Comrade Mleqwa,you think the principle is to shove to organisational discipline.Well it does raise the question of where do our loyalty lies actually.In your world, an attempt to draw attention to such an important issue is trying to be heroic.If this is what it takes to alarm the society to the lurking danger of misplaced loyalty and time bomb the so called Black empowerment is becoming,I would rather have Comrade Masondo apt analogy than your posse'.I find it interesting when we start throwing terms of (organisational disciplines,strategies):when in fact we are not saying anything.Even shirking the responsibility of engaging constructively as on the issue at hand.Worse I want to take this further to say:the position you are taking or should I say the YCL is in stark contradiction with its policy position on corruption and ZEEism.If this is to worship Comrade Masondo who is raising an important point by the way:I have better music to listen than that of pathetic organisational praisinging.Indeed the future belongs not to those who possess a crystal ball,but to those daring to challenge the bisases,prejudices and populism of the establishment Comradely B.I. Ndima
--- On Tue, 9/7/10, Songezo Mleqwa <[email protected]> wrote: From: Songezo Mleqwa <[email protected]> Subject: Re: [YCLSA Discussion] BEE is now ZEE - Masondo To: [email protected] Date: Tuesday, September 7, 2010, 6:56 PM Dearest VC I have read both Masondo's article and the YCL statements. I think we should understand the rationale behind the National Office statement. The basic point here is that you do not go out and break organisational discipline and make yourself a HERO, raising issues merely because they are right and use the name and position accorded to you by the organisation. There is always a rider called "The writer is so and so but writes in his personal capacity..." when anyone writes in the newspapers if those views are not the official position of the organisation. The Proffessor should have know this: no matter how intelligent or educated or heroic or popular or bold you are or want to be, you can never be above the organisation. This is like Holomisa who was bold enough to expose corruption of certain leaders of the ANC in the Ciskei, contradicting an organisational decision and the organisation itself, confusing his personal popularity and so called principled approach. It is not that the ANC was supportive of corruption and those who were corrupt, but it was important for the ANC to protect its organisational discipline from such abuse. When we join organisations, we submit to its constitution and other cultures. Masondo has been around long enough, and has actyually presided over the expulsion of some comrades who have committed such acts. I actually believe that the YCL statement was linient. I agree that the YCL should be vocal on all of these issues, but the YCL is not a picnin organisation where, without engament within the organisation, anyone can make any statement on its behalf. This is not a free for all but an organisation with rules and procedures. If all of these are less important than the views and emotions of individual leaders, then we may as well not have this YCL. Lets not be worshippers of men at the expense of organisational procedures and principles. I am sure the national office agrees with the views expressed by Prof Masondo, but does it mean, for expediency, they should just let go and allow the rule of the jungle. Communist regards Songezo Mleqwa From: Dominic.Tweedie <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Sent: Mon, September 6, 2010 3:13:30 PM Subject: [YCLSA Discussion] BEE is now ZEE - Masondo BEE has evolved into a family affair: ZEE David Masondo, City Press, Johannesburg, 5 September 2010 There was cautious optimism among many leftists in the ANC that the ousting of Thabo Mbeki in Polokwane might mark a shift towards a much more egalitarian economic policy, including Black Economic Empowerment (BEE). Instead, BEE is increasingly becoming too narrow, amounting to ZEE – that is, Zuma Economic Empowerment. The recent multibillion-rand Arcelor-Mittal BEE deal involving Duduzane, President Jacob Zuma’s son, is another example of how BEE has become too narrow. To crown it all, the president’s nephew, Khulubuse Zuma, seems to have suddenly become an African imperialist, amassing oil resources in the Democratic Republic of Congo. ZEE is not only an assault on the Young Communist League and South African Communist Party (SACP) resolutions – which called for the nationalisation of monopoly industries – it amounts to a burial of the Freedom Charter. Only a few can be misled to believe that there is no link between Zuma’s rise to the presidency and his family’s rise to riches. One’s leadership position in a political party, particularly the ANC, allows one to gain and/or retain access to the institutional power that makes one the preferred candidate for white business to select to be part of its established enterprises. These politicians rely heavily on the control of organisational power to generate wealth. Access to the state provides politicians with leverage to select those who can acquire shares in white-owned firms. South Africa’s political system is based on a multiparty electoral democracy. Access to state institutional power is achieved through elections. Consequently, many politicians are interested in party politics. Since they rely on organisational power for wealth accumulation, potential and actual entrepreneurs find it rational to contest directly or indirectly for political organisational leadership positions as an entry point to the state and its economic resources. However, not every political party matters. Because the ANC is backed by the SACP and the Congress of South African Trade Unions – not to mention its history in the national liberation struggle – it is highly supported by the electorate and, therefore, matters. Individuals acting within and through the state have the power to decide who gets state-owned resources. However, the fact that individuals in the state have this institutional power does not mean we will know beforehand which black politicians will secure access to these resources. This is mediated by a dominant political party in government. The BEE model is structured favourably for politically connected politicians and their proxies to enter into business through the state. The state owns key economic resources required by business that can only be accessed with state permission. The state acts as a purchaser of services from the private sector. Through its financial institutions, the state acts as a money lender. It is also a grantor of licences for, among other things, mining rights. Through privatisation, it acts as a seller of its assets. Business can gain access to state-owned resources through a BEE criterion that requires black people to be owners and managers of enterprises. White businesses can use black people who are politically connected to gain access to these resources – and more recently, as a means to deflect ANC Youth League calls for nationalisation. This explains why certain black millionaires associated with the liberation movement have been cherry-picked by white businesses. The BEE model has promoted competition among politicians for access to institutional power and co-option by white business. This competition finds expression in political conflicts within the ANC and the state. We are indeed on the wrong economic redistribution path. BEE has become a family affair. Children whose parents are not politicians will have to lift themselves out of poverty by their own bootstraps. The youth’s cynical acquiescence of ZEE may find concrete expression in non-participation in political activism, including voting. After all, why vote if voting means empowering politicians to empower their children. Masondo is chairperson of the Young Communist League - City Press From: http://www.citypress.co.za/Columnists/GuestColumnist/BEE-has-evolved-into-a-family-affair-ZEE-20100904 -- 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. 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