 Umsebenzi Online, Volume 8, No. 17, 7 October 2009
Red Alert:  2009 Red October Campaign…. Roll back the corrupting intersection between private accumulation and public service!  Blade Nzimande, General Secretary On Sunday 4 October 2009, the SACP held a lively and vibrant rally to launch its national 2009 Red October Campaign in Khayelitsha, There are three inter-related aspects to our 2009 Red October Campaign: building an affordable and quality health system for all; intensifying the struggle against corruption in all of society; and disrupting the intersection between business and public service interests. In this publication we have before said a lot about the centrality of the establishment of a national health insurance scheme (NHI) for the provision of accessible, affordable and quality health care for all South Africans. The fundamental principle of an NHI is that of ensuring that every South African, rich or poor, black or white, employed or unemployed, is covered by this scheme. The aim of the scheme is to ensure that no South African must be expected to make an upfront payment for health services, whether in the public or private health care sector. In addition, those who have resources must subsidise those who do not have, and that we build an equitable health care system, where we move away from the current unequal and unjust, regime, where more than 60% of resources poured into health services benefit only about 14% of the population, which happens to be on private medical aid schemes. The reason for the mobilization of our people around the NHI is two-fold. Firstly, to explain the principles and objectives of an NHI; and how such a system is going to benefit the overwhelming majority of our people. Secondly, to counter the reactionary efforts by the capitalist classes in the private health sector to defeat or undermine government`s efforts towards the establishment of the NHI. It is our conviction, as has been consistently shown in the past that only mobilized popular power can defeat the greed of capitalism and ensure that the workers and the poor themselves drive programmes for their own benefit. To this end, we shall use our 2009 Red October Campaign to convene thousands of red forums, in communities and workplaces, to discuss the NHI and ensure that it is properly understood by all our people. Where necessary we shall also be calling marches and demonstrations to expose the greed of capitalist health institutions and mobilize our people to roll back the market in the provision of health care. The second and major focus of our 2009 Red October Campaign is that of disrupting the relationship between private business interests and public service. Most promising revolutions, especially in capitalist environments, have faltered and even rolled back because of the triumph of money and moneyed interests over the interests of the workers and the poor. Some of our detractors, both inside and outside our movement, argue against this focus of our campaign is inappropriate on the grounds that ours is a multi-class movement that embraces all social classes. Yes, this is true, BUT:
We shall use our Red October Campaign to openly discuss these dangers and spread awareness and ideological consciousness about the dangers of this relationship to our people. This by no means imply, as some of our detractors also say, that people in leadership positions are prevented from pursuing business interests. But these cannot be pursued in a parasitic manner and at the direct expense of servicing the interests of our people as a whole. Disrupting the intersection between holding of public office and using such to pursue private business interests, as well as the opposite phenomenon, is an absolute condition for building a developmental state. The third component of our Red October Campaign is that of intensifying the struggle against corruption. Whilst this is distinct from the above, but there is a relationship between the two. It is usually on the interface between public office and private business interests that corruption festers. However, corruption is not only found in the public sector, but it is also widespread practice in the private sector as well, and must therefore be rooted out in the whole of society. It is for this reason that the SACP welcomed the initiative by the South African Transport and Allied Workers Union to expose corruption and mismanagement at the South African Airways. Through the convening of red forums the SACP seeks to mobilize our people and build their confidence in exposing corruption. Often people are aware of corrupt practices, but are afraid to act because sometimes it is powerful individuals who are involved. Or even where they point out such maladies no action is taken. We believe that through the organized mass power and awareness of our people we can deepen the struggle against corruption and that appropriate action is taken whenever this happens. As we say in our Special Congress discussion document, the struggle against corruption is not only a moral struggle, but it is a principled political struggle at the heart of defending and advancing the national democratic revolution. It is an essential condition for the realization of the five priorities of the ANC-led alliance election manifesto. Once more our Red October Campaign is a call to all communists to be at the forefront of the mobilization of our people… for the sake of our revolution! Let every SACP branch and district convene as many of the red forums as possible during this month and beyond. Asikhulume!! --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ 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. To UNSUBSCRIBE, please email [email protected] . You don't have to put anything in the "Subject:" field. You don't have to put anything in the message part. All you have to do is to send an e-mail to this address (repeat): [email protected] . -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~--- |
