All I can say as a proud member and leader within Structures of the YCLSA is that; the National Secretary of the YCLSA could not have said it any better it is a revolutionary analysis and the argument as well is so rich!
On Fri, Sep 4, 2009 at 4:02 PM, Dominic Tweedie <[email protected]>wrote: > ANC Today, 4 September 2009 > > > VIEWPOINT | BY BUTI MANAMELA > > *The national question and nation-building*** > > > The issues of nation-formation and nation-building will remain in our > society for a while given the fact that racism was and still is, rooted in > all institutions of society. However, the resolution of the national > question cannot remain a permanent feature of our society. If this were to > be the case, the historic mission and mandate of the National Liberation > Movement (NLM) would be defeated, mainly because it is about attaining a > non-racial, non-sexist and democratic society. > > The 2007 Strategy and Tactics document of the ANC says: > > "The main content of the National Democratic Revolution (NDR) is the > liberation of Africans in particular and Blacks in general from political > and socio-economic bondage." It goes further to declare that this, "…means > uplifting the quality of life of all South Africans, especially the poor, > the majority of whom are African and female." > > It is important to emphasise that the target for the NDR is the poor > because the objective of our struggle is to unite all the oppressed in our > country for the formation of one nation. > > The 1969 ANC Morogoro Conference succinctly confirmed the need for the > unity of the oppressed and their drive towards defeating Apartheid in the > following lines: > > "The African…is not the only oppressed national group in South Africa. The > two million strong Coloured community and three-quarter million Indians > suffer varying forms of national humiliation, discrimination and oppression. > They are part of the non-white base upon which rests white privilege. As > such they constitute an integral part of the social forces ranged against > white supremacy. Despite deceptive and, often, meaningless concessions they > share a common fate with their African brothers and their own liberation is > inextricably bound up with the liberation of the African people." > > The objective linked to this is not only the defeat of white supremacy, but > also that if we were to advance nation building and nation formation - we > also have the task of "…liberating the white community from the false > ideology of racial superiority and the insecurity attached to oppressing > others". It is important to note that this is not merely a tactical > consideration but a strategic objective to liberate the most oppressed of > all "in the league of the oppressed" whilst in the process "liberating the > oppressor". > > "But none of this detracts from the basically national context of our > liberation drive. In the last resort it is only the success of the national > democratic revolution which - by destroying the existing social and economic > relationships - will bring with it a correction of the historical injustices > perpetrated against the indigenous majority and thus lay the basis for a new > - and deeper internationalist - approach." (Morogoro: 1969) > > Therefore, the attainment of a national democratic society can only lie in > the destruction of Apartheid's social and economic relations and the > continued existence of such relations. There are clear signs that the form > and content of our national democratic revolution is still facing a long > path towards attainment. > > Historically, the twin threats to this strategic objective in our society > and our movement have been "white racism" on the one hand; and narrow > African chauvinism on the other hand. These twin threats have always > manifested themselves in the super-structural institutions of our society. > It would be suicidal to deny the continued presence of racism in our > society, but even more dangerous for the attainment of national unity and > nation-formation is the denial of narrow African chauvinism. > > The danger of these twin threats is articulated in Nelson Mandela's famous > Statement from the Dock: > > "I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black > domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in > which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It > is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is > an ideal for which I am prepared to die." > > These twin threats are not on an equal pedestal. The dominant contradiction > that faces our society is national contradiction, whilst the fundamental one > is class contradiction. Emphasis should also be made that the reason why we > need to deal with both in almost equal terms is that the narrow African > chauvinism is not an effective tool of defeating racism, but can also act to > reinforce racial tensions as people may withdraw into their racial cocoons. > > In essence, the task of "liberation of Africans in particular and blacks in > general" lies in the success of the movement in using the platform of > building a non-racial society. The two, meaning, the task and the platform, > are mutually inclusive and interconnected and failure to maintain this > interconnection exposes the inability to > overcome white racism, on the one hand, and black chauvinism, on the other. > > Let us look at both threats each in turn. In our society there still exists > white racism that we should confront, expose and deal with. The figures > released by Commission on Employment Equity (CEE) shows that white people > occupy 74% of senior positions in the private sector. This is a serious > indictment on white capital's commitment to honour their role in > nation-building and nation-formation. > > Fraught race relations will remain for some time in a nation where > everything, from division of labour, composition of national sporting teams, > political preferences, cultural preferences and every social facet of our > life was historically determined on the basis of race. We need to intensify > progressive nationalism and ensure that it triumphs against this. > > This means affirming blacks in the economy, changing the division of labour > at both junior and senior level in both the public and private sector; > transforming social relations in education, access to health, shelter and > also ensuring that we begin to confront problems of equality and wealth > distribution by breaking the back of racism and racial exclusion. > > Narrow African chauvinism is a tendency and dangerous phenomenon of seeking > to redefine the objective of the movement at different periods as > installation of African majoritarianism. The National Liberation Movement > has always been able to transcend beyond this narrow perception and > strategic objective of the NDR as it recognised that ours is Colonialism of > a Special Type. > > Those who held this "elitist" view always combined their narrow objective > with an anti-communist agenda that sought to isolate and distinguish between > "white revolutionaries and white reactionaries". This elitist tendency has > always hid its narrow objective under the veil of seeking to represent the > interests of the black majority. The tendency emerged with the breakaway of > the PAC from the ANC by Leballo; the expulsion of the Group of Eight > immediately after the Morogoro Conference; and now recently, the breakaway > by Shikota. (For more on this, see Mavimbela's article titled "The Shikota > Phenomenon - A Counter-Revolutionary Tendency"). > > Thus, the Strategy and Tactics of the ANC from Morogoro declared that: > > "Those belonging to the other oppressed groups and those few white > revolutionaries who show themselves ready to make common cause with our > aspirations, must be fully integrated on the basis of individual equality. > Approached in the right spirit these two propositions do not stand in > conflict but reinforce one another. Equality of participation in our > national front does not mean a mechanical parity between the various > national groups." > > It further went on to declare that the "Coloured and Indian people have > often in the past, by their actions, shown that they form part of the broad > sweep towards liberation." > > Morogoro further declared the elitist nature of those who opposed the main > content of the NDR by declaring that "our nationalism must not be confused > with chauvinism or narrow nationalism of a previous epoch. It must not be > confused with the classical drive by an elitist group among the oppressed > people to gain ascendancy so that they can replace the oppressor in the > exploitation of the mass." > > This tendency can only lead to, and may even strike concessions for, either > modernised forms of black or white Bantustans . They may not see the need to > break the barriers, economic or political that is entrenched in many > localities in our country. They may even seek to promote some of these > tendencies. The main reason why it would seek to do so would be to lazily > assume elitist leadership of society by wishing away whites in order to > easily attain a "nation". > > Equally, this tendency stems from the narrow definition of nation as being > defined through language, race and culture whilst undermining progressive > elements and the realistic challenges of the national formation in our > society. Because of its backward nature, like its twin of white racism, it > may pretend and sugarcoat some of its more conservative demands with > legitimate demands for nation building. > > But this tendency is even more dangerous for us as the youth as we face the > challenge of nation building for a future South Africa. Our role as youth > formations is to lead all young people, irrespective of their culture, > without patronising them into constituting quotas or seeking to attain > parity. The Progressive Youth Alliance has, for instance, the task of > winning the coloured and white population in the Western Cape over to the > objectives of the NDR instead of seeking to outgrow them by importing young > black South Africans from the Eastern Cape. > > It is a challenge also for us to win over, and not to hate, young white > South Africans in our universities to appreciate our objectives of a > national democratic society as a way of "liberating [them] from white > supremacist ideology". We also have the task of winning over the Indian > youth in KwaZulu Natal on the same objective. We need to accept them into > our fold without question their credentials or scaring them off with > limited, narrow and elitist "black paranoia". > > The progressive and epochal Morogoro (1969) document states that: > > "Until then [the attainment of liberation], the national sense of grievance > is the most potent revolutionary force which must be harnessed." > > And what will easily constitute the national sense of grievance remains the > class question. This, of course, is the debate for another time. > > Buti Manamela is an ANC Member of Parliament and the National Secretary of > the Young Communist League of South Africa > > > --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You are subscribed. This footer can help you. Please POST your comments to [email protected] or reply to this message. You can visit the group WEB SITE at http://groups.google.com/group/yclsa-eom-forum for different delivery options, pages, files and membership. 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