20 January 2026
The South African Communist Party in Mpumalanga province held its 15th Plenary Session of the 11th Congress, Augmented PWC which was conducted through the virtual platform on the 18th of January 2026. The meeting took place at the time when the country is engulfed by the disastrous weather conditions affecting the working class and poor in the main. The heavy rains continue to cause havoc in many parts of the province putting more strain on our government and we appeal for the appropriate assistance to the affected families.
The meeting also sat at a time when the world continues to experience the harshness of the neoliberal offensive perpetuated by the United States of America which is unable to deal with the complexities of the speedily changing world and show the terminal weakness to always bring military force instead of a diplomatic tool. The abduction of President Nicolas Maduro is an indication that Donald Trump and America does not respect international law nor does it respect the sovereignty of other countries.
This barbaric behaviour by the Washington Administration under Donald Trump calls for all progressive forces especially the BRICS-plus countries to consolidate and fight for its hegemony. If this conduct goes unchallenged it will further exacerbate to various parts of the world where there are mineral resources to easily get exploited. The solidarity with all marginalised nations by the imperialist powers need to be strengthened and close ranks.
January is a very important month for the South African Communist Party, It is during this month where we commemorate our stalwart, comrade Joe Slovo who was also passionate about education. It is in this context that as the party we would like to once again congratulate the Matric Class of 2025 with especial appreciation to all the working class students who did exceptionally well in their exams. This shows that indeed success in education is not only for the rich but for all.
The party is however very disappointed by the growing tendency of our schools, particularly the “No-Fee” who continue to force parents to buy stationary items including cleaning material, toilet papers as these forms part of the school budget. The buying of printing papers by parents is also illegal and this is also part of the school budget. Education cannot be made a commodity as it is the only hope for the working class to bring about positive change in different families.
It is illogical to force parents who cannot afford to pay R150 school fees but are expected to buy two to four bundles of printing papers which are even more expensive to these parents. The party calls on the education stakeholders, particularly the School Governing Bodies to put the interests of the learners first. We also call for all the schools not to withhold results of the learners alleged not to have paid for their school fees.
One of the advances that we have made since the dawn of democracy is in labour Law which was meant to promote and protect the rights of workers and also do away with exploitations of the workers by the employer. These rights came as a result of lot of struggles and sacrifices made by our forebears and we expect the current government to respect these laws but also punish those that are found to be undermining the rights of workers.
However, the government, especially in municipalities continue to practice an exploitation of one person by another. One such example is the behaviour of Mbombela Local Municipality who just employed more than 250 General Workers which is a step in the right direction. However, these new workers are not treated with dignity, they are doing the same work as the old employees in the same category but are prohibited from getting the same benefits while the old ones doing the same job in the same amount of hours are qualifying for overtime.
This is the clear violation of Basic Conditions of Employment Act and Employment Equality Act as well as the Overtime Policy of the Municipality which clearly stipulates that, Overtime Policy applies to all employees. This behaviour shows that the municipality doesn’t care about the working conditions of its employees, hence it finds it easy to exploit and discriminate against them. The continuous mobilisation for workers to join IMATU against SAMWU is a serios cause for concern and will need a discussion within the revolutionary Alliance.
The SACP is not surprised by this conduct, we view it as part of the neoliberal offensive in the form of austerity measures while the municipality is prioritising service providers that are getting more payment than workers. This is really a cause for concern and It is on those basis the SACP calls for the municipality to do away with outsourcing of services as the tenderisation of the state has proven to benefit the few and majority of people continue to suffer the unemployment, poverty and inequality.
The year 2026 has also not been good for the workers in the private sector who are also facing job losses. Companies like VENCAM, TRANSALLOYS and FERRAALLOYS both from Emalahleni and Steve Tswete municipalities are already contemplating to retrench their workers. This will be a heavy blow to the employees who are bread winners at home and are already facing the high cost of living, and this is the phenomenon that will create an existential thread to the National Democratic Revolution.
It must be understood that these companies are not shedding jobs because there is no work; or markets to sell their products, this is simple methodology of their profit maximising strategy where companies retrench workers and hire new ones who will work as contractors under exploitative working conditions. They are putting profits before the people and we are calling upon workers irrespective of union affiliation, and progressive forces to unite against the job bloodbath in our province.
All these developments are a clear sign that the National Democratic Revolution is indeed taking a detour and will need the party to take a responsibilty of it. The continuing implementation of neoliberal policies through austerity measures by the government has found its expression in private companies as well. To win this battle, there has to be unity of the left forces under a vanguard party of the working class.
It is for this reason that the party in its Special National Congress took a decision to contest the upcoming Local Government Elections to rescue the National Democratic Revolution from the total collapse. It is only through the vanguard party that the voice of the working class and poor masses can find proper representation in government that will serve their interests and not that of bourgeoisie and petty-bourgeoisie parties.
The South African Communist Party is inviting all the progressive forces of the left to join forces as the road ahead is gaining momentum. Without the Left Popular Front to unite the people’s camp for the total liberation of the working class, the neoliberal hegemony will continue to wreak havoc to the poor masses and it is for this reason that the party believes the working class and poor cannot have a crisis of representation while it is available.
Issued By: The South African Communist Party, Mpumalanga Province
For further enquiries contact:
Lucky Mbuyane
SACP Provincial Secretary
082 351 5804
OR
Lesetja Dikgale
SACP Spokesperson
076 869 4360
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FOUNDED IN 1921 AS THE COMMUNIST PARTY OF SOUTH AFRICA.
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