Comrades might want to know, that Africa's largest and most militant
union, the National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa), just
decided to break from the African National Congress-SA Communist
Party-Congress of SA Trade Unions (ANC-SACP-Cosatu) "Alliance", via
a resolution passed at a major conference a few hours ago. There are
a great many other implications than you see below, and another five
major resolutions to share if anyone wants (email me at [email protected])
but this resolution is a delightful taste of a profound new
development in SA's class struggle. From a long and draining war of
position, now time for a war of movement. Feb 26 2014 - Budget Day -
appears to be an opportunity to start practicing general strikes,
and Numsa will likely become a general workers' union as it recruits
way beyond its traditional sector. Numsa has 340 000 members, having
recently overtaken the strongly ANC-loyalist mineworkers union
(which has since dropped to #4 largest in SA following the Marikana
Massacre in August 2012
What a holiday gift for a weary society, so in need of confirmation
that Mandela's pre-1994 fighting spirit is still present in SA, as
the 'second stage' of the revolution now finally may begin.
Patrick
Adopted by NUMSA Special National Congress.
Adopted unanimously by 1,050 delegates.
Resolution on Challenges Facing the Alliance
1. Noting that;
1.1. The Alliance is dysfunctional, in crisis and paralysed. It
is dominated by infighting, factionalism and fails to meet
regularly.
1.2. Although there are protests everywhere and every day in the
country, the Alliance is not an instrument in the hands of these
struggling masses nor does it provide leadership to these
struggles which is largely leaderless struggles. The reality is
that there is a political vacuum and the working class is on its
own.
1.3. The Freedom Charter which we understood as the minimum
platform of the Alliance has been completely abandoned in favour
of rightwing and neo-liberal policies such as the National
Development Plan (NDP).
1.4. There exists little common understanding within the
Alliance of the real objectives of the National Democratic
Revolution (NDR).
1.5. The Alliance operates and works during election periods and
it is our experience that the working class is being used by the
leader of the Alliance – the African National Congress (ANC) -
as voting fodder.
1.6. The Alliance has been captured and taken over by rightwing
forces. Those who are perceived to be against neo-liberalism or
advocates of policies in favour of the working class and the
poor are seen as problematic, isolated or purged.
1.7. Dominant classes in society have swayed the Alliance in
their favour.
1.8. The ANC has resisted the reconfiguration of the Alliance
into a strategic political centre where issues of policy,
deployments into government and programmes are jointly decided
upon by all components of the Alliance.
1.9. The strategy of swelling the ranks has not worked and all
resolutions of COSATU congresses in relation to how the Alliance
should function have not been implemented by the leaders of the
Alliance.
1.10. In practice the Alliance is still in the hands of one
alliance partner, the ANC. The ANC is the centre and implements
government programmes and policies alone with little or no
consultation with other components of the Alliance.
1.11. There is strong opposition from the ANC to an alliance
agreement or pact. The movement has told us in no uncertain
words that the ANC is the political centre. They have also
argued against the pact, quoting OR Tambo when he said at the
SACP’s 60th anniversary in 1981: “Ours is not merely a paper
alliance, as created at conference tables and formalised through
the signing of documents and representing only an agreement of
leaders".
1.12. As Numsa we have been detecting an abuse by the ANC of
other Alliance partners.
1.13. The alliance is used to rubber stamp neo-liberal policies
of the ANC and not as a centre of power that debate policy
issues and implementation.
1.14. The treatment of labour as a junior partner within the
Alliance is not uniquely a South African phenomenon. In many
post-colonial and post-revolutionary situations, liberation and
revolutionary movements have turned on labour movements that
fought alongside them; suppressed them, marginalised them, split
them, robbed them of their independence or denied them any
meaningful role in politics and policy-making.
1.15. The recent alliance summit still failed to make
fundamental changes to the current proposed NDP and had no
significant impact in changing policies in favour of the working
class and the poor.
2. Further noting that;
2.1 There is no chance of winning back the Alliance to what it
was originally formed for; which was to drive a revolutionary
programme for fundamental transformation of the country with the
Freedom Charter as the minimum platform to transform the South
African economy.
2.2 The South African Communist Party (SACP) leadership has
become embedded in the state and is failing to act as the
vanguard of the working class.
2.3 The chance of winning back the SACP onto the path of working
class struggle for working class power is very remote.
2.4 For the struggle for socialism, the working class needs a
political organisation committed in theory and practice to
socialism.
3. Therefore resolve that;
3.1 In light of the above as NUMSA, we should call on COSATU to
break from the Alliance. The time for looking for an alternative
has arrived.
3.1.1. that our members and shopstewards must be active on all
fronts and in all struggles against neo-liberal policies whether
these policies are being implemented in the workplace or in
communities.
3.1.2. that in all our constitutional structures, there should
be a standing agenda item on community struggles, their nature
and NUMSA’s attitude to these community struggles.
3.2 As NUMSA, we must lead in the establishment of a new UNITED
FRONT that will coordinate struggles in the workplace and in
communities; in a way similar to the UDF of the 1980s. The task
of this front will be to fight for the implementation of the
Freedom Charter and be an organisational weapon against
neoliberal policies such as the NDP. For this to happen it
requires:
3.3. Side by side to the establishment of the new UNITED FRONT,
we in NUMSA must explore the establishment of a MOVEMENT FOR
SOCIALISM as the working class needs a political organisation
committed in its policies and actions to the establishment of a
socialist South Africa.
3.4. In order to execute the task of exploring the establishment
of the MOVEMENT FOR SOCIALISM, as a union we must do the
following:
3.4.1. In line with the existing NUMSA resolution, convene a
Conference on Socialism
3.4.2. Leading up to the this conference, NUMSA must conduct a
thoroughgoing discussion on previous attempts to build socialism
as well as current experiments to build socialism
3.4.3. Commission an international study on the historical
formation of working class parties. As part of this study we
need to explore the different type of parties – from mass
workers parties to vanguard parties. We must look at countries
such as Brazil, Venezuela, Bolivia, Greece and any other
experiments.
3.5. This work to explore the formation of a MOVEMENT FOR
SOCIALISM must be regularly reported to constitutional
structures and the work must be finalised by the first NUMSA
Central Committee in 2015.
3.6. In all the work being done whether on building a new united
front and exploring the formation of a Movement for Socialism,
as NUMSA we must be alert to gains that may present
possibilities of either the new united front or any other
progressive coalition or party committed to socialism standing
for elections in future. The NUMSA constitutional structures
must continuously assess these developments and possibilities.
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