*YCLSA Eastern Cape press statement* * *
January 24, 2012 * * *YCLSA Eastern Cape PEC Statement* * * The Young Communist League of South Africa [uFasimba] in the Eastern Cape Province convened on January 22, 2012 held a Provincial Executive Committee [PEC] meeting at the SACP office, in Bisho. This was the first Provincial Executive Committee Meeting for the year 2012. The Provincial Executive Committee received political and organisational report. The Provincial Executive Committee held this important gathering to assess the organisation, political analysis and to pave way forward in our endeavour to destruct the capitalist system for the people’s power. We held this gathering to look unto the challenges facing the young people of the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa and international. We met just few days after we had a successful Joe Slovo Right to Learn Campaign, which was held on the 10th and 11th of January 2011 respectively, which we always have annually. Our programme was embraced by the presence of the YCLSA National Secretary, Cde Buti Manamela, the YCLSA head of secretariat-Cde Sikhumbuzo Mdlalose, the YCLSA Provincial Deputy Chairperson of Mpumalanga Province, National Committee members and our SACP PWC member Cde Fezeka Loliwe. The theme of our campaign was “make education fashionable”, in the name of the late former General Secretary, National Chairperson of the South African Communist Party, a leader of the African National Congress and a member of the Revolutionary Council and Chief of staff of Umkhonto wesizwe, Cde Joe Slovo whom we say “as long as YCLSA lives Joe Slovo’s ideas will never die”. Our campaign continues to show progress and improvements in the areas which we visited. *ON EDUCATION* We are impressed by the MEC of the Department of Education, Hon Mandla Makhupula and the Head of the Department respectively, however strongly believe that more should be done in the interest of the students of our Province. It is this year for the first time in the province that learning material has reached schools in time and effectively. We also appreciate the fact that scholar transport and nutrition is working very fine. There are now constant interaction between the departments and stakeholders in the province. We appreciate the commitment of the Alliance in the Province in transforming and resolving the challenges in the Eastern Cape Department of Education. We would like to state it categorically clear to all progressive formations that the challenge in education system is the Peter Morkel model, this model continues to be a problem in the education system and must be discussed in the congress movement and the ANC forthcoming policy conference is an strategic area to engage and address the matter. We believe the current funding formula of the institutions of Higher Learning remains a challenge to the sons and daughters of the working class. This formula remains the financial and academic exclusion to the sons and daughters of the working class. In an attempt to redress the historical imbalances forced upon us by the apartheid capitalism we are in dire need of transformation in this front. We are extremely dismayed by the industrial action as carried out by the South African Democratic Teachers Union (SADTU) in the Province. These actions in our own view are only compromising the future of the working class children as they have no basis but only an obsession on the removal of Adv Modidima Mannya as the head of the Department of Education in the province. If SADTU genuinely fights for the post provisioning for temporal educators, they should welcome the redeployment of educators as proposed by the department as it will create a smooth post provisioning for theses temporal educators. It is now increasingly clear to us that SADTU has no interest of the students at heart but their narrow selfish agenda, may be that is why they do not take their children to the schools they are working on but take them to the former modern C schools. The question arises, *Do they have confidence in the work they are (suppose) providing? *We must say it that it is saddening to see the leadership of COSAS making more sense than the Provincial leadership of SADTU; it shows who really harbour the interests of the sons and daughters of the working class between SADTU and COSAS. We concluded that the go slows by SADTU is counter revolutionary and populist in nature, to grand stand on the interest of the working class learners. As part of engaging on this matter, the Provincial executive Committee resolved to engage our mother-body the South African Communist Party, the real vanguard of the working class to convene a bilateral with SADTU with immediate effect to engage on the matter as part of solving the bickering between department head and SADTU. We note and welcome the green paper on the Higher Education and Training released by the Department of Higher Education and Training as led by Dr Blade Nzimande. We believe this document seeks to propose transformation of the higher education and to revolutionaries the content of our education. As we debated this green paper, the YCL in the province is of the view that at the centre of the debate there must be a creation of a system that breaks with the barriers of apartheid capitalism and neo-liberalism that sway hold over a period of time in society and de-stigmatisation of FET colleges in the society so as to encourage students to enrol at FET colleges to acquire all the necessary skills required by the society. *ON YOUTH DEVELOPMENT* * * Youth unemployment remains high in the province and youth unemployment is a crisis of capitalism. We are seriously concerned by the abnormally rising unemployment, young people infected by the HIV/AIDS, illiteracy and exorbitant fees in the doors of higher learning. We remain convinced that these challenges need a scientific and urgent response. The Provincial Executive Committee resolved to convene a Job for Youth Summit before end March 2012, where all youth formations across the province will be invited to discuss the crisis of unemployment that reproduces inequality, unemployment, youth slavery, poverty and under-development. *Issued by YCLSA Eastern Cape Province.* * * For more information please contact: Cde Mluleki Dlelanga YCLSA Provincial Secretary Cell: 078 642 9004 * * -- 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] .
