Next step on the South African road to socialism

Report on the 12th Congress of the South African Communist Party, 11–15 July 2007

Last week’s Unity [18 August 2007] carried a brief report from the South African Communist Party’s 12th Congress, held on 11–15 July at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University in Port Elizabeth. In that report Joe Simms of the Communist Party of the USA captured something of the buoyant mood of the 1,500 delegates and the key issues they debated on state power, the role of the party, developing a left economic alternative, and the prospects for progress within the international balance of forces.
     As clearly seen from the front-page media coverage in South Africa, an SACP congress is an event of major political importance, not only for the party itself, its allies in the African National Congress (ANC) and the Congress of South African Trades Unions (COSATU) but for the country as a whole. It is also an event of considerable importance internationally. This was recognised by the large number of communist and workers’ parties that had sent representatives to the congress, including the Communist Party of Ireland.
     Issues raised at the congress and their implications for Irish communists will be dealt with in this and further articles in Unity.

Communists to the front!
Since its last congress the SACP has doubled its membership, to 51,000, the majority of whom are aged between 20 and 39. It has also relaunched with great success the Young Communist League—“our young red lions,” as one speaker at the congress called them. The vibrancy of the communist movement in South Africa is a magnificent rebuff on behalf of all communists to the constant assertions by the capitalist establishment that “communism is dead.” It shows that the task of consolidating and expanding communist organisation, based on principled Marxist-Leninist methods, is a realisable goal.
     The energy of the SACP was seen each day of the congress. Firstly there was the sophistication of the debate and the broad range and depth of experience that was being drawn on. There was also the respectful and good-humoured tone of the formal and informal exchanges between the delegates, whether they were unemployed shack-dwellers or cabinet ministers. And then there was the singing and dancing that could break out in any part of the hall, at any time, to stress a point, greet a speaker, or bring delegates together after a sharp exchange of views.
     This was truly a “congress of the branches,” as many speakers emphasised. The two years of discussion and debate both within and outside party structures had identified broad areas of agreement over such issues as the continuing central importance of the tripartite alliance of the ANC, COSATU and SACP but also the issues in debate, such as the extent of independence that the party should have in the alliance.
     A key message from the congress was that the SACP has grown because it had stuck to its Marxist-Leninist principles and been prepared to consistently speak up and act in defence of workers and the poor: “Communists to the front,” as their slogan put it. That has meant holding firm to the social and economic policy direction advanced by the ANC during its first years in power but which since 1996 has been undermined by leading elements in ANC government circles who have become enmeshed with the interests of local white capital and globalisation.
     The congress reaffirmed policies that resonate with those agreed at last year’s congress of the Communist Party of Ireland. The SACP is committed to an active state-led industrial policy, including the renationalisation of key industries, such as oil and steel; to coherent land and agrarian reform in the interests of the landless and the rural poor; and to the building of a strong public sector, and opposition to privatisation, in order to provide for the pressing education and health needs of the mass of the South African people.
     The congress also reaffirmed the importance of carrying forward patient, non-sectarian work within the Tripartite Alliance, alongside consistent support and leadership in the mobilisation of working-class forces in strike action and community protest—a way of working that communists are schooled in, whatever their national context. The incoming Central Committee was mandated to consider the full range of possibilities in which the party might contest state power through elections and the implications for reconfiguring the Tripartite Alliance to allow for greater party independence and visibility.
     It was stressed by a number of speakers that in deciding on the details of these issues the focus had to consistently be on how best to give expression not to party but to working-class power in the work-place, in communities, and in the apparatus of the state. In this way, based on the values of solidarity and collective action, the working class would take the next step in advancing along the South African Road to Socialism—a next step which was clearly summed up in the congress slogan:
               Make the second decade of freedom the decade of the workers and poor!

International solidarity with the SACP

Solidarity greetings were sent to the South African Communist Party’s 12th Congress from all over the world. Keynote addresses were given by the Communist Party of China, the Communist Party of Cuba, and the Communist Party of Venezuela. Two members of the National Executive Committee of the Communist Party of Ireland attended and presented the following message of solidarity, along with a copy of City in Revolt: James Larkin and the Belfast Dock Strike of 1907, signed by its author, John Gray.

“On behalf of the Communist Party of Ireland I would like to extend revolutionary greetings to the 12th National Congress of the SACP, to all the delegates and members of your militant, fighting, anti-imperialist party.
     “Today our world is characterised by the growing movements of people across the globe demanding an end to war and aggression. People are demanding a more equitable and just international economic and social order. The forces of imperialism increasingly are having to respond to the demands for fair and just trading relations as against imperialist free trade.
     “The peoples of Latin America are throwing off decades of repression, of the imposition of neo-liberalist economic policies and attempting to build more just societies. Imperialism is meeting growing and sustained resistance on that continent.
     “Your continent is once again experiencing the ravages of a ‘scramble for Africa’ as global corporations and imperialism attempt to rob the people of their natural resources, condemning them to a life of poverty.
     “We salute your contribution to the liberation struggle of the oppressed majority people of South Africa. Your congress will contribute to a greater understanding of the process of deepening the democratic struggle, which will open up new opportunities for the working class of South Africa to advance towards socialism. Your party is an example to us in your commitment to the fight against imperialism.”
The South African Communist Party was founded in 1921 and has been in the forefront of the struggle against imperialism and racist domination ever since. The SACP is a partner in the Tripartite Alliance, consisting of the African National Congress (ANC) and the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU). There are communists at all levels within the ranks of COSATU and the ANC, including holding positions in government. The youth wing of the SACP is the Young Communist League. To find out more about the SACP and the YCL visit their web sites at www.sacp.org.za and www.ycl.org.za/.

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