Revolutionary greetings all, I’ve in the past tried (hopefully not in vain) putting my standpoint across, not that it will make any difference at any rate, regarding the South African Communist Party (SACP) - it is just a storm in a tea-cup. Like Nelson Mandela's blinkered "Long Walk To Free(dom), an email hereunder by the honourable gentleman from the SACP is nothing less than a myopic attempt at obfuscation in so much as there is nothing South African neither communist nor party about his South African Communist Party. Let me get straight to issues less this turns into an unnecessary political rigmarole and marrowless epistle. I’ll be very laconic: The Communist Party of South Africa (CPSA) the forerunner to the SACP which was founded at the 1921 Communist Third International had as its main appeal “workers of the world unite to keep South Africa white.” In 1928 they (SACP) vehemently opposed a call by the Communist Third International for the establishment of a Black led republic in South Africa as they were not prepared to be governed by the natives.
Too much of being communists anyway that his SACP is currently pursuing a capitalist programme designed to protect settler interests under the ANC-led government, the Blade Ndzimandes, Jeff Radebe, Fraser-Geraldine Molekedi and the like quickly come to mind herein. In actual fact the SACP is nothing less than a blarney meant to confuse the masses of our people. Arguing with these guys from the SACP is like exerting oneself to the limit trying to asphyxiate a dead person. They are deciduous communist and paper tigers nothing less nor more, PERIOD!!! Ma-Afrika we must learn to call a spade a spade, PERIOD!!! Lefatse la rona … Sebenzile Mlaza From: Thembeka Majali <[email protected]> To: Mzu Cabanga <[email protected]>; Zukiswa Nomwa <[email protected]>; Mlungisi Bafo <[email protected]>; [email protected]; Athini Melane <[email protected]>; Nkwame Cedile <[email protected]>; Thandabantu Nkwenkwezi <[email protected]>; [email protected]; Billiard Seth <[email protected]>; [email protected]; Lulamile Ntonzima <[email protected]>; [email protected]; Mandla Ntlanganiso <[email protected]>; loyiso mfuku <[email protected]>; Mjuza Yolanda <[email protected]> Cc: [email protected] Sent: Thursday, July 28, 2011 1:29 PM Subject: [PAYCO] SACP 90th Birthday Ma-afrika, Do you think that there was such a thing genuinely called Suppression of Communism Act in 1950 passed by the apartheid government or was just another apartheid false pretense against communists so that they could go and infiltrate and cling over a pro-africanist movement? Just a question Kenny. So the ANC should be celebrating 56 years ( from 1955 of the Free-dom Cheater ) not the 100 centenary and the SACP should be celebrating 90 years. T Begin forwarded message: 3.2 SACP celebrates 90 years of history Chris Mathlako, The New Age, 28 July 2011 The South African Communist Party will mark 90 years of unbroken struggle for national liberation, progressive trade unionism and socialism with a mass rally in Claremont, KwaZulu-Natal, this Sunday. The rich history of the Communist Party and struggle for socialism in South Africa is important for a number of reasons – particularly at the present conjuncture of the dominance of neoliberalism, crises of capitalism and increasing militarism of the hegemonic powers. The two important aspects of the legacy bequeathed to us by those who came before are nonracialism and internationalism. The party founded in 1921 was, for decades, the only nonracial political party in the country that had a progressive internationalist outlook. Although it was founded mostly by whites, over the years it became a predominantly black organisation with a small white membership. It is particularly interesting to note that what today have been characterised as divergences in the party, such as the party and state power debate and the simmering anti-communism sentiment in a democratic SA, ironically first emerged in the 1940s. At that time it also presented huge challenges and debates about both the content and methods of struggle. For example, during the war period there was a reported rise in liberal values which found resonance with communists and socialists at the time, principally against fascism. The Smuts government of the time was not necessarily anticommunist and sought to encompass some of the issues raised by workers and the party. During this period, many gains were scored across a broad spectrum such as in the trade union movement and in particular around legal parliamentary activity. With it came the challenges which the central committee at the time characterised as “legalistic illusions”. Even during this period, the party understood the dialectic of combining mass work with struggles in other key sites of power. The Smuts government, it is reported, flirted with organisations sympathetic to the Allied cause especially following the entry of the USSR into the war in 1941. It was at this point that the Communist Party (CPSA) threw itself into supporting the war effort. In a twist of irony, the Smuts government permitted the existence of the Communist Party, Friends of the Soviet Union, nonracial trade unions and other organisations, as these did not pose any threat to the state because of the predominance of the liberal ideology. Party members also took part in, and won, a few seats in city councils in places like Johannesburg, East London and Cape Town. But they would subsequently be substituted with violent repression and virulent anticommunist sentiment when the interests of the regime collided with aspirations of the workers and the black majority. All this took place immediately after the war years until the passing of the Suppression of Communism Act and, in 1950, the banning of the party. The party worked extensively in the townships during the war years but remained concerned with the state of the ANC. Leaders such as JB Marks, Moses Kotane and Edwin Mofutsanyane were senior ANC members, in part because the party insisted national liberation struggles “fought in the colonial and semi-colonial territories” were “no mere side issue” but an integral part of the global anti-imperialist struggle. In its 1945 pamphlet titled What Next? A Policy for South Africa, which called for democratic rights for all, the nationalisation of the land and banks, a nationalised health service and free and compulsory education, and supported increased industrialisation, the party was laying the foundation and basis of both theory and practice for later generations. The party’s internationalism came through in its formative years with the active participation of the emigre population of Europe which brought with it the traditions of working class organisation and trade unionism. Both the CPSA and its Young Communist League were part of the international communist movement and participated in significant international events such as Comintern (an international communist organisation initiated in Moscow in March 1919) and the Young Communist International. After the Bolshevik revolution and the wider horizon it created for anticolonial struggles across the world, Lenin looked more favourably on independence for Asia and Africa. In 1929 the party accepted the Comintern resolution which stressed the need to work within “the embryonic organisations among the natives, such as the ANC, in order to transform the latter into a fighting nationalist revolutionary organisation against the white bourgeoisie and British imperialists”. In the present day the party continues to implement its long-standing resolutions on internationalism. In 2009 it convened the first meeting of the Africa Left Networking Forum (Alnef). The aim was to contribute towards the ensuing struggle 50 years into post-independent Africa and for the realisation of the goals of the African revolution. In 2010 it successfully hosted the 12th meeting of International Communist and Workers Parties which was addressed by President Jacob Zuma. Chris Mathlako is secretary for international relations with the SACP ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ -- Sending your posting to [email protected] Unsubscribe by sending an email to [email protected] You can also visit http://groups.google.com/group/payco Visit our website at www.mayihlome.wordpress.com -- Sending your posting to [email protected] Unsubscribe by sending an email to [email protected] You can also visit http://groups.google.com/group/payco Visit our website at www.mayihlome.wordpress.com
