There is always strength in principled unity. "Principled" in that it is based on a programme to achieve the noble ends of freedom for the African people. "Principled" because it is simply founded on the ideal seeking to totally empower the poor to emancipate themselves from continued socio-economic pauperization. "Principled" in that it focuses on mass action rather than sectarian or elitist crusades. Accepting that nobody, party, social movement, group or faction has exclusive rights to some magic "liberatory" wand, revolutionary pluralism seeks to forge partnerships and networks for the empowerment of our people through the masses' own revolutionary action.
Factionalists, informed by their petit bourgeois aspirations and arrogance, appropriate to themselves the "right to think for the masses." When the masses inevitably ignore them, factionalists continue relentlessly to demonise all those who differ with them even inside their own parties or movements. This arrogant conceit eventually suppresses all progressive discourse and activism, ejecting potentially revolutionary innovations and capabilities. This type of destructive factionalism is rampant in many political parties and social movements throughout the world. In periods of revolutionary lulls and reaction, it always rears its ugly head. In the current neo-liberal triumphalistic epoch, it manifests in South Africa through the inexorable fragmentation of the revolutionary left. This is because petit bourgeois opportunists always lose focus of the masses' aspirations, and obsess in replacing one enstranged and lost leadership by another, in an endless vicious cycle of factional fratricide, perpetuating the continued pauperization of the very masses they claim to represent. We need to remember that in essence, both rightist and ultra-leftist tendencies and their numerous factions are melancholic expressions of forsaking the masses. The cure therefore can only be to reconnect to the masses. Only such a revolutionary programme can unify the fragmenting revolutionary left and parties in South Africa. It is time to put an end to the sectarian approaches to revolution, and to build networks and partnerships in the masses. As the crucible of struggle smoulders on, it is critical for the South African revolutionary left to refocus their energies on synergising their actions, experiences and knowledge acquired during this period of reaction. We must start realising that continued accentuation of differences and the negative is essentially reactionary as it inevitably prolongs the struggle and confuses mass political consciousness. We need to focus on the objective of a socialist democracy, through participatory action in the masses. Let all the hundred flowers blossom, cross-pollinating towards the ideal of proletarian power. Let the differences be transformed into rich innovative approaches of revolutionary pluralism. Let us integrate the rich experiences and knowledge derived from the struggle, into a consistent revolutionary programme for the self-emancipation of the Azanian masses! Remember Africa!! Peace among the Africans!! Sent via my BlackBerry from Vodacom - let your email find you! -- Sending your posting to payco@googlegroups.com Unsubscribe by sending an email to payco-unsubscr...@googlegroups.com You can also visit http://groups.google.com/group/payco Visit our website at www.mayihlome.wordpress.com
