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Communists should stand firmly behind ANC in local polls
Phatse Justice Piitso, The New Age, Johannesburg, 17 June 2016
On August 3 the people of our country will exercise their democratic right
to vote in the local government elections. This will be a titanic battle
between the revolutionary forces led by the galant ANC and forces of
reaction in the ranks of the DA counter revolutionary forces.
We take this opportunity to urge all formations of the working class in our
country to use the coming local elections as a decisive moment for the
defence of the victories of our national democratic revolution. There is no
other party which carries the interests and aspirations of the South African
working class other than the ANC.
One of the most important theoretical debates dominating the election period
is the question of the vanguard role of the communist party in our
liberation movement and its relationship to state power. There are growing
voices from within and from outside our national liberation movement that
call for the communist party to contest the local elections on its own as an
independent party.
This is not just rhetoric but the most fundamental theoretical question
arising out of the historic necessity of the role of the communist party as
a political leader of the struggles of the working class. It is an
indispensable question which is necessarily about the leadership role of the
party in the class struggle and hegemony of the working class power.
This question will continue to dominate debates in society as long as the
antagonistic relationships between the systems of capitalism and communism
continue to be the principal feature of our society. It will shape our
ideological debates as long as the inherent contradictions of the dominant
capitalist world continue to impose themselves onto the world of humanity.
But the fundamental question which arises regularly is whether the necessary
objective conditions exist within the South African realities for the party
to contest the coming elections on its own as an independent party.
Surely this is a question which requires our deeper analysis of the
prevailing material conditions in our country and the world.
The communist parties of the world are duty bound to abide by the universal
principles set out in the communist manifesto which, among other things,
say: "the communists do not form a separate party opposed to other working
class parties. They have no interest separate and apart from those of the
proletariat as a whole. They do not set out any sectarian principles on
their own, by which to shape and mould the proletariat movement."
Further, that "the communist parties of the world are distinguished from the
other working class parties by the following characteristics. In the
national struggle of the proletariats of the different countries, they point
out and bring to the front the common interests of the entire proletariat,
independent of nationality.
In the various stages of development which the struggle of the working class
against the bourgeoisie has to pass through, they always and everywhere
represent the interest of the movement as a whole."
Vladimir Lenin says the following in the strategy and tactics of the
communist movement: "In its own interest, the working class should strive to
lead the national democratic revolution and not allow the leadership of the
revolution to be assumed by the bourgeoisie, but on the contrary, to take
the most energetic part in it, to fight resolutely for consistent
proletariat democratism, for the revolution to be carried to its logical
conclusion."
In other words the communist party is comprised of the most advanced
sections of the working class guided by our revolutionary scientific theory
of Marxism Leninism. Its historic mission is to consolidate the political
and socio-economic hegemony of this class which constitute the majority of
the population of the world.
On the basis of a scientific analysis of the new epoch of imperialism,
Vladimir Lenin creatively and comprehensively developed the views of Marxism
on the national and colonial question. He understood that the struggle for
the liberation of the oppressed nationalities would inevitably intensify the
crisis of the capitalist world.
The sixth congress of the international communist movement of 1928
instructed the communist parties of the world to unite the working class in
their struggle against imperialism and at the same time creating conducive
environment for the building of socialism.
They were instructed to oppose national oppression, fight for national
equality and the self determination of the oppressed nations and fully
support the struggle of the national liberation movements against
colonialism and imperialism.
The plenary session of the sixth congress of the international communist
movement characterised our own specific South African situation as
colonialism of a special type. It instructed the communist party of South
Africa to adopt the slogan for the creation of an independent native South
African republic with full equal rights for all races.
It is from this context therefore that in our pursuit to our struggle for a
future socialist South Africa, we apply the correct scientific analysis of
the objective realities of our historical period.
In our own instance, the party therefore is duty bound to be part of the
liberation movement in our struggle to eradicate the legacy of colonialism
of a special type.
Therefore in our own contemporary epoch of our transition from apartheid
colonialism of a special type to a national democratic society, our national
democratic revolution becomes our highest form of struggle. The transfer of
socio economic power from the minority to the African people who constitute
the majority of the population becomes our immediate programme.
Our understanding is that our national democratic revolution headed by the
ANC is a minimum programme of the party towards the attainment of the
objectives of our socialist future, whilst socialism itself is the maximum
programme for the attainment of the future of humanity, which is the
communist society.
Therefore the leading role of the working class in the current stage of our
transition, constitute a vanguard of our struggle for the victory of our
national democratic revolution.
The participation of the communist party in our struggle for the
reconstruction of a new society is an essential step in our forward march to
the future socialist society.
The communist party cannot be a faction in the structures of the ANC but a
vanguard leader in our overall struggle for the victory of our national
democratic revolution.
Members of the communist party must occupy the forefront trenches of our
struggle for liberation as genuine members of the ANC.
The question whether the party must contest elections or not is not about
our feelings or our opportunistic selfish interest in the movement as a
whole, but about the strategic objectives of the struggles of the working
class for political power.
It will be dangerous for the party to isolate itself in the current epoch of
the most hostile world dominated by forces of imperialism.
The communist party still has an important role to play in ensuring that our
people attain the complete victory of the struggle of our national
democratic revolution. Therefore we must not allow those who want to turn
our party into a wagon to carry their selfish interest at the expense of the
struggle of the working class.
Members of the communist party must participate in the internal processes of
the movement in their individual right as genuine members of the ANC. We
need to guard against those who want to be more revolutionary than others
only when they are not occupying positions of responsibility in the
movement.
Any endeavour to bring the debate about the party and state power by those
who lost during the process of nomination of candidates for the coming
elections will be tantamount to counter revolution. The party cannot be a
material force to negotiate for positions in the national liberation
movement and our democratic state in general.
The immediate role of the party as the vanguard leader of the struggles of
the working class is to strengthen the ANC as a revolutionary mass movement
for change. The ANC is the only hope for the aspirations and wishes of the
majority of the people of our country.
The ANC is not just a nationalist movement, but a revolutionary nationalist
movement. This is reflected in its posture of a mass character representing
all other classes and sections of our society. The ANC is the centre of the
world-wide struggle against imperialism and the legacy of colonialism.
Our struggle for the building of a national democratic society is still an
inseparable part of the world wide struggle against imperialism.
We need therefore appreciate the contribution of the party to the common
struggle of our people to build a non racial, non sexist, democratic and
prosperous society.
The struggle against the legacy of national oppression and class
exploitation are not contradictory. Therefore the role of the party is to
consolidate the unity of our revolutionary alliance to meet the objectives
of our national democratic revolution.
It is on this basis that the working class across the country should work
hard in ensuring that the ANC gets an overwhelming majority in the
forthcoming local government elections. The eyes of world imperialism are
here to reverse the gains of our revolution.
. Phatse Justice Piitso is a former provincial secretary of the SACP and
writes in his personal capacity
From: http://tnaepaper.co.za/DRIVE/main%20edition/17062016/epaperpdf/20.pdf
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