Ways Of Dialogue

Yesterday’s post was headed “Morogoro Not Forgotten”. Unfortunately the wrong link was given to the 1969 ANC Strategy and Tactics document, passed at the Morogoro Conference. Thanks to Riaz Tayob for pointing it out. This classic document, whose name was on the lips of the liberation through the worst times, must be saved from revisionism. The SACP Yusuf Dadoo District will be holding a Rally to launch the Red October Campaign in the West Rand on Saturday, 14 October 2006 at 10h00 at Khutsong Stadium, in Merafong. The rally will be addressed by the SACP General Secretary, Dr Blade Nzimande. Long live the brave people of Merafong. Linked below is the statement issued by COSATU on the meeting between GS Zwelinzima Vavi and Reserve Bank Governor Tito Mboweni. Substantial matters were agreed upon including the need for an industrial strategy in general, which is COSATU policy in terms of the resolutions of the recent 9th Congress. The GS and the Governor agreed on the priority of employment and of preserving employment in a planned way, and not just in the clothing industry. They achieved a lot in one meeting. ANC President Thabo Mbeki “threw his toys out of his cot” at the ANC NEC meeting last weekend. He tried to scapegoat SACP GS Dr Blade Nzimande, this time round, for problems the President has brought upon himself, as usual. The YCL came out early with a statement of support for Cde Nzimande. By now a total of six SACP Provinces have also made statements of support. Gauteng Province has not done so. Unfortunately the SACP Gauteng Provincial Office has for years been incapable of sending even a simple e-mail. The good news is that the SACP Gauteng Provincial Council met last Sunday and has begun the job of cleaning up the stables. Moshoeshoe Monare works in the ridiculous so-called “Political Bureau” of Independent newspaper. His job is to try to make as big a mess as he can, wherever he can. Hence he is already trying to split the South African Communist Party even though its next Congress is not scheduled until July 2007. His article is long and tedious. If you are short of time just look at the last few paragraphs to see what he is up to. Bill Johnson does a good job of humanising ANC Deputy President Jacob Zuma for the owning classes. He even suggests that Zuma could be a “safe pair of hands” for the bourgeoisie. This was on the main features page of the Business Day, opposite the editorial. The ruling class may turn to Zuma any day now and say, after all, “You are not our problem, you are our solution”. At that point Thabo Mbeki will not just be a lame duck, he will be a dead duck politically speaking. The Business Day’s Karima Brown links the question of the conspicuous extravagance of leadership such as Paul Mashatile to the question of electoral reform towards constituency-based elections, as recommended by a resolution passed at the the COSATU Congress. It’s nice to know that there are good journalists who do read the resolutions, unlike the Independent’s pretend “political bureau”, whose output belongs more on the gossip pages. Do they know what news means? Real news can make the hair stand up on the back of your neck. There are still plenty of people around who were watching live when Tommie Smith and John Carlos made the famous black power salute on the podium at the Mexico Olympic Games thirty-eight years ago. That was news. The third man was Peter Norman, who has now sadly passed away. What a story that was. Read it by clicking the link below. Ship-loads of caviar can never buy as much honour as belonged to a single ant in the Mexico grass on that day in 1968. It is a legacy you can accept, or throw away. Cheap gossips need not apply. Click on these links: COSATU GS Z Vavi on meeting Reserve Bank Governor Mboweni (666 words) Messages of support for SACP GS Blade Nzimande (2184 words) Operation red flag, Moshoeshoe Monare, The Star (1279 words) All eyes on the man from Inkandla, Bill Johnson, Business Day (1961 words) Caviar comrades, electoral reform, Karima Brown, Business Day (782 words) Peter Norman, Brother of the Fist, Dave Zirin, Counterpunch (878 words)