Comrade Matome thanks for the feedback brief as it is ito content. I recieved the same feedback from a legal practitioner in Cape Town who decided to attend and update himself on the dynamics of the party. By the way this person was a member of PASO in the late 80s whom we lost to inactivity because of our many dynamics. Infact, he was part of those PASO Comrades under the leadership of Cde Tsietsi who demanded to be listened to during the Mthatha Congress. These comrades were heavily dealt with by our security contingent on the instructions of the leadership. When a decision was taken to intervene by those cadres in the Operations Directorate headed by Letlapa they found this Comrade lying for dead. We were happy to learn he only fainted and when he recovered we could come to his rescue. Leave the story aside and focus on his opinion on the case. He has pointed out to me in our short conversation that it is very possible that the Butterworth fiasco will stand primarily because it was inclusive of all the warring factions of the PAC and that the stalemate was resolved through elections in which those against Letlapa were afforded the opportunity to stand. These Comrades have compromised us. I m not sure how they think and what did they want to achieve.
Tembelani ----- Original Message ----- From: "[email protected]" <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Cc: Sent: Thursday, August 2, 2012 5:30 PM Subject: [PAYCO] PAC Solution post court ruling on the 7th Aug 12 - who will win ?? I had the privilege of attending court proceedings in the matter of 'PAC vs PAC' on the 1st August 2012, in Cape Town while on private business that side of our land. And while sitting there listening to arguments by both sides and the intervening remarks by the Judge I appreciated once more the gravity of our problems, and what in fact is at stake. One question that sprung to mind was who exactly stands to win from the contest. And I asked myself this question having been party to those of our members who resolved that this is ONE of the mechanisms to restore organisational normalcy. In this self probe I came to the conclusion that to start with, the court battle was in fact a battle between PAC members, students, youths, and veterans alike. It was in fact PAC on PAC violence. For the purpose of this write up I will not dwell on who the perpetrator or seed planter of these contests is. I limit my engagement to the point or enquiry pointed out above. There was also a positive message to this. It was evident that both sides contest for the protection of the party, whether one concurs or not will always be a matter for analysis and hind-sights. Limiting myself to professions and averments proffered from both sides, the contest is about how best and in what way shall we advance the growth and stability of the party. Viewed from this perspective this is a small but important angle to this case. Let's us deal with one more issue: who exactly stands to win from this case ? We must remember that possible outcomes are either the nullification of the Butterworth congress and thus a restart proper of the conference exercise OR confirmation of the Butterworth congress and thus the maintenance of what took place there. Should the court rule that the Butterworth congress occured outside the party constitution, a position I hold, then the Qwaqwa NEC must resume work under President Letlapa. The truth is that in between the decree and now so much has happened. And so much has happened that in reality that NEC will ordinarily not be able to work together. In its attempt to work together it may cause more damage to the already wounded organisation. Hypothetically and perhaps legally this will be the implication. I do not trust the ability of the collective to function in the midst of so much that has happened unless such a decision has been the outcome of conference by all of us members of this party. On the other hand let us assume that the court rules that the Butterworth congress and all its creation stands. Should this be the case, the pain of those who had been opposed and somewhat ostracised from when the decree was passed will linger on. I must pause to emphasise this point. These members are of significant presence both numerically and by their profile, thus able to make it difficult for the party to operate. I opine strongly that we do not fall into the dismissive tendency to think that they do not matter. They matter and actually matter a lot, for all their lives and some spent their youth time in gaol and in the trenches. I urge against simplicity and call for deepness of thought. So this also won't be a winner. Now I ask again, who exactly stands to win from this ? It is important to clarify that none of us ever saw the court option as THE solution, it was always part of the solution package. And in fact the need for conference has always been principal. Hence I honour the decision of those who directly led the court challenge not to stop the congress because that as we had said could have offered an opportunity for a conference, not the elect me elect me elect me stuff that went on there. So back to the question: who exactly wins?? It is apparent that it is only personal feelings and egos that stand to win. The party either way loses and turns poorer. And very briefly, any those who suggest that a court option is wrong are hugely mistaken and truly mischievous. It is mischief because they offered no option to resolve the quaqmire. The court action was never about the annihilation of the PAC. To howl around this point without interrogating the content will be sad. The option to go for the elect me only legitimised the forum and this was the argument before and by the Judge in Cape Town. Anyway enough said on this zig zag behaiour by some amongst us. We must just bear in mind too that the court will make a ruling based on presentations and not necessarily on what is right. In whatever form that we deem appropriate there is an urgent need for conference and I hope that those that have the defacto authority to do so shall seize the moment. We must go to this conference and deal with issues that continually call on us: define our revolutionary framework and direction in present day epoch, and set out a program of action including interrogation on who are the best cadres from all socalled sides to lead it on OUR behalf. That is why the call for conference before congress has been and it still is the most sound and principled position taken. The double standards of those who used the Butterworth congress for a vote me exercise is the rape of honesty and principle that is painfully memorable for an opportunity to rally us for one position (conference before congress) was disrupted and lost. I write this to urge that when the ruling is made on the 7th Aug 12 we must not fold our arms into believing that we have arrived, either side. We must toil to find one another and the point of convergence will and is only a program of action. The real battle is outside with and for our people. The sooner we resolve ourselves to lead their battles the better. To wish each other away will most certainly not work, and we should not move on this path. Afrika is ours alone !! Matome Mashao Sent from my BlackBerry® -- 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
