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DEBATES |
Urban Futures: Selling the Soul of Jozi and Wits
Comment by Mark Weinberg, SANGOCO Media Officer (SANGOCO
stands for the South African NGO Coalition).
For thousands of Johannesburg residents the week of 10 to 14 July was not
like any other. They searched for jobs that do not exist, struggled to find food
to feed their families, and battled to find resources to pay for increasingly
unaffordable basic services.
At the same time, academics, councillors and bureaucrats discussed the future
of Johannesburg in-between cocktail parties. Delegates from overseas joined
local policy-makers were hosted by the Greater Johannesburg Metropolitan Council
and the University of the Witwatersrand. The conference was called Urban
Futures, and claimed to provide creative solutions to problems of urban
populations in the 21st century.
Many activists were disturbed by the exclusiveness of the conference and its
programme. The R400 registration fee for local delegates prevented ordinary
local residents from participating in the conference and bringing their ideas
and experiences.
The communities of Johannesburg were not represented in the programme. What
was the political agenda behind the Urban Futures conference? However much Wits
2001 and iGoli 2002 are resisted, Urban Futures, promised to Rocket you into
iGoli 2002 - throwing peoples needs and ideas aside.
Rather, we should have community participation to discuss the future of our
cities and universities.
Fewer, worse jobs: Interpreting the latest jobs data
By Fiona Tregenna, a researcher at the COSATU parliamentary
office and SACP member.
Dudu Hadebe does domestic work for her cousins family once a week and
receives food and transport money in return. Hennie Abrahams stands on Adderley
Street showing cars where to park and hoping for some small change in return.
Andile Madikane, a retrenched mineworker, grows vegetables at his Eastern Cape
home and last week he brought some extra vegetables to the nearby town to hawk.
Are these people employed? And can such activities ever be a substitute for
quality, stable formal sector jobs?
According to the latest figures from Statistics South Africa, these answer to
the first question is yes. And too many reporters seem to have concluded that
the answer to the second must then also be yes.
Yet clearly, it makes more sense to call these activities disguised
unemployment. They do not generate an income that will support an individual,
much less a family; they will hardly enhance economic growth in the long run;
and they have little prospects for improving skills or raising productivity.
This is how the Press reported the findings of the 1998 October Household
Survey (OHS), published recently by Statistics South Africa:
Between October 1996 and October 1998, the total number of employed
people remained basically stable, at 9.3 to 9.4 million.
Formal sector jobs (excluding agriculture and a few other activities)
declined from 5.2 to 4.9 million, while informal employment rose by about the
same amount, to 1.3 million, and agricultural employment grew from 0.8 to 0.9
million. In addition, a residual category of formal sector employment has
declined by over 100 000.
The unemployment rate (unemployed as a percentage of the economically active
population) increased steadily from 19.3% in 1996 to 21% in 1997 to 25.2% in
1998 under the narrow definition, and from 33% in 1996 to 36% in 1997 to 38% in
1998 under the expanded definition. Figures for the economically active do
not include people who are not available for work such as housewives, students,
retired people, and the disabled.
A million more unemployed
Ultimately, the figures confirm the massive unemployment crisis facing South
Africa. The OHS finds that the number of people who are not working but are able
to work and willing to start within a week of being interviewed (the
expanded definition of unemployment) rose by more than a million in two
years alone, from 1996 to 1998! Even using the narrow definition of unemployment
(excluding people who have not actively sought work in the four weeks prior to
being interviewed), the ranks of the unemployed still swelled by just under a
million people over the period. This is put down largely to new entrants to the
labour market, as though this is not real unemployment. The available
evidence suggests that the situation has worsened further since 1996.
And unemployment discriminates heavily by race and gender. Unemployment for
Africans is highest and is growing fastest. Non-urban African women face an
unemployment rate of 60%, compared to 6% for white urban men.
People turn to survival strategies
Since there is virtually no safety net for the unemployed in South Africa,
when workers lose real jobs they and their families cannot afford to sit at home
and wait for equivalent work. Instead, they must engage in any income-generating
activity they can find, however oppressive or poorly paid. The OHS does not
distinguish between survival activities born of desperation, which do not even
pay enough to subsist on, and other kinds of informal employment which could
actually help alleviate poverty or serve as a bridge to decent employment.
While income figures for the 1998 OHS have not been released, in past years
the survey included people with monthly incomes as low as R10 as being
employed. It is obvious that these types of jobs do nothing to
alleviate poverty or raise productivity. It will be important for Statistics
South Africa to release income figures from the OHS, which would be revealing
both in terms of the lowest incomes earned by those counted as employed,
as well as in terms of assessing changes in the aggregate real income of
workers.
Some technical problems
Accurate, timely, and relevant data is crucial to understanding developmental
challenges and to formulating and evaluating policy. The OHS plays an important
role in providing an understanding of broad social trends. But the results are
not fully comparable year on year, however, because the sampling methods and
questions vary every year, and some questions (for instance, on what constitutes
employment) leave considerable discretion to the enumerator and the
subject. As a result of these problems, the OHS has been marked by wild swings
in findings between years. That makes it hard to draw robust conclusions from
the comparison of the 1996 and 1998 surveys. The use by Statistics South Africa
of the narrow definition is also dubious and could form part of a political
agenda to minimise the definition of unemployment.
The massive inconsistencies point to some difficulties with reaching very
strong conclusions about employment shifts outside the formal sector. Obvious
incongruities emerge in the findings on agricultural and domestic work.
The survey suggests agricultural employment grew 30% from 1997 to 1998, after
declining 5% in the previous year - and earlier Household Surveys suggest a
decline of 600 000 in the previous four years. There does not seem to be any
obvious economic reason for this jump, and it is difficult to reconcile it with
the widely reported large-scale job losses over the past few years. This
discrepancy might arise from definitional problems - agriculture could
include anything from maintaining a market garden to full-time farm work; and
could also reflect sampling differences, since a minor shift in the sample to
include more rural households could greatly increase the agricultural work.
In terms of domestic workers, the survey found that from 1996 to 1997,
employment of domestic workers dropped by 72 000, then grew by 80 000 in the
following year. That means that the number of domestic workers fluctuated by 20%
in these two years, falling 10 per cent in one year only to rise 12% the next.
Again, there is no obvious economic reason for this massive swing, which could
well reflect definitional problems.
Unemployment crisis confirmed, strong solutions needed
COSATU has pointed to a number of causes of the jobs haemorrhage of the past
few years, including the capital strike and particularly lack of productive
investment by business, excessively tight monetary policy, rapid tariff
reductions, and fiscal austerity. Our recent mass action campaign - supported
not only by millions or organised workers but also by the masses of unemployed -
drew attention to these problems and demanded changes. Accurate and credible
statistics have an important role to play in analysing situation and pointing to
policy priorities. While we may have problems with the detail, the latest
figures released by Statistics South Africa only confirm the extent of the
crisis and the urgent need for solutions.
COSATU points to dangers of current path on inflation
COSATU Press Statement issued in May
Current press reports suggest that the Reserve Bank will
likely raise interest rates in an attempt to reach the inflation target set
earlier this year at 3 to 6 per cent.
This is precisely the reason that COSATU rejected inflation targeting in its
present form. We said that the danger of targets would be inflexibility: that
external shocks would be met by drastic measures to slow the domestic economy,
in order to meet targets that had become irrelevant due to unexpected changes in
circumstances. It makes more sense to institute periodic reviews of the targets
than to stick to them irrespective of changing conditions.
Certainly inflationary pressures have built up. But these pressures do not
arise because of a booming economy. Far from it: at 0,9 per cent growth in the
last quarter, production per South African actually declined at an annual rate
of over 1 per cent. Rather, price rises arise because
- the floods pushed up food prices, which particularly
harms working people on low incomes. Inflation for households earning under
R2500 a year is already running at between 6 and 7 per cent. - devaluation increases the prices of imports,
including fuel.
In these circumstances, trying to stick to the original inflation targets
risks imposing disproportionate economic and social burdens on working people.
Raising the interest rate to reduce inflation aims explicitly to undercut the
economic expansion. That will not raise productivity in agriculture, and in the
long run does not build an attractive environment for foreign investors.
Instead, it will add to job losses, worsen poverty and cause immense hardship.
With unemployment already at 38 per cent, these are costs our country cannot
afford.
A more appropriate strategy would take a longer-term perspective, weighing
carefully the costs of a few points more inflation against the hardship imposed
by higher interest rates, leading in turn to declining investment, job losses
and deepening poverty. Such a strategy would, as Governor Mboweni of the Reserve
Bank implies, aim rather to restructure the economy to raise productivity and
make it less vulnerable to external shocks. Above all, we need to reverse the
current investment strike, which in the past two years has seen a 6-per-cent
decline, in real terms, in private investment.
COSATU has called for an inclusive discussion of all economic policies, in
order to develop more appropriate and broadly supported strategies for social
and economic development. The imposition of inflation targets, and their defence
through admittedly unproductive and irrational interest-rate hikes, should be
halted until those discussions have reached finality
Dont Pay Twice for Apartheid
President Thabo Mbeki was in Copenhagen, Denmark in early
June. A group made up of Jubilee 2000 Denmark and the former anti-apartheid
organisation, Southern Africa Contact (Denmark), held a picket outside the South
African embassy in Copenhagen. The letter below was handed over to President
Mbeki.
Dear Mr. President Thabo Mbeki
South Africa has come far since apartheid was abolished. For generations,
black people suffered under this regime. Now the people are forced to pay back
the very loans that financed the Apartheid Regime and its wars throughout
Southern Africa.
To service the debt from apartheid, South Africa pays 18 billion Rand every
year. This is the example set to the rest of the financial world about the
risks involved in financing crimes against humanity! We campaigned for
sanctions against the apartheid regime, and financial sanctions were adopted by
Denmark and many other countries as well as the United Nations, but still the
sanctions busting banks are rewarded for their reckless loans to the old regime.
The money, which they extort from the South African budgets for health services,
education, housing and job creation, should not be separated from the needs of
the South African people. That money should be used to reconstruct and develop
the living conditions of the poor. The people paid dearly under the apartheid
regime and are now forced to pay once more for apartheid. So please: DONT PAY
TWICE FOR APARTHEID!
Instead of talking of debt repayment, we should all recognise that the people
of South Africa have a moral right to receive compensation for the injustice of
Apartheid just like Jews received from Germany after the abolition of the Nazi
Regime.
To demand cancellation of the debt does not reduce the financial credibility
of South Africa. The financial credibility of Poland and Egypt was not reduced
after their debt cancellation but sparked of a period of development for their
populations. The best long-term investment in stability is that the South
African people experience improvements after apartheid.
Paying back the Apartheid Debt is also a shortsighted policy in another way.
It rules out the possibility that corporations and foreign financial investors
can be limited to operations within frameworks of justice and democracy. As
Southern Africa moves towards greater stability in the future, a part of the
process must be to stop rewarding those who paid for a destabilised region in
the past. Consolidation of democracy is also to make war and genocide
unprofitable. Mr. President, this was our common programme two decades ago. We
hope that you will do what you can to further that struggle.
South Africas resources should benefit the South African people and not be
wasted on paying the odious apartheid debt.
Morten Nielsen, Chairman, SOUTHERN AFRICA CONTACT
Diamonds are an imperialists best friend
By Brian Denny, from the Morning Star (newspaper of the
Communist Party of Britain)
The image of a western diamond dealer in Angola declaring, without a hint of
irony, that war was good for business on British TV screens last year has
come back to haunt the industry.
Increasingly, the shadowy world trade in so-called conflict diamonds is
being seen as the root cause of bloody wars across Africa as well as the motive
of foreign intervention.
Sierra Leone, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Angola, all suffering the
devastating effects of long-running wars, are also among the continents
biggest diamond producers.
Exports of diamonds from Sierra Leone amount to over R500 million a year
while precious stones from Congo and Angola amount to over R3000 million and
over R5000 million respectively.
These simple facts have led to a chorus of calls for controls on the
lucrative and highly centralised diamond trade.
South African diamond giant De Beers, which controls 70 per cent of the world
trade in rough diamonds, has been hit hard by claims that a vicious scramble for
gems has led to untold human misery across the mineral-rich African continent.
Global Witness and the New York-based Human Rights Watch have both charged
that the firm has bought Angolan diamonds from areas controlled by former
US-backed right wing UNITA rebels fighting the Luanda government.
The fighting in Angola has killed nearly a million people, created an immense
humanitarian crisis, forced hundreds of thousands from their homes and driven
many more into exile.
Global Witness has estimated that UNITA has sold as much as R40 billion from
diamond deposits under its control allowing it to buy arms, fuel and food.
Another farcical example of the deadly trade is the spectre of Ugandan and
Rwandan forces, initially sent into the Congo to overthrow President Laurent
Kabila, are fighting it out over control of the diamond-producing town of
Kisangani - the inspiration of Joseph Conrads The Heart of Darkness.
This mounting body of evidence has forced De Beers to make a rather sickly
appeal to the worlds most powerful nation to protect its rights.
De Beers is deeply concerned about anything that could damage the image of
diamonds as a symbol of love, beauty and purity, the Oppenheimer family-run
firm said in written testimony to the US House Committee on International
Relations last month.
Despite these efforts, growing international protests mean that the trade is
now faced with the prospect of conflict diamonds suffering a consumer boycott by
those who can afford them.
A study of the war in Sierra Leone by the NGO Partnership Africa Canada said:
The point of war may not actually have been to win it, but to engage in
profitable crime under cover of warfare.
This fact would also go a long way to explain the original scramble for
Africa by the west, including Britain, and sheds some light on its motives
of Londons intervention in the internal affairs of Sierra Leone today.
In the new scramble for the worlds resources, including oil, gas and
water, it seems that diamonds are an imperialists best friend.
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INTERNATIONAL |
SACP attends international communist meeting
| At the end of June 2000, the SACP, together with 60 Communist and Workers Parties from 47 countries, took part in an international conference of communist, socialist, workers and left parties hosted by the Communist Party of Greece in Athens. The SACP General Secretary, Blade Nzimande, represented the SACP at this conference. |
During the three days of the conference there were rich debates and on
various topics. The main issue addressed at the conference was the experiences
of communists in building alliances and co-operation with other forces.
The conference came out with a consensus about the usefulness and the
necessity of such meetings among Communist and Workers Parties. Many speakers
referred to the need for continuing and intensifying such meetings.
Many of the participants also referred to the need for initiatives for
convening international meetings with specific topics as well as regional
meetings (America, Africa, Asia, Europe).
Many speakers stressed the need for international coordination the particular
contribution of communists to the struggle of trade union movements and
organisations focusing on capitalist restructuring and the attack against labour
rights and gains. The conference underlined serious concern for the growing
bans, persecutions and discriminations against communist parties, communists
and, generally, against those resisting capitalist barbarity and imperialist
interventions.
Communist Information Bulletin
In the meeting, the first issue of the Information Bulletin, in which
each Communist and Workers Party can publish its documents, was made
available. At the same time, the first positive results from the operation of
the Rapid Information Centre through Internet, under the name of SOLIDNET.ORG
were presented.
SACP statement to the conference
For its part, the SACP made the following points to this conference.
Poverty in the world is deepening and the gap between the rich and the poor
is widening. Capitalism is no solution to the problems facing humanity.
We need strong national democratic states. Privatisation and liberalisation
of economies are only serving to deepen unemployment and poverty worldwide.
We must dynamically and critically go back to Marxism-Leninism, studying,
learning, developing the method, analysis and revolutionary spirit of
Marxism-Leninism.
We need common international action
The SACP supports real and concrete internationalism and the key to achieving
this must be common action which must be gradually and democratically harnessed
towards our goal of socialism.
Therefore the SACP calls upon socialist forces in the world to consider the
following as concrete expressions of working class internationalism: -
- Support the Communist Party of Nepal hosted Conference on Socialism in the
21st Century planned for November 2000 - Making every World AIDS Day, a day of international action for access to
affordable drugs, in conjunction with the growing international campaign for
access to affordable drugs - Use International Womens Day to highlight the struggle for
transformation of gender relations and target countries, institutions and
governments which perpetuate gender oppression - Tracking, monitoring, targeting of and action against privatisation
The conference noted that capitalism is meeting with more opposition from
workers, environmental activists, women and poor and working people of the
world, said Nzimande.
To win a better life for all, the conference supported the call for unity
in action between all left, socialist and peoples movements, concluded
Nzimande.
US Senators call for end to sanctions
From Associated Press
Ending a week long visit (in July) to Cuba and a 10-hour meeting with
President Fidel Castro, Senators Max Baucus, Daniel Akaka, and Pat Roberts,
called for the end of the US economic blockade of Cuba and improved relations
between the two countries.
Sen. Akaka, meanwhile, expressed interest in increased educational exchanges
between the two countries that would allow American students to visit Cuba and
Cuban students to visit the United States. Cooperation in education could
create a dialogue, he said.
All three support growing moves in Congress to eliminate restrictions on
sales of food and medicine to the Caribbean island. Senator Roberts said he
supported increased cooperation by the two countries on issues of mutual
concern.
But while calling for the lifting of the embargo for the benefit of both
countries, Roberts concurred with Baucus and Akaka that Cuba must be willing to
do its part by initiating market reforms that will make American trade with Cuba
viable and grant freedom of expression to its citizens. He said, Free trade
must involve sales to individuals and realistic financing.
AKEL appeals for solidarity against Turkish repression
This statement was issued Comrade Demetris Christofias,
General Secretary of AKEL, the Progressive Party of Working People of Cyprus, on
14 July 2000
According to press information, Mr. Denktashs occupation regime (the
government of Turkey) has arrested the editor of the Turkish Cypriot newspaper
AVRUPA along with other journalists of the same newspaper on the
accusation of alleged spying in favour of foreign interests. It is not the first
time that the occupation regime uses force against Sener Levent and his
colleagues.
Sener Levent and AVRUPA represent a free voice in the occupied areas
that expresses the real consciousness of the Turkish Cypriots. His arrest by the
occupation regime constitutes an act of revenge and an attempt to silence this
free voice, which stigmatizes the occupation regime and denounces Denktashs
plans to partition the island and, in essence, to annex the occupied areas to
Turkey. This is a favourite method with the Denktash regime, rendering the
capacity of an agent to any progressive voice, which he considers annoying in
the Turkish Cypriot community.
We condemn and denounce unreservedly these undemocratic methods of the
occupation regime. The civilized world and the international and regional
organizations that defend human rights cannot remain idle before these plans. We
appeal to you to react against this violation of democratic and human rights and
demand the immediate release of all AVRUPA journalists and the dropping of
charges against them.
Protest and solidarity messages
Protests can be sent to the Turkish Embassy in South Africa:
tel - 012 342 6053 and fax - 012 342 6052
Solidarity messages can be sent to AVRUPA avrupa@ebim.com.tr
Elian is back home!
BY RAISA PAGES (Granma International staff writer) HOLD
me tight, said Elians paternal grandfather, hugging him when he came off
the airplane. The child received affection and kisses from all those who had
missed him during his extended absence.
Moments before the arrival of the two chartered jet planes at the Jose Marti
Airport in the islands capital, there was calm on the runway. Nothing
indicated that the most awaited news in the world was about to happen there. In
the terrace of Terminal One, where a hundred reporters from the national and
international press were waiting, impatience could be sensed in the continuous
ringing of cellular telephones, in the cameras looking for the best position.
Shortly after 7:00 p.m., more than 900 children from the Marcelo Salado
School in Cardenas began to walk towards the runway, Cuban flags in their hands,
guided by their teachers. They were the first to sight the plane, with the
registration number N800LL, when it was still in the air. They began to wave
flags and neckerchiefs, yelling: Elian! Elian!
Taller and slimmer than when he left Cuba, Elian descended from the plane in
the arms of his father, followed by Juan Miguels wife Nersi and Elians
baby brother Hianny.
He was passed from person to person, recognizing the scent of those with whom
he had only communicated by telephone for seven months. His grandmothers,
Mariela and Raquel, laughed and cried, reunited with their grandson, in a
setting very different to the one they witnessed in Miami last January 21.
The child was missing two of his top baby teeth, as if to announce he was no
longer the same. The reception in the airport was brief. Juan Miguel, his two
sons and wife left in a simple car.
Along the way to the provisional lodging in the capitals Playa
municipality, people spontaneously ran to greet the family caravan, jumping over
puddles that the rain had left in the streets.
Elians teacher, Agueda Fleitas, responsible for continuing studies during
the boys stay in the United States, announced that the little boy was
prepared to begin the second grade next fall at his school in Cardenas.
After his arrival, he moved about back and forth, turning in circles,
playing, making gestures. He held hands with several of his little school
friends, with whom he had shared the last months of his stay in the United
States, and began to dance in a circle.
Some people wonder if Elian can be a normal child again, after the two
shipwrecks-one at sea, the other on dry land, as Gabriel Garcia Marquez
described the kidnapping in Miami.
Those who, calling themselves close family, converted the child into a
factory for money and dirty politics against Cuba, wore expressions of rage when
they knew of Elians return to Cuba. But although in the United States they
harassed the minor, converting him into a news item, the shipwrecked boy, the
blessed one-here on the island, Elian will be a child, just that.
Iraqi repression of Communists continues
Repression against the Worker Communist Party of Iraq
(WCPI) in Iraqi Kurdistan has escalated. Forces of the Patriotic Union of
Kurdistan (PUK) led by Jalal Talabani have killed six members of the WCPI and
wounded others. The lives of other comrades are in danger. Thirty WCPI comrades
have been taken prisoner.
Urgent action is required from progressive forces around the world to put
pressure on the PUK. The WCPI calls on international organisations to support
this in order to achieve the following:
- The PUK to call off its repressive forces, identify and punish the
murderers; - Free all WCPI members taken prisoner;
- The PUK to cease its attempts to eliminate the political and civil rights
of the WCPI and other political parties; - The PUK to give up its warmongering approach, and revert to political ways
of solving any disputes among the people in Iraqi Kurdistan, and - Respect for human freedom and basic rights.
Send protests to Jalal Talabani, President - Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK)
c/o PUK United Kingdom, London, Fax: 44 171 8400630
Please send copies of protests to the WCPI - shemal1@ihug.com.au
Millions of Indian workers strike against
liberalisation plans
From Agence France Presse
On 11 May, the day after the South African general strike, millions of Indian
workers went on strike disrupting businesses and transport links in a protest
against the Hindu nationalist governments march towards financial
liberalisation. K. L. Mehendra of the powerful All India Trade Union Congress
said 20 million employees boycotted work and said the strike totally disrupted
the financial sector, with Indian and foreign banks shutting down for the day.
The strike was total in the states of Assam, West Bengal, Bihar, Tripura
and Kerala and partially successful in other states, Mehendra said as the
daylong strike ended.
In the financial sector including banking and insurance the strike was
total throughout the country and the stoppage was particularly successful in the
coal-belt and industrial units. The communist-backed Centre of Indian Trade
Unions (CITU) said the strike even paralysed Indias agriculture sector.
The manner in which workers responded and even the labour force from
agricultural, small and other unorganised sectors joined the strike showed a
national opinion was being created against economic policies of the
government, CITU president E. Balanandan said.
The strike was aimed against the surrender of the countrys economic
sovereignty before the World Trade Organisation and the International Monetary
Fund, he said.
The overwhelming response to the strike only showed the depth of the
crisis the workers find themselves in, and the intensity at which they want to
oppose such retrograde policies, CITU leader Madhukar Pandhe added. Indias
four main communist parties, 12 other political groups, 55 industry federations
and six trade unions took part in the nationwide protest.
Air and rail links were hit in West Bengal state. Truck transport ground to a
halt in several other states. A police spokesman in the West Bengal capital
Calcutta said: Trains have been stranded in several stations because the
protestors are squatting on the tracks. In New Delhi, strikers briefly held
up traffic at an arterial crossing near the downtown ITO business district till
police arrested them.
Attendance at bank and insurance companies in the capital was almost nil. The
demonstrators were also protesting against a recent government decision to hike
the prices of cooking gas and kerosene and to cut subsidies. New Delhi is trying
to rein in a massive fiscal deficit expected to reach 5.6 percent of the gross
domestic product in the year to March, exceeding the government target of four
percent.
Doraiswami Raja, a leader of the Communist Party of India, said there were
rural issues as well. The government has not done anything for farmers.
Impoverished farmers are committing suicide due to crop failure and staggering
debts. We want land re-distribution, he said.
Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party wins election
From Workers World News Service, article by John
Catalinotto
The Mongolian People´s Revolutionary Party swept back into office in that
landlocked Asian country´s national election July 2, winning 72 of 76 seats
contested in parliament. It had only held 26 seats in the outgoing parliament.
The MPRP is the party that led Mongolia during the period from 1921 to 1990,
when it was closely allied economically and politically with the Soviet Union.
It held onto office there until 1996. Though Mongolia's economy was based on
raising livestockwith more livestock than people-the country had been run on
socialist principles for seven decades.
The counter-revolution that overturned socialist governments in Eastern
Europe and the USSR also opened up Mongolia to capitalist penetration. The MPRP
went along with the early pro-capitalist changes, but tried to install them
slowly. It lost the 1996 elections.
A new reform government meaning an outright pro-imperialist puppet regime let
the International Monetary Fund dictate Mongolia's development and cut all
social programmes.
The combination of savage capitalism and two years of severe winters and
drought killed 2 million head of livestock and threw large sections of
Mongolia's 2.4 million people into abject poverty. Under the old pro-socialist
government, the herders could get aid. Under capitalism, they faced starvation.
An overwhelming majority voted to reject the pro-capitalist reforms.
Immediately after its sweep, the MPRP promised free education for orphans and
children of poor herder families. The Morphs leader, Nambariin Enkhbayar, said,
Mongolians are realizing these magic words like `privatisation´ don't bring
a better quality of life automatically.´´ He indicated he would seek to
renegotiate the terms of IMF aid to Mongolia. Enkhbayar gave notice the MPRP
would roll back the industrial privatisation program that was a centerpiece of
the outgoing government.
Last Statement of Shaka Sankofa - end the racist death penalty!
| These were the last words of Shaka Sanfoka (aka Gary Graham -which the US media insist on calling him despite his wishes and in the face of his brutal death at the hands of the racist American death machine). He was hanged in Texas, US at the end of June 2000. |
I would like to say that I did not kill Bobby Lambert. That I'm an innocent
black man that is being murdered. This is a lynching that is happening in
America tonight. There's overwhelming and compelling evidence of my defence that
has never been heard in any court of America. What is happening here is an
outrage for any civilised country to anybody anywhere to look at what's
happening here is wrong.
I thank all of the people that have rallied to my cause. They've been
standing in support of me. Who have finished with me.
I say to Mr. Lambert's family, I did not kill Bobby Lambert. You are pursuing
the execution of an innocent man.
I want to express my sincere thanks to all of yell. We must continue to move
forward and do everything we can to outlaw legal lynching in America.
We must continue to stay strong all around the world, and people must come
together to stop the systematic killing of poor and innocent black people. We
must continue to stand together in unity and to demand a moratorium on all
executions. We must not let this murder/lynching be forgotten tonight, my
brothers. We must take it to the nation. We must keep our faith. We must go
forward. We recognise that many leaders have died. Malcom X, Martin Luther King,
and others who stood up for what was right. They stood up for what was just. We
must, you must brothers, that's why I have called you today. You must carry on
that condition. What is here is just a lynching that is taking place. But
they're going to keep on lynching us for the next 100 years, if you do not carry
on that tradition, and that period of resistance. We will prevail. We may lose
this battle, but we will win the war. This death, this lynching will be avenged.
It will be avenged, it must be avenged. The people must avenge this murder. So
my brothers, all of yell stay strong, continue to move forward.
Know that I love all of you. I love the people, I love all of you for your
blessing, strength, for your courage, for your dignity, the way you have come
here tonight, and the way you have protested and kept this nation together. Keep
moving forward, my brothers. Slavery couldn't stop us. The lynching couldn't
stop us in the south. This lynching will not stop us tonight. We will go
forward. Our destiny in this country is freedom and liberation. We will gain our
freedom and liberation by any means necessary. By any means necessary, we keep
marching forward.
I love you, Mr. Jackson. Bianca, make sure that the state does not get my
body. Make sure that we get my name as Shaka Sankofa. My name is not Gary
Graham. Make sure that it is properly presented on my grave. Shaka Sankofa.
I died fighting for what I believe in. I died fighting for what was just and
what was right. I did not kill Bobby Lambert, and the truth is going to come
out. It will be brought out.
I want you to take this thing off into international court, Mr. Robert
Mohammed and all yell. I want you, I want to get my family and take this down to
international court and file a law suit. Get all the video tapes of all the
beatings. They have beat me up in the back. They have beat me up at the unit
over there. Get all the video tapes supporting that law suit. And make the
public exposed to the genocide and this brutality world, and let the world see
what is really happening here behind closed doors. Let the world see the
barbarity and injustice of what is really happening here. You must get those
video tapes. You must make it exposed, this injustice, to the world. You must
continue to demand a moratorium on all executions. We must move forward Minister
Robert Mohammed.
Ashanti Chimurenga, I love you for standing with me, my sister. You are a
strong warrior queen. You will continue to be strong in everything that you do.
Believe in yourself, you must hold your head up, in the spirit of Winnie
Mandela, in the spirit of Nelson Mandela. Yell must move forward. We will stop
this lynching.
Reverend Jesse Jackson know that this murder, this lynching will not be
forgotten. I love you, too, my brother. This is genocide in America. This is
what happens to black people when they stand up and protest for what is right
and just. We refuse to compromise, we refuse to surrender the dignity for what
we know is right. But we will move on, we have been strong in the past. We will
continue to be strong as a people. You can kill a revolutionary, but you cannot
stop the revolution. The revolution will go on. The people will carry the
revolution on. You are the people that must carry that revolutionary on, in
order to liberate our children from this genocide and for what is happening here
in America tonight. What has happened for the last 100 or so years in America.
This is the part of the genocide, that we as black people have endured in
America. But we shall overcome, we will continue with this. We will continue, we
will gain our freedom and liberation, by any means necessary. Stay strong. They
cannot kill us. We will move forward.
To my sons, to my daughters, all of you. I love all of you. You have been
wonderful. Keep your heads up. Keep moving forward. Keep united. Maintain the
love and unity in the community.
And know that victory is assured. Victory for the people will be assured. We
will gain our freedom and liberation in this country. We will gain it and we
will do it by any means necessary. We will keep marching. March on black people.
Keep your heads high. March on. All ya'll leaders. March on. Take your message
to the people. Preach the moratorium for all executions. We're gonna stop, we
are going to end the death penalty in this country. We are going to end it all
across this world. Push forward people. And know that what ya'll are doing is
right. What ya'll are doing is just. This is nothing more than pure and simple
murder. This is what is happening tonight in America. Nothing more than state
sanctioned murders, state sanctioned lynching, right here in America, and right
here tonight. This is what is happening my brothers. Nothing less. They know I'm
innocent. They've got the facts to prove it. They know I'm innocent. But they
cannot acknowledge my innocence, because to do so would be to publicly admit
their guilt. This is something these racist people will never do. We must
remember brothers, this is what we're faced with. You must take this endeavor
forward. You must stay strong. You must continue to hold your heads up, and to
be there. And I love you, too, my brother. All of you who are standing with me
in solidarity. We will prevail. We will keep marching. Keep marching black
people, black power. Keep marching black people, black power. Keep marching
black people.
They are killing me tonight. They are murdering me tonight.
Italy says no to the NATO Summit
Sourced from People´s World, newspaper of the Communist
Party of Canada.
On the 24 and 25 May, NATO held a summit meeting in Florence (Italy), a city
with a gold medal for its resistance against the Nazis in World War 2. This
meeting was met by a massive demonstration, which was endorsed by more than 50
organisations in Italy and across Europe. These included the Italian Communist
Refoundation Party.
In this meeting, the NATO Alliance defined its strategies with regards to
various areas of the world (the Balkans and Eastern Europe, the Middle East,
North Africa), the reorganisation in a more explicitly offensive way of its
military apparatus, and its expansion to the East.
On of the mobilisation leaflets for the massive demonstration defined NATO as
"The NATO military alliance continues to be an instrument of aggression
against national sovereignty and of interference in the internal political
affairs of member states. It is as a constant threat to peace and is
transforming its role and its military apparatus to adapt itself to the growing
requirements of capitalist domination"
"For these reasons there is a connection between the struggles against
wars of aggression, against the presence of NATO´s military bases, against
militarism, and against the embargoes, with the struggles in the North and South
of the world which are rising up against the sanctuaries of capitalism (WTO, IMF,
World Bank), against temporary labor and "flexibility" against
exploitation and poverty, for social and citizenship rights, for the right to a
decent life and future, for the liberation of peoples", concluded the joint
leaflet.
Okinawan people oppose US military bases
By Hiroshi Suda of the Japan Peace Committee
The G8 Summit Meeting was held in Okinawa, Japan, 21-23 July, 2000. Okinawa
is a stronghold of U.S. military strategy with huge military bases. Okinawa is
the only place in the world where the U.S. deploys Marine Corps outside its
territory. The Marine Corps situated in front of Korean Peninsular and China are
forces with a task of advance attack to other nations. Thus Okinawa is made an
important stronghold of the U.S. Forces in Asia and the Pacific.
Utilising this opportunity of the G8 Summit, the Japan Peace Committee
mobilised public opinion and action about the reality of Okinawa almost occupied
by U.S. military forces and suffering from burden of huge U.S. bases. At the
same time, the Committee called call upon all peace movements and peace-loving
people of the world to express and to strengthen solidarity with the movements
of Okinawan people and to pressurise Japan and U.S. government for the reduction
and withdrawal of these bases.
International solidarity with Fiji
Press release by the World Federation of Trade Unions
At the 88th session of the International Labour Conference in Geneva (June
2000), the Workers Group of the ILO, representing trade unions from all parts of
the world and all international, regional and national trade union centres,
condemned the actions of terrorist groups in Fiji and their use of arms and
hostages to force the overthrow of the democratically-elected government and
constitution of the country.
Following weeks of international protests, the terrorists have now lifted
their siege of Parliament and have released the hostages, including Prime
Minister Mahendra Chaudhry. However, the lawful and constitutional authority the
elected Parliament and Government remains overthrown.
The democratic rights of citizens upheld in the country s constitution have
been annulled. The new rulers those who organised the terrorist coup and the
groups which condoned the acts of terrorism - have declared that 44 per cent of
Fiji s citizens who come from a different ethnic background shall have no
political rights at all.
The terrorist coup has thus reversed the political and social advance of the
people of Fiji. Peace and security of all citizens are imperiled.
Expressing its complete solidarity with the trade union movement and all
democratic forces in Fiji, the World Federation of Trade Unions calls for the
immediate restoration of democracy and constitutional government, which will
uphold the basic human rights of all citizens. The WFTU calls upon trade unions
in all countries to actively support the struggle of the Fijian people for their
democratic rights and for the return of the constitutional government.
Message to G7 Leaders meeting (21 July) in Okinawa,
Japan
from the Zimbabwe Coalition on Debt and Development
At their summit last year the leaders of the world's richest nations coined
the Cologne Debt Initiative (CDI) in which they promised to cancel US$100
billion debt owed by the poorest countries. The CDI has not brought any relief
to the 4,5 billion women and men suffering from debt domination in the South.
Poverty, inequality and marginalisation continue to bedevil the developing
countries, particularly sub-Saharan African countries that are yet to recover
from slavery, colonialism and economic exploitation.
We view with suspicion this G7 initiative because it is not fast, deep or
broad enough "debt relief" but a ploy to keep governments in the South
from defaulting. The Cologne initiative deals with less than 2 percent of the
total nominal debt stock of the South; it is therefore confined to a small group
of countries. The initiative thus ignores the vast majority of the poor and
marginalised.
As part of Jubilee South, we join the international movement for debt
cancellation to demand the following from the G7 leaders meeting in Okinawa:
- Total and unconditional debt cancellation in addition to the $100 billion
promised in Cologne to redress injustices and squarely address the issue of
odious, illegitimate and onerous debt - De-linking of all debt cancellation initiatives to any conditionalities
- Full reparations by creditors for the human, social, environmental damage
caused by their loans, Structural Adjustment Programmes and other unjust
economic policies - Transformation of the neo-liberal market led global economy to a people
driven and centered economic order where all basic fundamental human rights
are respected - Civil society participation and intervention in economic policy making in
general and debt related policies in particular
We will not relent in our demands for the creation of a socially,
economically and ecologically just global order.
Jubilee 2000 SA outraged at G-7 debt plans
From SAPA
Jubilee 2000 SA said it was outraged at the Group of Sevens (G-7)
announcement on debt at their summit in Okinawa in Japan last week. The G-7
have attempted to rehash old pledges that have failed, effectively imposing
further conditions on the promises of limited debt cancellation that have yet to
be delivered a year after they were made in Cologne, Jubilee 2000 SA
secretary Neville Gabriel said.
We have every reason to believe that these are yet more empty promises. We
are astonished that the G-7 have ignored global public opinion by reversing debt
cancellation processes. They are effectively sentencing 19 000 African children
a day to death by debt.
He said 19 000 children died each day in sub-Saharan Africa due to
preventable diseases and the region was spending four times more on servicing
debt than on health and education combined. Gabriel also criticised the G-7
countries for not having plans to cancel debt for countries that were affected
by military conflicts. (This) is hypocritical because arms exported
predominantly from G-7 countries are used in the conflicts they refer to, he
said.
No attention has been given to cancellation of odious debts, debts of
post-conflict countries, and countries affected by severe natural disasters -
all of which are relevant to southern Africa.
The G-7 leaders had admitted the need to speed up debt relief for the
worlds poorest countries, but said military conflicts in some nations were
blocking progress.
They had also admitted that only nine countries had so far qualified for
cancellation of their debt on the strength of a year-old promise to write off
$100bn owed by the poorest 41 nations.
Gabriel said the summit cost R5,25bn, the amount required to cancel the debt
payments of Rwanda, Zambia, Cambodia, Nicaragua, Benin, Haiti, Guyana and Laos
for one year.
As the G-7 assess their own economies as moving towards more balanced
and sustainable patterns of growth, they have yet again failed to act to
reverse the growing impoverishment in developing countries and global
inequality.
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AFRICA |
Press freedom in Swaziland
From the Committee to Protect Journalists and International
Freedom of Expression Exchange
There are deep concerns about the state of freedom of the press in the
Kingdom of Swaziland. Over the past nine months, media workers in Swaziland have
experienced serious attacks on their right to freely report on matters in the
Kingdom, consequently undermining the right of Swazi citizens to receive and
impart information as enshrined in Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights.
In a case earlier this year, several dozen media workers in Swaziland were
forced out of their profession. On February 17, over 80 journalists lost their
jobs as a result of the abrupt closure of the Swazi Observer Group of papers;
today most of these journalists remain without work or compensation. According
to our research, the media group´s management closed down operation of the
paper in retaliation for the refusal by some editorial staff to reveal sources
for two December 1999 articles on Swazi police activities. The closure of the
Swazi Observer Group of papers, we believe, is part of a campaign aimed at
rooting out critical or dissenting voices in Swaziland.
We also are concerned by the actions against journalists by traditional
authorities. Traditional chiefs in Swaziland have on more than one occasion
summoned and castigated journalists, or warned them against reporting on matters
of legitimate public interest, particularly those pertaining to the Monarchy.
These issues are compounded by the fact that a 1973 royal decree suspended
Swaziland's Constitution, leaving the country without legal protections for
freedom of the press. A constitutional review process is underway, but the media
have been banned from reporting on its proceedings.
NIGERIA: Hundreds die in pipeline disaster
From the Green Left Weekly
More than 300 villagers were killed on July 10 in Adeje, near Warri, in
Nigeria's Niger Delta region, in a oil pipeline explosion. It was the latest in
a string of disasters in the oil-rich region. In May, 27 residents of nearby
Okwadjeba village died in a similar explosion. In the worst incident, more than
1000 people were incinerated in Jesse in October 1998 as they collected fuel
from a punctured petrol pipeline.
Eyewitness accounts said that most of the victims of the Adeje explosion were
school children collecting leaking petrol in pans and buckets.
There were fears of further disaster following reports on July 12 that youths
had returned to the scene of the accident to scoop more fuel from the pipeline,
used to ferry refined petroleum products from Warri to northern Nigeria. Though
the fire sparked by the explosion at Adeje had been put out, another fire was
reported to have ignited along a pipeline route at the neighbouring village of
Ugbomro.
Like the Jesse disaster, establishment press, radio and TV reporters have
branded the victims at Adeje "vandals"," scavengers" and
"saboteurs". Without evidence, the press and the Nigerian government
have claimed that the pipe had been deliberately punctured. The underlying
implication is that the victims deserved to die.
The real "vandals" and "saboteurs" in southern Nigeria
are the giant multinational oil conglomerates, their Nigerian business
collaborators and the pro-Western regime that rules Nigeria. Around US$12
billion worth of oil flows out of wells in southern communities - mostly to the
United States for heating oil- and fills the bank accounts of Western oil
companies, the deep pockets of the corrupt Nigerian elite and the vaults of the
International Monetary Fund and Western banks.
However, the people of the Niger Delta remain desperately poor and the region
undeveloped. Basic services like education, health care, running water and paved
roads are non-existent or neglected. It is little wonder that people take
enormous risks to collect leaking petrol that they are unable to afford to buy.
Nigeria's oil has made members of the elite billionaires. Part of this
massive wealth has come from deliberately running down oil facilities, skimping
on maintenance and making shoddy repairs.
Delta Governor James Ibori described the explosion as an "avoidable
holocaust". "There is technology today that can monitor these
pipelines so that in case of any break or cut on the line, it would
simultaneously indicate at the control room and then you switch off the product
supply to the affected pipelines", the Pan African News Agency reported
Ibori as telling officials of the Pipeline Products Marketing Company. The
company's executive director of operations, Matthew Omang, confirmed the
existence of such devices and said the company planned to install them "in
future".
The claim that the leak that led to the latest catastrophe, and all those
that have devastated the fisheries and agriculture in the Niger Delta region,
are the results of sabotage by local people is an attempt to hide the real
source of the devastation: negligence and deliberate neglect of oil facilities,
and the failure to enforce environmental regulations and standards, so that the
Nigerian elite and the Western oil companies can hoard more loot.
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I-oli ibulala abantu mihla le e-NigeriaNgomhla we-10 kweyeThupha, kuye kwasweleka abantu abangamakhulu Kweka-Canzibe, kwasweleka abantu abangamashumi amabini anesixhenxe Amaziko eendaba ase-Nigeria atyhola ulutsha nabahlali abangenangqesho Kodwa ke awona matutu nabonakalisi eNigeria yimizi-mveliso ye-oli, Inkulumbuso yeliphondo lichaphazelekayo, u-James Iborri uchaza Ukutyhola abemi nolutsha kufana nokubeka ingca kulityalwe ngendima |
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POETRY |
What are we?
By Thobile Maso, SAMWU Eastern Cape
We are born complete but unfinished
We are constantly catching up with ourselves
We have arrived in an open imperfect world
We do not have a ready made world
That is what we are
We have no given relation with the world
We produce tools to modify our physical environment
To bend nature to our will
We cannot exist apart from society
We are part of the whole
That is what we are
There is no human meaning without activity
To sustain our ongoing biography of life
As co-producers of the world
Human existence is an ongoing act of balance
That is what we are
Culture is a totality of human products
You and I together we can make a difference
If you want to know
You and I together we can shape and change the world
THAT IS WHAT WE ARE
Flying into Midrand
{For students at the University of Durban-Westville}
By Dennis Brutus
Still undulant curves shadow our horizons
delicacy of pastel shades clutch at heartstrings
but disgust sours saliva, rancids breath;
how have our hopes been betrayed
what newer outrages scar our landscapes
what student blood puddles our dust tracks;
time for fresh resolves, challenges,
time for new confrontations.
Food for thought
Dambudzo Marechera on why he was not an African writer
I think I am the doppelganger whom, until
I appeared, African Literature had not yet met.
And it is in this sense I would question anyone calling me
an African writer. Either you are a writer
or you are not. If you write for a specific
nation or a specific race, then *#%^ you.
In other words, the direct international
experience of every single living entity is, for
me the inspiration to write. But at the same
time, I am aware of my vulnerability
that I am only me - and of my mortality;
and thats why it seems to me a waste
of time to waste anybodys life
in regulations, in ordering them ...
Dambudzo Marechera was born in Zimbabwe in 1952. He died in 1987.
For every woman and man
(author unknown)
For every woman who is tired of acting weak when she knows she is strong;
There is a man who is tired of appearing strong when he feels vulnerable.
For every woman who is tired of acting dumb;
There is a man who is burdened with the responsibility of knowing
everything.
For every women who is tired of being called an emotional female;
There is a man who is denied the right to weep and be gentle.
For every woman who is called unfeminine when she competes;
There is a man for whom competition is the only way to prove he is masculine.
For every woman who is tired of being a sex object;
There is a man who must worry about his potency.
For every woman who feels tied down by her children;
There is a man who is denied the full pleasure of parenthood.
For every woman who is denied meaningful employment and equal pay;
There is a man who must bear the financial responsibility for another human
being.
For every woman who was not taught the intricacies of an automobile;
There is a man who was not taught the satisfaction of cooking.
For every woman who takes a step towards her own liberation;
There is a man who finds that the way to freedom has been made a little easier.
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POLITICAL |
The role of trade unions
by GWEDE MANTASHE, NUM General Secretary and SACP Politburo
member
This question cannot be answered in a straight forward way. It would first be
critical to understand the development of social classes in society. We should
then understand the concept of exploitation. We can then analyse the
contradictions between two antagonistic classes in society. Trade Unions become
an intervention to deal with contradictions.
In the stage of communalism, life was communal. People shared everything.
People shared resources as a community. There was no exploitation of one by the
other. There was surplus generated, but it was shared and allowed for time to
rest. There was, therefore, no need for unions as there was no struggle of one
class against the other. There was no private ownership.
Those who had abilities to hunt and collect fruit developed the idea of
slaves. The slaves had to collect wood and other necessities of a household for
a meal. Classes emerged, slave owners and slaves. Critical was not to know that
they are slaves. The issue was doing something about it. Slave revolts were a
revolution. The collective approach, group revolts were critical for breaking
the slave system. United and collectively.
This developed into the feudal system where feudal lords own land. Serfs had
to work the Lords land and dedicate a day to their own land and pay a tenth
to the feudal lord. This unfair system was challenged. The French revolution was
an important revolution to break this system. A rapture accured.
Out of this system emerged owners of the means of production and production
and marketing of products. This was the beginning of capitalism.
Central to the development of classes in society was the production of the
means of life, food, clothing and shelter. The way in which people produce and
exchange their means of life is the MODE OF PRODUCTION. This mode of production
determines the character of all social activities and institutions.
As the social development of society evolved, social production was
perfected. The forces of production and the relations of production. Forces of
production consist of the instruments of production and people, with their
production experience and skills used in operating the machines.
In the process of production people enter into social relations. In social
production the means of production become the property of individuals or a group
of people. Mutual relationship is regulated in the form of contracts. The
relations of production obtaining in a particular society constitute the
ECONOMIC STRUCTURE of that society.
Exploitation
Exploitation refers to the appropriation and distribution of products among
members of society.
It is the form of ownership, and the nature of property relations which
determines the form of appropriation. In this process, only part of the total
labour is used by a working person himself/herself, to produce their own
requirements. The producers produce surplus over and above their own essential
requirements. The surplus is appropriated by non-producers by virtue of their
ownership, of some form of property.
EXPLOITATION, therefore, means that only part of their total labour is used
by them for themselves. The rest is taken and used by others.
Unions are an intervention to deal with exploitation. They are a
manifestation of classes and class struggles.
In A GREAT BEGINNING Lenin defines classes as
follows:-
Classes are large groups of people which differ from each other by the
place they occupy in a historically definite system of social production, by
their relation to the means of production, by their role in the social
organisation of labour and consequently by the dimensions of social wealth that
they obtain and their method of acquiring their share of it. Classes are groups
of people one of which may appropriate the labour of another, owing to the
different places they occupy in the definite system of social economy.
With classes arise class antagonisms. Class antagonisms translate into class
struggle. The Communist manifesto captures this perfectly:- the history of
all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggle.
Trade Union are a vehicle through which workers are brought together to
challenge exploitation as a united force. They are managers of class
contradictions.
Trade Unions are reformist in content:
Short-term demands
Cushioning antagonist conflicts
In the process Trade Unions can protect the interest of their class enemy,
capital, by default.
The role of Trade Unions can therefore, be defined in terms of fighting for a
fair share in the wealth they generate. This is in the form of better wages and
better condition under which they work. This brings then into direct
confrontation with the capitalist class. The capitalist class seeks to maximise
profits. In that way, when wealth has been generated, they want to ever increase
their share. It is this contradiction that is inherent in the production
relations. A union is a collective effort by workers to tilt the balance of
forces to their favour in this antagonistic relationship.
The State, as the overall manager of this contradiction, determines the rules
of engagement. They impose orderliness in the process. We must remember that the
State is an instrument of coercion, an instrument in the hand of a class in
power, an instrument to subject one class to the authority of another class. It
emerges from within society and imposes itself as above society. In developing
the rules of engagement and in imposing the state of orderliness it gives more
power and authority to a particular class.
In a capitalist society state intervention is always in favour of capital. It
will always impose penalties on the working class to force it to behave in a
particular way. Trade Union tends to play a role of managing the orderliness.
They ensure that the working class complies with the rules of law. In that way,
trade unions manage the contradictions.
Revolutionary or reformist description of trade union in terms of how they
manage these contradictions. If the focus is on compliance, the trade unions are
reformists. If the emphasis is on finding ways of engaging capital and tilt the
balance of forces trade unions area revolutionary.
Revolutionary trade unions will always see themselves as part of the broader
working class. Their struggles in the workplace will be linked to broader
working class struggles in society. The broader theme of fighting against
POVERTY IGNORANCE AND DISEASE must always inform the strategy of trade
unions. When unions confront retrenchments they must always contextualise
retrenchments in terms of socio-economic implications, greater poverty,
hardships brought about to individual families, less chances to access education
and health for family members.
When we deal with ABET programme we must always locate this within the fight
against illiteracy and thus a fight against ignorance. We must always position
ABET within the broader strategy for further training and further skilling of
workers. Skilling of workers should always be linked to higher earnings.
The GLOBAL nature of capitalism imposes the challenges that the working class
should globalise its struggles. Capital is driven by greed. Greed translates
itself into exploitation. It is following the factors of production where they
are cheapest. Labour is one factor that is decisive. It is exploited everywhere.
It is pitted against each other region by region, nation state by nation state.
The mobility of capital distributes the sophistication in exploiting the working
class. Destruction of quality jobs and replacing them with inferior jobs in the
form of casual work, part-time work, flexitime, outsourcing/contracting out,
captures the perfection of exploitation. The process of perfecting exploitation
is experimental in various countries. Where labour is least organised the
results are quicker. Where labour is organised a sophisticated product is
introduced, having been tested somewhere.
All these strategies keep the working class in its back foot. International
Solidarity is the answer. The essence of international solidarity is finding
solutions to globalised working class problems. The working class gives itself
this task because it is convinced that a solution is possible. This assumption
is based on the wise words of Karl Marx:-
Mankind sets itself only such tasks as it can solve, since the task itself
arises only when the material conditions for its solution already exist or are
at least in the process of formation.
Socialism is the solution to the problem of exploitation. Huge inequalities
in society, capitalism producing trillionaires and abject poverty at the same
time are the material conditions for socialism. As trade unions, the organised
workers, are an advanced detachment of the working class? Our responsibility is
one of producing cadres of the working class, not just shop stewards.
This brings us back to where we started. That society is about the contest of
ideas. It is this content of ideas that constitutes ideology. It is the ideology
that ends up being dominant in society that determines the direction of society.
The class whose ideology dominates hegemonise society. The working class is
always fighting for hegemony of society. Trade Unions do not always take working
class positions. Sometimes they outrightly protect the interest of the
Capitalist Class and only tinker with certain aspects and only fight for
co-existence. The objective of overthrowing the bourgeoisie class is sometimes
seen as being very remote. Our interventions can change this.
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SPORTS |
VODACOMs Social Conscience?
Hepwell Moyikwa and Kim Jurgensen ask questions about the
recent Vodacom sponsorship of Orlando Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs.
Cell phone giant, Vodacom, recently announced a five-year contract, which
involves a R200 million donation to the South African Football Association over
a five-year period. The two major clubs in South Africa, Orlando Pirates and
Kaizer Chiefs will directly benefit from this deal receiving 10 percent of the
whole amount on an annual basis for a period of five years. The money is
intended to kickstart the development of soccer in the country among the 232
clubs playing under the auspices of the SA Football Association.
This raises a number of issues for football in South Africa.
Is this a socially responsible investment?
The reason why big businesses such as Vodacom give money to organisations is
because they want to sell themselves as socially responsible. They want us to
believe their business is not just about making profits, but that they dedicate
money to community development projects as well. The question is, is this money
best spent on soccer?
Of course, it could be argued that this money could have gone to other
priorities like literacy and HIV/AIDS programmes. Plausible as this mightbe, but
as a society we should not neglect other areas of development like sport, which
can have a socially beneficial effect that can impact positively on education
and HIV/AIDS awareness in turn.
Of course, there is an argument which says sport is an important part of
working class lives and we should be committed to building talented players.
Soccer is a particular favourite amongst working class people around the world.
Do we really want to condemn South African soccer to second rate clubs, which
cannot really compete with the South American, and European clubs, or do we owe
it to the millions of soccer fans in the country to develop our teams to first
class standards. Chances are many workers would argue that a cash injection into
the soccer industry in South Africa is exactly what we need. It is important to
bring our clubs up to world standards, and also to stop the exodus of talented
players to overseas clubs which pay so much better and are therefore much more
attractive as career opportunities. It is also important that we address the
perception that money for sports development programmes is always pumped into
so-called white sports such as cricket and rugby.
Will this donation build soccer in South Africa? Or are we creating
mega-clubs at the expense of broad soccer development?
And remember too that one of the most serious problems of South African
soccer is that a preponderance of wealth, support and popularity revolves round
two clubs, namely Chiefs and Pirates. If the money was donated to struggling
teams, it would be a different issue. But there is already such a gap between
the clubs at the top of the league and those at the bottom. Pouring more money
into the stronger clubs only seems to exacerbate the problem. The donation is
also centred on two Johannesburg teams. Development administrators must start
looking at other poorer areas of the country to build programmes in. To maintain
the status quo wherein football is based essentially on one city, is just as bad
as building 2 clubs at the expense of all the others.
Moreover, with the donation comes yet another competition, the Vodacom
Challenge. In a season, which is already jam-packed, there just doesnt seem
to be any logic in introducing yet another competition. The entire scheme seems
to be more about boosting the profile of Vodacom and not really at all about
developing up and coming soccer players. If anything, this programme is likely
to have more damage on South African football as it widens the inequalities of
the league sides rather than building the weaker teams.
As socialists, we cannot ignore the importance of sport in the lives of
working class people. This is one of the few affordable pleasures poor people
have, and surely part of transforming our society is about making sport as
professional and skilled as possible. We also believe business has a moral
obligation to invest money in social programmes that will benefit communities.
Sport is definitely one such area. Effective development programmes will allow
previously disadvantaged people opportunities they wouldnt otherwise have.
So, as a principle, we support business initiatives to invest in upliftment
programmes. However, we have no real reason to believe the Vodacom millions are
being invested in the best area. It seems this is just a rather unsubtle
advertising gimmick, which in itself will not benefit the game of football.
The 2006 Soccer World Cup Bid reflect the interests of Imperialism
| The SACP is deeply disappointed at the announcement by FIFA that the 2006 World Cup bid will not be hosted by an African country. We share the anger and shock of every African. Again our continent has been ignored in favour of the rich and industrialised countries of the North. The result of this bid once more demonstrates the continued dominance If the 2006 World Cup was to be hosted by an African country, it would As the SACP, we call on all Africans and people in developing countries The SACP congratulates Danny Jordaan, SAFA, the entire bid committee, |
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Where to contact the SACP |
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| Head Office 7th floor, COSATU House 1 Leyds Street, Braamfontein, 2017 P.O. Box 1027, Johannesburg, 2000 Tel: 011 339 3621 Fax: 011 339 4244 Email: sacp1@wn.apc.org.za Website: www.sacp.org.za |
Mpumalanga NUM Office, Smuts Park Building Eddie Street, Witbank, 1035 Tel: 013 656 2045 Fax: 013 690 1286 Email: sacpmp@icon.co.za |
| Eastern Cape 1st floor, King Theatre, Macleans; Square King Williams; Town, 5601 Tel: 043 643 4288 Fax: 043 642 2673 Email: sacpec@icon.co.za |
Northern Cape Room 29, Potgieter Building 17 Market Street Kimberley, 8300 Tel: 053 831 4866 Fax: 053 831 4866 Email: sacpnc@icon.co.za |
| Free State Room 3, 1st floor, Moses Kotane Building 44 Fichardt Street, Bloemfontein, 9300 Tel - 082 690 8474 Email: sacpfs@icon.co.za |
Northern Province Room 22, 1st floor, Mimosa Building 58 Market Street, Pietersburg, 0699 Tel: 015 291 3672 Fax: 015 291 3609 Email: sacpnp@icon.co.za |
| Gauteng 16th floor, Kine Centre 141 Commissioner Street, Johannesburg, 2000 Tel: 011 331 9617 Fax: 011 331 2871 Email: sacpgt@icon.co.za |
North West Province 2nd floor, Jacobs Building Corner Kerk and Boom Streets, Klerksdorp, 2570 Tel: 018 462 1395 Fax: 018 462 6996 Email: sacpnw@icon.co.za |
| KwaZulu Natal 4th floor, Founders House, Parry Road, Durban, 4000 Tel: 031 301 3806/3763 Fax: 031 301 5470 Email: sacpkzn@icon.co.za |
Western Cape 2nd floor, Community House 41 Salt River Road, Salt River Tel: 021 448 7908 Fax: 021 47 7167 Email: sacpwc@icon..co.za |
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