April 1997

Comrade
Chris

Put his example into practice!

This month marks the fourth anniversary of the assassination of our
former General Secretary, cde Thembisile Chris Hani. The SACP call on all
comrades to put his example of an unrelenting struggle for socialism into
practice through the implementation of our 1997 Programme of Action.



Four years after the death cde Chris was gunned
down by right-wing assassins his fighting vision of a society free of exploitation
still burns strongly in the hearts of all communists. Besides being respected
and loved by millions here and abroad cde Chris was first and foremost
a committed and disciplined communist.



He fought to build the SACP, to educate our cadre and to bring theory into
practice. His example was also to show us that our struggle for socialism
was a struggle to reclaim our human dignity,so brutally stripped away by
capitalism. We must never lose sight of that human dignity as we struggle
to transform our society and contest those who would sweep cde. Chris's
legacy under the rug as they push us into a neo-liberal barbarism.

It was because of the strength of his example the cde Chris paid the
ultimate revolutionary price. The SACP call for the full uncovering of
the circumstances surrounding his murder. No stone should be left unturned
in revealing all those who where involved and there can be no amnesty without
such full disclosure.

As we celebrate the communist example of cde.Chris, the SACP calls on
all cadres to initiate and lead activities at the local level which are
in line with our 1997 Programme of Action. We must build elements of socialism
now! There is no better way to honour our fallen comrade. Anyone who knew
cde. Chris would know that he would have been at the forefront of such
local struggles, making our socialist vision real to people.

Viva the communist example of comrade Chris Hani! Foward
to a People's Socialism!

The
1997 Budget: A mixed bag

The 1997 Budget, recently unveiled by Finance Minister Trevor Manuel,
is best described as a mixed bag of macro-economic and financial guidelines.

On the positive side, the budget's provision for
targeted tax relief for lower income earners is to be welcomed as is the
significant increase in the housing budget. Likewise, the budgetary increases
in public works, social welfare and pensions and justice and police show
promising signs that the much-needed redistribution of public resources
is beginning to take place.

On the negative side, the high roll-over figures from last year in departmental
budgets confirms that ineffective marshalling, within government, of public
resources continues to hold back redistributive opportunities. The large
portion of the budget that goes directly to provinces, where there is often
much less effective financial management and purposeful expenditure, is
of great concern. In our situation, we cannot afford the limitations and
barriers of a federal-style budget.



The 1997 Budget unfortunately confirms that our economy remains, to a large
degree, hostage to powerful domestic and international forces of capital.
We must not however, see this, and other forthcoming sectoral budgets,
as annual balancing acts dependent on the economic prescriptions of such
forces. Rather, the entire budgetary process must be seen and used actively
as an instrument of ongoing transformation.

Ten
per cent increase in water price

Who will carry the cost?

The Department of Water and Forestry has announced a 10% rise in
the cost of water, as a way of encouraging people to save it.



The shortage of water in South Africa can only
get worse as the population grows, and as water is laid on to millions
more homes. Water conservation is essential. The important question is:
how do we prevent the price rise being passed on to the poor?



It is estimated that over 50% of water goes on agriculture and 8% on forestry.
From the user's point of view, this is the cheapest water of all, for only
the water that comes from the government water schemes is paid for at well
below operating and maintaining supply. The rest of farm and forestry water
comes absolutely free. It falls as rain, comes down in the rivers, is pumped
up through boreholes.



Industry and the mines use about 12%. In towns and cities, this is metered
and paid for, though often at a cheap rate, by special arrangement with
the local authority.



Another 12% goes on private domestic use: this includes all private users,
from people in informal settlements who pay cash for their water to an
attendant at a standpipe, right up to the wealthy who use sprinklers all
day on their private gardens.



One suggestion is that the first 50 litres (a RDP and World Health Organisation
figure) per person per day should be free; enough to allow drinking, basic
cooking and a little washing. This sounds simple and sensible, but there
is disagreement.



National government can issue a certain amount of free water to local authorities,
but can it dictate that this water should be passed on free to consumers?
Some argue that this would infringe the local authority's constitutional
right to autonomy. Others point out that the constitution gives all individuals,
even the poorest, a right to this life-giving resource. The disagreement
is over which constitutional right has priority.



Within the Department there is a struggle. Comrade Minister Kader Asmal
and some of his advisors are keen on implementing a policy of cross-subsidisation.
This would see a sliding scale of charges, based on consumption. The effect
of this would be that big and rich consumers would subsidise the smaller
and poorer ones. On the other hand, many old and conservative Department
bureaucrats are actively opposing such a policy. The Department is also
considering raising the price of irrigation water, at present lower than
cost price, and pricing/charging on use of rivers/groundwater.



Other problems must be addressed. Plantations take up a lot of water from
deep in the land round about; we need trees, but we must be careful where
we plant them, in case we deplete springs and streams used by people nearby.
Boreholes sunk by rich commercial farmers cause similar problems. Care
should be taken over the use of river water, too, in case people downstream
are deprived.



Our water reforms must be accompanied by intensive education in the use
of water.

Political Education

The
Basics of Marxism Philosophy

by Dale T. McKinley

Umsebenzi begins a monthly column which will offer readers useful
tools for political education. We want to reclaim the basics of our Communist
vision as we struggle for socialism now!

Marx rejected the philosophical tradition of idealism, offering
a materialist philosophy instead. Marx argued that we must seek the scientific
explanation of things through combining the dialectical method of analysis
(i.e. seeing nothing as eternal and unchanging but rather as being in constant
relation with one another) with a materialist understanding of society
(i.e. seeing human history in social terms, as the struggle between classes).




From this basis, Marx argued that the development of human society had
always been one of exploitation of the majority by the minority, of the
labourers by the bosses. In addition, Marx & Engels showed that a major
component of exploitation was that of patriarchy (i.e. the exploitation
and domination of women by men). In the age of capitalism, the specific
relationship between the labourers and the bosses takes on a concentrated
form of the total expropriation of labour power by the capitalists who
now privately own the means of production. Likewise, capitalism privatises
the family, which leads to the domestic enslavement of women - women thus
become doubly exploited. This entire process of exploitation and expropriation
,in turn, results in the alienation of the worker (i.e. he/she loses part
of themselves in the process of selling their labour power - their value,
their capacity to control their lives).



Capitalism, as such, thus represents the product of such a process as outlined
above - in other words, its institutions, laws, etc. (themselves a result
of material demands for progress) come to be viewed as objectively and
eternally valid for all humanity - in other words, they come to constitute
a specific ideology (ideas, laws, values, habits of life, etc.). Capitalism
thus objectifies humans for specific economic and social purposes - it
falsely seperates humanity from its own needs, from its ability to be fully
free - and the proletariat class is affected the most since it owns nothing
(in reality) but its labour power. Thus, within the dialectical materialist
approach, we can understand that the main struggle under capitalist relations
is that between the capital and labour - they are dialectically opposed.



In essence, what Marx and many other revolutionaries after him have told
us is that capitalism de-humanises, and thus, at its base, a communist
philosophy is also a humanist philosophy. Why? - because its shows us that
the one thing that the capitalists are unable to take away from the workers
is their humanity - it thus reamians the only universal human value. Communists
struggle to reclaim humanity's dignity, its value.

The Red Star and Thumbs Down (Umsebenzi begins a regular column from this month designed to single out those people/events which we believe have been either very good or very bad. Red stars go to the good, thumbs down to the bad and occasionally we will single out the mere ugly).    government's decision to ban all production of land mines, helped along by the comrades behind the land mine ban campaign. Such a decision sends the right signal to our neighbours, and the rest of the world, whose inhabitants have suffered greatly from mines made in our country. THREE THUMBS DOWN   to the Afrikaans-language Sunday paper, Rapport, for its reaction to the horrific revelation of death farms at which the remains of murdered anti-apartheid activists were unearthed. "Why all the fuss?", Rapport wanted to know. It quoted a former security policeman complaining that the "fuss" was "one sided" since "some of these people were involved in Operation Vula". Red Star wants to know which country Rapport thinks it's in? TWO THUMBS DOWN  to the government for energetically brokering a huge arms sale deal with Malaysia. Our comrades should know that Malaysia (despite its recent economic growth) does not officially recognise trade unions and carries out constant harassment against workers and opponents of its authoritarian policies. We wonder what the Malaysian government is going to do with all those new weapons? ONE THUMB DOWN   to our comrade, Minister of Justice Dullah Omar. Yes, we agree that no-one is guilty until so proven and yes, we agree that we should not just throw away those who made some contribution to our struggle. But isn't a mass welcoming party led by a Minister of Justice for Dr. Alan Boesak, returning to face a trial for fraud, just a little bit over the top? ONE THUMB DOWN    for Alan Boesak himself. Never one to miss an opportunity, he said at his "welcome home" reception that his trial was the trial of the anti-apartheid struggle itself. The good dominee has always had difficulty making a distinction between these two things. ONE THUMB DOWN   goes to American pop-singer Gloria Estefan who recently performed in our country. Constantly reminding her interviewers of her pride in being a Cuban-American, Estefan proclaimed that her "dream" was to sing in a "free Cuba". Red Star would suggest that Estefan stop pandering to her right-wing Cuban-American roots and start paying attention to what the rest of the world is saying.

PROVINCIAL
FOCUS

KwaZulu-Natal

War mongers should not be priviledged



Haroon Aziz of the SACP Provincial Executive in KwaZulu-Natal,
discusses the antagonism between feudalism and democracy in that province.



For national peace, there are three critical things to be done in KwaZulu-Natal:

To use the R4-billion local government budget, controlled by the ANC
in the urban
areas, to deliver benefits in housing, electricity, water, roads,
and so on.

To capture political support in rural areas, where the contradiction
between feudalism and democracy is most sharp.

Restore peace and stability in the rural areas, to make free and fair
political activity possible.

In the struggle against feudalism, the alliance, as a force of democracy,
is weakened by several factors: by having too little influence in the House
of Traditional Leaders; by the fact that traditional leaders are paid by
the province; by the power struggle between the king and Buthelezi; by
the king's inadequate control over rural areas, and the fact that the ANC
doesn't have control of the KZN Land and Agricultural Ministry.



The antagonism between feudalism and democracy has given rise to three
categories of people involved in violence: those who have profited from
the illegal trade in arms; those who have risen to political prominence
through violence; and those who have killed, particularly since May 10th,
1994, the cut-off date for general amnesty.

The question is, how to grant amnesty to those who have killed after the
cut-off date?



The ANC position is that thee KZN violence is a special type, requiring
a special amnesty for KZN warmongers. The SACP position is that the violence
is not of a special type, and warmongers in the province should not be
privileged.



Thje SACP analysis of violence in KZN is that it is part of a national
and international counter-revolutionary strategy. There is collusion between
the South African right wing and international fascism. In whatever province
it manifests itself, the violence is rooted in the crisis of feudalism
in South Africa.



The National Party represents white feudal interests. When in power, sandwiched
between monopoly capitalism and popular democracy, it found itself in a
crisis, which it tried to handle by creating apartheid. The IFP, representing
black feudal interests, also found itself in crisis. Both parties resorted
to fascism: for example, both had legal powers of arbitrary arrest and
detention without trial, Gatsha Buthelezi was both Chief Minister and Minister
of Police.



While still in power, the NP used its control of the SADF, SAP, state bueaucracy,and
judiciary to undermine popular democracy. It used the IFP as a surrogate
force.



The truth about third force activities is painfully emerging. These activities
are an expression of the crisis of feudalism, the last kick of a dying
horse.



There is no special type of violence which deserves any special treatment.
How can a national legislation like the Truth and Reconcilation Act be
amended to cater for the narrow provincial needs of KwaZulu-Natal?

SACP Pushes for Development in the KwaZulu-Natal Representatives at the SACP Provincial Local Government Summit in KwaZulu-Natal, resolved: "To participate in organising and strengthening Local Development Forums at Local, Provincial and National levels in both rural and urban areas, as a key means to meet popular socio-economic needs, as a step to eradicating poverty, ignorance and disease." Other resolutions included: commitment to the Masekhane Campaign, to build the capacity of communities to interact with local governments, to shape local government legislation, and to create a forum of SACP councillors.

Northern Province

Cuban
Doctors

Samson Phopi, SACP provincial secretary in the Northern Province reports
that Cuban doctors there have been praised for the successful operations
they have performed at Tshilidzini in the far north. One emergency operation,
designed to be temporary, kept a patient alive while being moved to a larger
hospital at GaRankuwa.

People in the rural areas are impressed with the doctors' "patience
and politeness."

Report
from Greater Johannesburg District

(Submitted by Cde. Thabo Maesela - District Secretary)




The Greater Johannesburg District is on the move!



Since the re-launch of our District in April last year we have managed
to consolidate existing structures and move towards expansion. Ours is
a fast growing district. This, in view of the recent spate of Branch Annual
General Meetings which have included structures in Dobsonville, Chiawelo,
Phiri, Alexandra and Palestine. Serious preparations are taking place in
Pimville, Twalaville, Jabavu and many others. Established branches, such
as Johannesburg Central and Diepkloof continue to work effectively in many
areas.



The District is proud of holding a successful Party School which was wholly
organised and run by the District (a first in our organisation unless proven
otherwise). Topics covered included: the History of Marxism; the Basics
of Marxism-Leninism; the Basics of Communist Organisation; Democratic Participation
in the Transition; and Strategic Challenges facing our Party.



The School opened up many interesting debates in our District, amongst
them, the concept of a patriotic bourgeoisie and the idea of a popular
movement for transformation. Similarly, our regular District Councils have
seen many different political discussions. Out of these has come our District's
firm rejection of the GEAR macro-economic strategy as a programmatic way
forward and we are presently studying the 1997 Budget on which we hope
to publicly forward a District position.



The District Congress is scheduled for 26-27 April and we are looking to
come with a Programme that will, by the end of the next term of office,
ensure that Greater Johannesburg is the largest and most dynamic District
in the country.

We believe this is possible because we believe Socialism is the Future
- and we are busy building it now!

Sudan
& Zaire

The return of National Democratic Alliances

(Part II)

The second part of Dale McKinley's article on two African countries
in the spotlight.

The geopolitical map of Central Africa is being
redrawn, and the people of the region are the new architects. The activities
of national democratic formations in both Sudan and Zaire are rapidly consigning
the old order to the 'dustbin of history.'

In Sudan, the authoritarian Islamic regime of Lt. General Omar al-Bashir
is losing the battle to maintain its undemocratic and iron-fisted rule.
Since 1989 this regime has waged war against its own people using regional
division, a state of emergency, suspension of the constitution, banning
political parties and public gatherings, shutting down the press and state-sponsored
mass murder. Additionally, the Bashir regime has strictly imposed Islamic
law - sharia - on a religiously and culturally divergent population. The
results have been devastating: a 13 year-old civil war; war-induced mass
famine and death; and the creation of millions of refugees.



A previously divided opposition is now coming together. The Sudan People's
Liberation Army (SPLA), which has battled successive Islamic regimes since
1983 has joined forces with the broad-based National Democratic Alliance
(NDA), which includes the Sudanese Communist Party, in a combined military
and mass-based assault on Bashir's rule. The political programme of the
SPLA-NDA alliance calls for a democratic, federated and secular Sudan.
The alliance has agreed to a referendum to allow the people of the South
to choose whether to remain part of a democratic, secular Sudan or secede.



Not too far away, in Zaire, a strikingly similar process is unfolding.
Absolute corruption, combined with the political and economic prostitution
of Mobuto's regime (which has lasted over 30 years), has forged a common
struggle for freedom among opposition forces. Long-surviving opposition
movements (such as Laurent Kabila's Party of the Popular Revolution) have
joined forces with a broad range of groups to form the Alliance of Democratic
Forces for the Liberation of Congo-Zaire.



It is this alliance which now controls most of Eastern Zaire and which
is rapidly sweeping aside the rotten remnants of Mobuto's army. Much like
their counterparts in Sudan, the stated programme of the alliance is to
combine liberation of territory with a resumption of popular mobilisations.
The goal is to overthrow the Mobuto dictatorship, and in doing so to create
a democratic state that breaks with the entrenched system of corruption
and neo-colonialism.



The role played by South Africa (through the Organisation of African Unity
and the Southern Africa Development Co-ordinating Conference), has been
generally positive, if over cautious and lacking political content. The
government of South Africa, itself mandated by a progressive national democratic
alliance, must be expected to do more than merely act as a facilitator/mediator.
A clear programme of political and material support for the democratic
alliances in both Sudan and Zaire would contest the 'neutral and abstract'
approach advocated by neo-liberals and acquisitive capitalists. A similar
foreign policy programme is needed in relation to Swaziland, Western Sahara
and Nigeria to name but a few African examples.



South Africa needs to consistently uphold the principle of international
solidarity with progressive forces the world over. Many of these same progressive
forces were at the forefront of supporting our anti-apartheid struggle
despite the associated political, material and human costs. We owe them
nothing less.

VIVA INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY!

Fighting Words from Fidel Castro: Phantsi ne Imperialism! Viva International Solidarity On 28 January 1997, Cuban President Fidel Castro gave a speech to thousands gathered in Havana's Central Park to mark the 144th anniversary of the birth of Cuban revolutionary Jose Marti. Below are some extracts. Inspired by Marti, inspired by freedom, inspired by honour and dignity we live with a set of values, we are sustained by values, we fight for values and we shall continue fighting for them. Our imperialist enemies and the reactionaries better not misunderstand or underestimate us. What infuriates us most is the (imperialists) attempt to buy us out. They are trying to buy us out on the day we give in. It's truly infuriating! As if this people was capable of betraying the blood shed from 1868 up until now. It is infuriating that someone could imagine that the freedom and dignity of a people could be bought; that someone could imagine that for all the gold in the world we would be capable of accepting being slaves once more. We say to them: free men and women can die, but there is no force or money in the world capable of converting us into slaves. We are proud that there are bothers and sisters from other parts of the world here today; brothers and sisters like the health minister of South Africa, where 200 Cuban doctors are working, as always, in the most difficult, isolated places. This also reminds us of the blood shed selflessly by those who fell in Angola fighting against colonialism, fighting against racism, fighting against apartheid. That was also like a grain of sand that Cuba contributed to the heroic victory of the people the minister is representing here.We have been fighting for this country's independence and to preserve it for a long time. It's as if our destiny was to be borne on a little island, this people, like a lamb facing a mythical dragon. with most absolute conviction we can say to the dragon: you can never devour this lamb, in spite of your rockets, your air-planes, your so called smart weapons, because this lamb is smarter than you! Socialism or Death! Patria o Muerte! Venceremos!

Capitalist
Killers for Hire

Posing as corporate professionals providing 'security' and 'stabilisation',
South Africa's own private mercenary force, Executive Outcomes, is acting
as the bully boy of big business interests and corrupt and dictatorial
regimes. And, it is being allowed to operate freely from our country.



Executive Outcomes (EO) had its beginnings in
1989. A motely crew of oil and mineral business executives, English military
officers and officers culled from the SADF's special forces set up what
is now the world's most effective private army. Last year alone it had
a turnover of over R150 million.



The rise of EO can be traced to two main causes: the socio-economic and
political turmoil caused by imperialist, neo-colonial and apartheid destabilisation
of much of the African continent; and the 'sanctions-busting' experience
and networks gained by apartheid-era companies and so-called intelligence
services. As a result, these hired killers have, in a very short time,
become the advance detachment for corporate capital and reactionary regimes.




According to well placed sources, EO is part of a multinational investment
company called Strategic Resources Corporation (SRC) whose interests include
gold, diamonds, oil and off-shore 'management' services. The job of the
mercenaries of EO is to make situations 'stable' and 'secure' for SRC's
pursuit of investments and contracts for arms sales. It's a great business
- at the same time that EO is helping 'stabilise' a country, its parent
company, SRC, gets a nice slice of that country's resources.



EO's curriculum vitae looks like a who's who of African trouble spots and
reactionary regimes. Its clients have included the governments of Angola,
Zaire, Sierra Leone and Kenya and it has provided 'security' for private
corporate interests in Sudan, Angola and Zaire's Shaba Province. EO has
also gone outside of the continent, although its recent contract to 'secure'
mineral-rich Bougainville for the unpopular regime in Papua New Guinea
ended with the mercenaries being kicked out of the country.



It is a political embarrassment for our new democracy to be used as a base
for the operations of a new breed of corporate killers. Surely, it is time
for our government to take firm action against EO. The sooner the better.