Statement of the SACP Central Committee Meeting

16 September 2001

The Central Committee (CC) of the South African Communist Party (SACP) met over the weekend of the 14-16th September in Johannesburg.

The CC was meeting in the immediate aftermath of the tragic attacks on New York and Washington. The CC emphatically re-affirmed the perspective briefly outlined in the SACP statement of the 11th September. Absolutely nothing, no ideology, no sense of grievance, no injustice suffered can remotely begin to justify these barbarous actions. The SACP unambiguously condemns these terror attacks. The SACP has been in dynamic contact with our many American friends to express our solidarity and condolences.

Of course, in this era of globalisation, cities like New York and Washington are homes to, and workplaces for people from all over the world. One of the missing persons, a probable victim of these attacks, is a young South African, the nephew of those outstanding SACP stalwarts, Ray Alexander and the late Jack Simons.

Out of our shared sense of outrage and sympathy, the SACP calls upon the government and people of the US to demonstrate maturity and restraint. Fanning chauvinistic anti-Arab, Islamo-phobic sentiments or stirring up mass hysteria around the call for revenge will be absolutely counter-productive.

Those responsible for these terrorism attacks must be brought to book. There is, however, a danger that the US administration will take advantage of this tragedy to strengthen forces of repression and international military aggression. Now is the time for all people of conscience, all people who oppose racism and war to come together in all countries of the world to work for world peace.

If, indeed, the US administration is right to characterise the attacks as being not just against the US, but against human civilisation, then all people of the world who espouse democracy and human solidarity should have a say in the appropriate response. For the SACP this response must be building global solidarity with people around the world struggling against war, poverty and exploitation and deepening the movement to protest unilateral aggression from whatever side.

We call on all progressives in the US to use this tragedy to open up a rational, intelligent, balanced and introspective debate on the role and responsibility of the US and its people in the world in the struggle to ensure peace, development and a more equitable world. It is in the self-interests of the majority of the people of America, and all humanity that this happens.

THE WAY FORWARD ON THE RESTRUCTURING OF STATE ASSETS

The CC discussed at length and in-depth the recent anti-privatisation worker mobilisation and 2-day strike led by COSATU and supported by the SACP.

A range of views were freely expressed and debated in the CC. After considerable discussion the CC was unanimously agreed on the way forward. In the course of the following days and weeks we will be engaging our own structures and our allies with this way forward, which includes the following main points:

1. The SACP believes it is possible and necessary to unite our tripartite alliance around the positive perspective of building and extending a powerful, democratic and strategically effective public sector, including a publicly owned parastatal, sector. We believe that our entire alliance has every reason to foster confidence in the critical role of a democratic public sector. The case for growing and transforming the public sector includes:

• The social delivery role of the public sector +IBM- the profit driven private sector is absolutely incapable of ensuring the efficient, affordable and sustained rolling out and provision of basic social needs like water, electricity, transport, land, telecommunications, health-care and education.
• The economic growth and development role of the public sector the myopic, short-term vision of private sector investors is also entirely inadequate to overcoming the huge structural distortions of the South African and Southern African economies. We need an economically active and strategically effective public and parastatal sector for sustainable economic growth.
• An effective and growing public sector is also critical to buttress national sovereignty in a wide range of areas from public broadcasting, cultural development, the safety of citizens, to security at airports. The privatisation frenzy threatens not just social security and sustainable economic growth, it also threatens the safety and moral character of the kind of society we are trying to build.
• Building efficient and accountable corporate governance of publicly owned entities the SACP's commitment to building a powerful public sector should not be confused with the defence of a bureaucratic or purely legal state ownership of economic entities. Many of the weaknesses of the recent past in South Africa have not been due to privatisation so much as weak public sector corporate governance.

2. Defending and popularising this perspective will require ongoing mobilisation. There is a relentless unremitting campaign by well-resourced pro-privatisation forces on our government and movement. These forces have vested, or potential interests in the privatisation of public resources that will be absolutely inimical to the interests of our National Democratic Revolution. It is both necessary and legitimate to sustain worker and popular mobilisation against this agenda.

3. The key objective of the SACP in the coming period is to build alliance unity around these perspectives. Ongoing popular mobilisation must, at all times, be geared to ensure that we take forward, rather than compromise, the consolidation of a united alliance perspective that enjoys the support and understanding of our mass constituency.

4. The CC was critical of some recent media statements by SACP and alliance comrades, on all sides of the recent debate. The CC encourages debate, including public debate. The defence of a democratic public sector is, precisely, a matter of public interest. However, statements that undermine the integrity of the SACP, or its alliance partners, or that question the bona fides of leading movement personalities are not helpful.

TAKING FORWARD THE FINANCIAL SECTOR CAMPAIGN

The CC received an extensive report on the SACP-led campaign for the transformation and diversification of the financial sector. The campaign was launched in October last year.

The CC noted with satisfaction that the key demand of the numerous marches, pickets and rallies in October last year has borne fruit. A NEDLAC convened Financial Sector Summit will now be convened in November this year.

The CC believes that key outcomes of this Summit need to include:

• a commitment to and framework for legislation on community re-investment and prescribed assets
• specific legislation for co-operative banks
• the strengthening of the role and functions of a publicly-owned Postbank
• the strengthening of the developmental role of public financial institutions such as the Land Bank and the Industrial Development Corporation
• effective state regulation of the Credit Bureaux and micro-lenders

In general the Summit must be premised on the fundamental transformation and diversification of the financial sector, so that it is able to respond effectively to our economic growth and development objectives.

The CC also received numerous reports of local level activities and popular advances inspired by the campaign, ranging from rural Eastern Cape towns where communities have negotiated special payment arrangements with banks for pensioners, to gains by self-employed women in KwaZulu Natal who, despite denials by banks, had previously been refused banking facilities.

In the course of this year's Red October Campaign, the SACP and a wide range of popular formations will again heighten activity on this front, including through the public collection of demands for the NEDLAC Summit, and a National People's Summit to be convened ahead of the NEDLAC Meeting.

TRIBUTE TO GOVAN MBEKI

The CC paid tribute to one of the most outstanding members of the Communist Party in South Africa, the late Comrade Govan Mbeki. The SACP draws strength and inspiration from the life of this great Marxist intellectual, writer, journalist, teacher, organiser and freedom fighter.

CONTACT
Mazibuko Kanyiso Jara (surname Jara)
Department of Media, Information and Publicity
South African Communist Party
Tel: 011 339 3621
Fax: 011 339 4244
Email: sacp1@wn.apc.org
Cell: 083 651 0271