Sasco Press Statement

SASCO PRESS STATEMENT

Statement of the second meeting of the 16th NEC

11 May 2010

The National Executive Committee of SASCO convened at Booysens Hotel

between the 7th to the 9th of May 2010. The NEC meeting was

characterized by frank analysis of South African society including

divisive tendencies that are encroaching on the unity and cohesion of

revolutionary forces within the Mass Democratic Movement led by the

ANC.



*HIGHER EDUCATION SUMMIT*



We believe that the Higher Education Summit convened by the Department

of Higher Education between the 21st and the 23rd April was a historic

and epoch-making gathering. We believe that the suggestion that the

summit should take place annually would be an important step forward.

We believe that the Ministry of Higher Education should increase the

representation of students and workers in this summit in order to

avoid its dominance by academics.

* *

*ANTI-COMMUNISM*



We notice that there is a strong anti-communist tendency within the

movement. SASCO vows and commits to combat, isolate and defeat this

anti-communism wherever it rears its ugly head; in society and within

the ANC led movement. This is because we view anti-communism as the

biggest threat to the triumph of the South African revolution. We

believe that those who preach anti-communism are agents of white

monopoly capital planted within the MDM to cause destabilization.



The NEC is well aware that the apartheid regime had identified

communism as the primary danger against white supremacy and therefore

identified it as its principal enemy and therefore mobilized white

South Africans on the basis of a “rooi gevaar”. This strategy

consolidated and prolonged apartheid and racism. The NEC is of the

view that anyone within the MDM who is anti-communist does so at the

service of racism and anti-transformation and therefore does not

deserve a place within any structures of the movement.



*TENDERPRENEURSHIP*



The NEC notes the development of an unproductive stratum of

capitalists that does not depend on its entrepreneurial acumen but on

its connections to the state. We are worried that this has already

begun to construct not only a crony capitalist state but also an

entirely corrupt one. We believe that tenderpreneurship constitutes an

enemy of the revolution. It also constitutes a threat to the

development of our economy.



We believe that these flamboyant but unproductive capitalists are the

major cause for lack in service delivery. We believe that communities

as much as target government but should also focus on tenderpreneurs

when they demand service delivery. It is also in this context that we

support COSATU’s call for lifestyle audits. We believe that dismissal

of this call is opportunistic, ahistoric and irresponsible.

* *

*ESKOM LOAN FROM WORLD BANK*



We view the loan sought by Eskom from the World Bank as a treasonous

act. The liberation struggle was not only directed at the apartheid

regime but was also against monopoly capital and its institutions

particularly Bretton Woods institutions. We view this as more than

just a betrayal but as an abandonment of the anti-imperial struggle.

We have not even recovered from the betrayal of NERSA that imposed

unthinkable tariffs and now Eskom stabs us with a loan that we will

have to repay. We are extremely concerned about the conflict of

interest regarding the ANC’s stake in a company that will reek

millions in profit on the energy crisis.



*ZIMBABWE*



We view the overzealous support for ZANU-PF by some within the

movement as opportunistic, divisive and populist. The movement has

never viewed ZANU-PF as its strategic ally, nor has it ever seen MDC

as its enemy. Our ally ZAPU was decimated violently by the same

ZANU-PF that some now glorify as a benign liberation movement. MDM

leaders who support ZANU-PF have now officially confirmed their

Zanufication.



Even if the ZANU-PF had been our historical ally, this would never

give it the right to trample on the rights of Zimbabweans. Liberation

songs, mythology and a constant reminder of the struggle days will

never absolve an organization from the blunders committed by ZANU-PF

over the past years. It is in this context that we support the South

Africa led SADC mediation efforts and we will not do anything to

jeopardize them and we view as counterproductive all efforts that seek

to compromise the position of the mediators.



*SWAZILAND*



We believe that while the South African media is obsessed with

Zimbabwe much greater crimes are committed daily in Swaziland by the

Swazi monarchy and his henchmen. We believe that media institutions

both domestic and international are complicit to the murders taking

place in Swaziland otherwise there is no explanation for their

ignorance of the human rights abuses that take place there. We commit

ourselves to assist our compatriots in Swaziland in their struggle

against the Tikundla in whichever manner we can.



*For details Contact:*

* *

*Mbulelo Mandlana (President)*

*071 879 3408*

* *

*Lazola Ndamase (Secretary General)*

*082 679 8718*

--
Gugu Ndima
+27 76 783 1516