Re: [YCLSA Discussion] The Tripartite Alliance-going back to basics; who must lead the Alliance?

[Dominic Tweedie]

Dear Cde Mduduzi, You have brought this discussion to a nice point where one can answer Yes, or No. And the answer is definitely: No. The Party's role is to foster a hegemony or in other words a dictatorship of the popular masses, or of the proletariat - a People's Democratic Dictatorship of one sort or another. By all means continue to have a discussion about those alternatives. But the distinguishing characteristic of the Communist Party among other parties is that it never seeks power for itself. The day that the Communist Party seeks power for itself, it will become no different from any common bourgeois party. The ANC as the liberation movement of the popular masses must lead itself. We can't lead it, without destroying it. It must be democratic and lead itself. It is the embodiment of the Alliance, as much as the One Spirit is the embodiment of the Trinity. There is no separate standing Alliance authority, and there will never be. Likewise the mass organisations of the working class lead themselves, and would be of no use if they were not able and willing and determined to lead themselves. The Party leads in its own way, as the indispensable generalist vanguard complement to the great mass organisations of the people. The task of the NDR is to extend democracy to all corners of the republic and from bottom to top. The main means of doing so is by educating, organising and mobilising the masses in all conceivable ways. This communist task has not changed and should not change. VC Mduduzi H Vilakazi wrote: Cdes,   The discussion around the issue of who leads the alliance is as old as the existence of the alliance. This alliance is not a product of a boardroom wherein a decision of which component leads could be discussed. It is an alliance that came as a result of pramatic programmes.   History tells us that were it not of the banning of the party in 1950, the ANC could have not made this historic strides. After its banning, the party operated underground and established an international networks with other communist parties outside. The base for the ANC in exile was created and established through the efforts of the SACP.   The campaigns and the congress of the people (not COPE) in that took place between 1950 and 1960 were mainly influenced by a socialist agenda. Equally, the SACP was the first to adopt a non-racial and non-sexist stance long before the the ANC could realise it.   When the ANC was banned in 1960, all systems were in place to accommodate these cadres into exile by the left-leaning organisations outside the country. Most cadres were taken to Moscow, Russia for military and political training. The ANC was mainly funded by the communist parties from accross the globe including education of most of our leaders.   I have dwelt much on the historic epoch above to clarify that the SACP has always provided leadership during and after the fight for liberation. However, it was strategic then to allow the ANC as the major mobiliser of masses to carry on the work of speaking on behalf of the oppressed masses of our people because of its inclusive character.   The question is whether the ground is not fertile now for the SACP to lead the alliance so that it spead up the realisation of an open class struggle. I mean, the ANC, much as it addresses certain elements of the revolution, it does so in focussing much on the national struggle while too accommodative to the capitalists as well.   Are we not ready as communists to lead the alliance to an open class struggle?   I remain   Mduduzi Herman Vilakazi Internal Auditor Dept of P/Works, Roads and Transport Mpumalanga Province   Tel:  013 766 8280 Cell: 083 357 4849/ 083 990 8523 Fax: 086 544 3205 "Ignorant men don't know what good they hold in their hands until they've flung it away." -Sophocles   -- You are subscribed. This footer can help you. Please POST your comments to yclsa-eom-forum@googlegroups.com 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 yclsa-eom-forum-unsubscr...@googlegroups.com . 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): yclsa-eom-forum-unsubscr...@googlegroups.com .   To unsubscribe, reply using "remove me" as the subject.