Free State or Police State? As Marxists we understand that the police, together with the army, constitute the central body of armed people which is at the centre of the state apparatus. They are the first line of defense against anything which disturbs the public order of capitalism. When propaganda and conditioning fail and working-class people and oppose the ruling class, the ruling class use the police, the courts, the law and sometimes the army to defend their profits and power. Many a student and worker who have ever gone on strike have been on the receiving end of a beating of the baton. Countless youth in South African townships have had to whiff the suffocating gaseous concoction of teargas. Many more bear lifelong physical scars from rubber bullets. For the most part, most of us have lived to retell the tale. However, some do not have a luxury to do so. It is next to impossible for any South African to block the chorus of voices that has come out in condemnation of the barbaric murder of young, Free State, teacher, Andries Tatane. A google search under the name of Andries Tatane yields a total of 15300 results. Such a viral increase cannot be simply accepted as being an accident of history and be dismissed. Tatanes death has come to symbolize the brutality of police within a capitalist society. His unnecessary death have martyred him. Many voices across the political spectrum have insipidly drawn similarities between the conduct of the police to that of the brute and indiscriminate force meted out at the height of the apartheid regime. It reminds us that, “the more things change, the more they stay the same”. It reminds us that the only meaningful change for the working class, will be the change from a capitalist, into a socialist society and ultimately a communist one. The sequence of events leading up to and immediately preceding his death were not unique in fact have become a common feature of our communities. What was however unique is the fact that the event was captured on film in great detail. As distressing as Andries Tatane death is; it is unfortunately one amongst scores of young people who have died at the hands of the men in blue in post apartheid South Africa. Apologists for the police like General Cele will try to dismiss the latter activities and denounce them as “isolated cases”, rogue cops and call for Independent Complaints Directorate (ICD) investigation on individual incidents. The murder of Tatane, is not “isolated” from the murder of Solomon Madonsela, Zweli Zungu, Phuphu Mthethwa and many other victims of police brutality meted in South Africa in general and Gert Sibande in particular. Who is Solomon Madonsela? For most South Africans he is a nobody. Solomon Madonsela is a 41 year old causality of the service delivery protest that took place in Ermelo in February. Madonsela died after his body was riddled with bullets allegedly by the SAPS. At the time of his death his father said that there were 9mm cartridges next to his son’s body. The use of live ammunition at controlling the crowds in Ermelo has never been denied. In fact it was justified. According to a New Age report the National Police Commissioner admitted that police had to resort to using live ammunition in order “to ensure that government buildings were protected”. It is extremely saddening to learn that the IDC investigation is still ongoing. We will never get rest until we get closure on his unneccessary death. Phuphu Mthethwa is a different example of a young person who was also killed under mysteries circumstances. He was participating in Piet Retief, Gert Sibande District service the delivery protests in 2009. We will never get rest until we get closure on his death. Zweli Zungu was a 28 year old from Driefontien, Gert Sibande District. His body was picked up floating in the local dam after last being seen being pursued by police dispersing a protesting crowd. The community was demanding action following the four deaths of school children as a result of mine trucks driving past the community. We will never get rest until we get closure on his death. These brutal murders yet again proves how cheaply black life is valued. There can be no apparition that with the deepening of the NDR and the creation of a black capitalist elite, which tends to be more crass and exploitative that its white counterpart, political and social tension will heighten. The first port off call for municipal, corporate or university management when they catch wind of upcoming protests is the courts, calling for an interdict. Failing this action, police are called en mass to protect profits and interests of the institution. Little attempt is made to create meaningful dialogue until the situation has deteriorated irreparably. Our communities continue to be terrorized by police in raids conducted by the Tactical Response Teams (TRT) or as they are referred to colloquially “amabherethe”. This unit has made it its business “to be the law”. We see these badgless police in helmets tauting automatic guns terrorize patrons in legal and illegal taverns. They indiscriminately manhandle and body-search patrons even touching the sexual parts of females even asking some to do push-ups for their won entertainment. These opportunist raids are often lead by government officials keen on lapping up media exposure in order to be seen as being hands on officials. These opportunistic raids make little sense as little effort is made to close down taverns that still operate next to schools and libraries and chasing down the real criminals. The focus of the SAPS has been on creating a perception and feeling of safety. This is achieved by creating a media campaign and misinformation. Perhaps they ort to be reminded of the words of Amilcar Cabral when he said “Tell No Lies, Claim No Easy Victories”. Indeed we have seen an increase in police visibility. In fact we have seen an overwhelming amount of coverage of the “excellent” work being done by SAPS. However the successes enjoyed have been in respect to the reduction of economic crimes. We have seen success in the reduction of bank robberies, heists, high jacking ect. Little progress has been made in reducing social crimes like rape, assaults and common robberies. The latter affecting the working class more than the former. The police use this fear of crime to build support for themselves and demand more power and resources. We campaign for the accountability of the police. An approach to crime eradication that seeks to increase policing rather that dealing with underlying causes is anti working class and must be condemned with the contempt it deserves. We must appreciate the dialectical connection demonstrated by the protagonists in violent service delivery protests, violent street crime, and that of poverty, unemployment, broken homes, rotten education, drug addiction and alcoholism, and other social ills. These evils have nothing to do with policing and everything to do with the consequences of the evil system of capitalism. If their real function was to stop crime, they would arrest every capitalist on the planet, as these are the true criminals and their regime the real source of all crime. We are and can never be convinced that by the rhetoric that “more police and with ever more gadgetry, can alone control crime." Two questions must be posed. Firstly are members of the police force as actors with the institution of policing indeed members of the working class or are they just workers? Secondly what is the role of Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union (POPCRU) in this current phase of the NDR? As Marxists, we always try to base our intervention on class analysis. So in the case of the police, we must first try to situate them in the class structure of society. The best way to make this analysis is to evaluate how they relate to capital. Workers in general are identified as an assembly of people who must sell their labour as a means of survival. Any attempt to better this situation or even keep up in life comes into direct conflict with the interest of the capitalists who exploit them. The simplest representation therefore is to present the police as ordinary workers doing a dangerous job with no capital at their disposal and hence a part of the working class. However, the locality of the working class requires as a precondition the presence of an opposing class itself harboring real and opposing economic interests. We also know from Marx who once wrote “The State is the machine that saves the domination of a class.” The state is under no circumstances an universally existing institution. Rather it evolves from the absolute necessity that class society has of dealing with the class oppositions that divide it. As a consequence of trying to defend the emerging and opposed interest, the police become the first line of defense against the wrath of the furry of the wretched and down trodden masses. That said unlike other workers whose interest is to get rid of the boss’s rule, the existence of the police is directly tied to the maintenance of the boss’s power through the State and capitalist property relations. Their basic function in this current phase of the NDR is nothing more than that of defending capitalism. POPCRU cannot preoccupy itself with fighting for better wages of the men in blue only. POPCRU has a revolutionary task of converting the men and women from mere workers to conscious members of the working class.
Socialism in our lifetime Sandile Khumalo YCLSA Gert Sibande District Secretary -- 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] .
