The YCL National Organizer Bongani Makhubu this weekend asked me a very interesting question. Never mind about my response but at the end I said, as communists geographically located in Africa, (and as materialists) we have not suffiently analyze this from the scientific point of view:
The question is that, is it possible for a genuine materialist Communist to also subscribe to things such as the powers and existance of Ancestory and other related aspects that fall under the spiritual sphere, untested by social science in terms of origin and their connection to social development. What's your take Communists? Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device -----Original Message----- From: "Dominic.Tweedie" <[email protected]> Date: Sun, 09 May 2010 18:53:25 To: <[email protected]> Subject: [YCLSA Discussion] 12th Plenary Session, National Committee, YCLSA, Statement * YCL SA STATEMENT OF THE 12TH PLENARY SESSION OF THE NATIONAL COMMITTEE OF THE YOUNG COMMUNIST LEAGUE* ** ** *9 May 2010* The National Committee of the YCLSA held a very successful ordinary meeting from the 7^th to the 9^th of May 2010. The meeting was attended by both National Committee members and Provincial Chairpersons and Secretaries. The meeting took place within the backdrop of a very successful commemoration of the 17th Anniversary of the assassination of Chris Hani by both the YCLSA and SACP structures. It also took place in our 89th Anniversary month, in preparation of our June 16 commemoration and as we mark 365 days since the inauguration of Jacob Zuma, and his subsequent announcement of cabinet. *365 days since the inauguration of Jacob Zuma* The National Committee made an assessment of the 365 days since the inauguration of Jacob Zuma as President of the Republic. In the overall, the National Committee believes that there is focus and determination of the government, but believes that a lot more needs to be done. Part of the successes in this regard includes the end of AIDS denialism and the beginning of a new era of encouraging, at a senior political level, a lifestyle change that encourages safe sex, abstention and testing for HIV/AIDS. This was accompanied by a comprehensive HIV/AIDS Strategy that was announced by the Minister of Health, Aaron Motsoaledi, which equally focuses on prevention rather than cure. We believe that this kind of leadership has been long overdue and should be supported, encouraged and that all young people should participate in such a programme. In this regard, on 1 June 2010, the YCLSA leadership will be mobilising young people to go all out to do testing in Memory of Nkosi Johnson, who died of HIV/AIDS and was a champion for the call for the provision of anti-retroviral drugs. The success of the campaign lies in our communities and our youth heeding the call. *World Cup 2010* Part of the successes also includes the pristine preparations for the FIFA 2010 World Cup that will be held in South Africa. This has allowed massive infrastructure development in the form of road, stadiums and a move towards an integrated transport system and massive injection into jobs. We are however worried of reports that certain individuals within the soccer fraternity had taken a decision to become the sole shareholders of this national and international tournament. We call on SAFA to ensure that resources that are earmarked for development in soccer to be deployed as such, and that there should be no individual benefit within the soccer leadership. This world cup would not have been a success if South Africans did not support the initiatives of government and the soccer leadership to have it hosted here. It should therefore benefit all and not only certain individuals. We also believe explanations in terms of the legacy for all our people should be done by the Minister of Sports. We are worried that there seems to be an organised right-wing faction that threatens to destabilise the World Cup, some of whom have been arrested. We applaud the police for their swift action, and hope that any other attempts will be squashed. *Zimbabwe* We also believe that the last 365 days has seen progress in the role of South Africa on the situation in Zimbabwe. The leadership showed by the president in this regard, which moved away from silent diplomacy into engagement with the affected parties should be promoted. We believe that in everything we do, in order not to jeopardize the negotiations process and the role of South Africa in bringing the Zimbabwean economy from abyss, we should avoid pushing our government to take sides. We also welcome the announcement of the National Skills Development Strategy, and the Report on the Review of the National Students Financial Aid Scheme announced by the Minister of Higher Education. Both these reports seek to locate our economy and its ability to produce skills on a higher pedestal. We will engage with both the reports, especially the restructuring of the SETA’s and the progressive introduction of Free and Compulsory Higher Education. *National Military Service* We further welcome the announcement on the National Military Service as proposed by the Minister of Defense and Military Veterans. This is a bold proposal and an achievement for the youth of our country. The YCLSA had called for this programme in 2008 and have been engaging with the Ministry and Department for its introduction. We are excited that the Minister is approaching this task with zeal. We hope that it will intervene in terms of job creation, preparing our youth (especially black youth) into a career in the military field, will ensure that the billions worth machinery in the army, navy and air-force are not idle and ready South Africa for any eventuality. However, all has not necessarily been rosy. In the last quarter, our economy has shed more than 60 000 jobs as a result of the global economic recession, and an indication that there is something amiss in the Framework of Response adopted by the various sectors at NEDLAC. Youth unemployment is even worse, and has actually reached crises proportions. We believe that of the four million unemployed, two-thirds are young people. This explains the service delivery strikes, increased violent crimes, the xenophobic attacks, increase in the social grants, high levels of corruption and the growth of informal settlements. This has to be dealt with. We appreciate the proposals made by the President and the Economic Cluster Ministers, but we believe a lot more has to be done. The YCLSA will be convening a “Jobs for Youth” Summit on the 20^th to the 21^st of May 2010 to look into the crises of unemployment and its impact for young people. The major priority for any youth organisation should be to ensure that we create jobs for the youth. The Summit will draw young people from youth political parties, civil society, NGO’s, private sector and will represent young people from the grassroots. Our purpose will be to ensure that the youth voice is heard, and their proposals are listened to by the various Ministers and leaders in the economy that we have invited to participate in the Summit. We also believe that tardiness in terms of legislation on Labour Brokers is a cause for concern. As the YCLSA, we call on parliament to accelerate this process and give credence to the ANC-led Alliance Elections Manifesto, by banning labour brokers and gearing towards building government capacity in performing some of the placement and recruitment services that labour brokers were performing. This is what the people mandated the ANC-led Alliance government. *NYDA* We are also concerned with the budget allocation made to the National Youth Development Agency, which is 30% short of what the National Youth Commission and the Umsobomvu Youth Fund were getting. This has led to failure or decline in the micro-finance and voucher systems of the Agency. As we speak, the Agency is only able to provide 10 vouchers a month, for instance, instead of the ten they used to provide every month. This also has an effect on the capacity of the NYDA to begin with the process of Provincial Youth Development Agencies. We will meet with the Minister in the Presidency responsible for Performance and Administration to raise these issues and our broader vision of youth development. *Suspension of NC Members* We want to confirm that the YCLSA National Committee has suspended Comrade Floyd Shivambu and Comrade Stalin Buthane pending the outcome of a disciplinary action. This is an internal matter, and we hope that the affected comrades, members of the YCLSA and everyone else will refrain from creating speculations, and allow a fair disciplinary process to follow. *Issued by the National Committee of the YCLSA* *For more information* *Contact* *Gugu Ndima (0767831516)* *National Spokesperson* <http://www.unwembi.co.za/sacp/subscribe.html> -- 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] . -- 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] .
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