Aah, but there is a very big difference, comrade. The communists, as SACP and as CPSA before that, have helped the ANC to grow to the great and victorious liberation movement that it has been, and still is.
But the communists never tried to turn the ANC into a clone or a puppet of the Party. They built the ANC to be the ANC, to be itself, which is a vehicle for unity-in-action, and a class alliance for unity-in-action. When you hear people talking about "swelling the ranks", you could be mistaken for thinking that they are all talking about the same good process of helping the ANC to grow. But after a while you will have to conclude that when COSATU talks about "swelling the ranks", and when NUMSA talks about "swelling the ranks" (even "swelling the ranks of the SACP"!), what they are talking about is a takeover. And this is what Gwede means when he talks of the "myth of takeover". Indeed it is a myth. It will never happen. There is not a single branch of the ANC that has ever been taken over by NUMSA, or by COSATU. If there would ever be a single one, then it would be a freak - a flook. It is therefore safe to say that there will not be a single ANC delegate who is taking a NUMSA or COSATU mandate to any ANC Conference in the foreseeable future. The Party is principled in the way that it builds mass democratic organisations - and that includes COSATU by the way. It is our main work. It comes out of our constitutional obligation as SACP to educate, organise and mobilise. We build the mass democratic movement as a matter of course. This building of the MDM is the core activity of the National Democratic Revolution. The other thing, the unprincipled thing that NUMSA is currently advocating, is what is called *entryism*. That is when you target another organisation for takeover by your footsoldiers. Not only is it unprincipled, but it is a myth. It is not practical. It is not going to happen. Some of you are hardened ultra-leftists. God help you. Others are just inexperienced. Those ones should watch, listen and learn. For those who (don't ask me why) complain of no debate, please note that the ANC Policy conference discussion documents will be out on Monday. Please read them at once comrades and comment on them. On 28 February 2012 08:51, <[email protected]> wrote: > I really do not see a problem with NUMSA telling their members that they > must go to their respective branches and influence on the type of > leadership the ANC must have amongst other things, NUMSA has probably feel > that their interests are not being taken care of as workers. > > I do not see how different it is from the communists telling their members > to swell the ranks of the anc and influence policies so that the ANC policy > positions are working class biased > > We must also acknowledge that Cloete understands how the ANC works and > that leadership can only be influenced in branches of the ANC hence the > assertion that NUMSA members must participate in their branches > Sent via my BlackBerry from Vodacom - let your email find you! > > -- 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] .
