The main aim of the unfolding national democratic revolution is to complete the national liberation of the African people in particular and black people in general, to ensure the destruction of the legacy of white supremacy, and the strengthening of democracy in every sphere of life.” Mbeki’s selective quotation is designed to give the wrong impression that this is the high point of communist aspiration. But the full clause is: “4.2 To organise, educate and lead the working class in the struggle for socialism and the more immediate objectives of defending and deepening the national democratic revolution and of achieving national and social emancipation. The main aim of the unfolding national democratic revolution is to complete the national liberation of the African people in particular and black people in general, to ensure the destruction of the legacy of white supremacy, and the strengthening of democracy in every sphere of life. By participating in this revolution, the SACP aims to eradicate patriarchal relations, weaken and ultimately destroy the economic and political power of the capitalist class through struggle for working class hegemony over society, in particular the ownership and control of the economy and the achievement of one united state of people's power. In this state, working class interests will be dominant and the economic conditions will be created which make it possible to move towards social emancipation and, eventually, the total abolition of the exploitation of person by person in both public and private spheres of life.” This clause describes the uninterrupted movement through the NDR to the dictatorship of the proletariat annd then to communism as envisaged in Joe Slovo’s 1988 “South African Working Class and the NDR”and other SACP documents down the years. It appears that the ANC President is trying to push through a complete reversal of the famour Strategy and Tactics of the ANC passed in 1969 at Morogoro, as well as to bury the 1979 Green Book in whose formation he took part, but which he does not personally own. People wishing to study more of these documents can find plenty linked from the SACP State Power discussion document page on our web site. See below for unequivocal statements of support for SACP GS Dr Blade Nzimande, who is already today under attack in the bourgeois media thanks to ANC President Mbeki’s irrational, misleading and bad-tempered outburst. These statements are from the SACP in KZN and from the YCL. Let us hope that other statements and demonstrations of support are now forthcoming. Click on these links: Solidarity with striking workers, COSATU Media Statement (419 words) On remarks of ANC President concerning SACP GS, COSATU (681 words) Statement of the ANC NEC, ANC Press Release (1109 words) South African Communist Party KZN statement on ANC NEC (270 words) YCL Statement on ANC personal attack on SACP GS, YCLSA (868 words)