02 December 2002
On behalf of the Central Committee and the entire membership of the South African Communist Party, I bring revolutionary greetings and warm congratulations to this giant federation on its 17th anniversary. As the SACP we are proud to be associated with this occasion and an organisation like COSATU. We are proud because of the sterling role that this federation has played in organising workers in our country and its enormous contribution in the liberation of our country as well as its role in the task of reconstructing and developing our country. You truly deserve a happy birthday.
A lot has happened over the last seventeen years of the existence of COSATU. Amongst the most notable developments during this period has been the defeat of the apartheid regime, the election of a democratic government with progressive social commitments and the consolidation of a progressive labour market regime. Since 1994 particularly we have seen other major gains, including provision of basic social services to an increasing number of our people who were denied this under the apartheid regime. Most critically we are also seeing the disintegration of attempts to forge a racially constituted opposition bloc based on the fears of the minority. The demise of the DP/NNP Alliance shows that there is no alternative to the policies and political positions other than those of our own Alliance. The overwhelming support that the ANC-led Alliance enjoys, is also as a result of the contributions and sacrifices made by organised workers in our country under the leadership of COSATU.
It is for this reason that perhaps the most important message that should go out of this celebration is the absolute necessity for the unity of our Alliance. We dare not squander this unique relationship by seeking to pit the Alliance against itself. History will never forgive us for this. It is also for this reason that the main message for the Central Committee that the SACP held over this past weekend called for consolidating the principled unity of our Alliance around active programmes. We are also calling upon the workers of our country not to be provoked by these latest attacks around the label of “ultra-left” and instead to rise above it and seek to contribute towards mature, principled and unified leadership of the Alliance. They must understand this attack for what it is – an attempt to divert us from the real issues that face our people – poverty, unemployment, the HIV/AIDS pandemic and violence against women and children. We have no doubt that COSATU will rise to the challenge and be part of those forces that seek to strengthen rather than weaken the Alliance.
We would also like to use this occasion to appeal to the all-important forthcoming 51st Conference of the ANC not to be diverted from discussing and resolving on a programme to fight poverty, fight unemployment, the HIV/AIDS scourge, violence against women and children, the need to defeat the dangerous antics of the right-wing and the development of our continent. We look forward to that conference to provide leadership and position our movement to lead and unite the alliance, rather than to be diverted by labels. Labelling is a short-cut to confronting challenges that face us and is, in essence, an abdication of leadership. We are confident that the ANC Conference will take us out of the current mode of discussing problems and set the Alliance on a sounder footing. We are also convinced that delegates to the ANC Conference will be acutely aware that labelling factionalises and runs the danger of setting the ANC against itself. None of the objectives the NDR has set for itself will be achieved without the unity of the Alliance, and the mobilisation of the working class in particular to drive a transformation programme. The only programme to take the Alliance forward is the Ekurhuleni Alliance Summit Declaration!
We also wish to use this opportunity to call upon the IFP not to gamble with the very carefully crafted arrangement with the ANC. The IFP must not place its narrow provincial interests above the interests of national unity and tackling the poverty that face both our constituencies.
Your 17th anniversary also comes at a time when the relationship between the SACP and COSATU has never been this strong. We commit ourselves to deepening this relationship, as it is the only basis for consolidating the NDR and to set our country on a firmer course towards our ultimate objective of building socialism. To us the organised working class is the backbone of the NDR and the struggle for socialism. The launching of socialist forums by COSATU couldn’t have come at a better time, particularly in the face of a concerted onslaught against the working class, and attempts by the capitalist class, together with its global and domestic allies, to secure South Africa as a capitalist country forever. These socialist forums, amongst other things, provide a concrete basis on which to deepen the relationship between our two formations, and as the SACP we will throw our full weight behind these. In this work, we are guided by the truism that it is only a politically conscious and solidly organised working class that is capable of taking the national democratic revolution through to its logical conclusion.
With these words we say happy birthday, and may you grow from strength to strength, for the sake of our people and our revolution.
Blade Nzimande - General Secretary – South African Communist Party
CONTACT
Mazibuko K. Jara (surname Jara)
Department of Media, Information & Publicity
South African Communist Party
Tel: 27 11 339-3621/2, Fax: 27 11 339-4244 Cell: 083 651 0271
Email - mazibuko@sacp.org.za