Umsebenzi Online, Volume 19, No. 21, 31 July 2020

Volume 19, No. 21, 31 July 2020

In this Issue: Red Alert: SACP celebrates its 99th founding anniversary

Red Alert Red Alert: SACP celebrates its 99th founding anniversary

On this day 99 years ago, the founding congress of the Communist Party entered its second day. The Congress was held from 30 July 1921 to 1 August 1921 at 20 Plein Street in Cape Town. It was preceded by a public meeting held at the Cape Town City Hall, where the communist militants who established the Communist Party announced its formation. The formal resolution establishing the Communist Party was adopted by the plenary of the congress on 30 June 1921.

The first passage of the founding manifesto of the Communist Party adopted by the congress contains an important lesson about unity and the origins in South Africa of the principle of non-racialism - which the Communist Party was the first to advance in the country. This historic fact was suppressed under colonial and apartheid oppression, contributed to the Communist Party being the first political organisation to be banned in South Africa, in 1950 under the Suppression of Communism Act, and is still not being acknowledged in the prevailing curriculum, 26 years after we dislodged the apartheid regime from power.

The passage mentions the various components that came together from across South Africa, working with other comrades who adopted a scientific socialist outlook, to form the Communist Party. It announces the intention to affiliate to the Communist International, which was formed in 1919 following the Great October Socialist Revolution that took place in Russia in 1917. The Communist International was an active expression of the unity of the Communist Party and the working-class worldwide. The operating clause to which we refer in the passage reads: 'The Communist Party of South Africa… makes its appeal to all South African workers, organised and unorganised, white and black, to join in promoting the overthrow of the capitalist system…'

The struggle is definitely not over. The completion of the national democratic revolution and the advance to socialism remain essential to complete liberation and social emancipation.

Virtual rally 

The SACP will on Sunday, 2 August 2020, hold a virtual rally to celebrate the 99th anniversary of its founding. The rally will start at 11h00. Representatives of the Alliance partners and the Young Communist League will deliver messages of support. SACP General Secretary Dr Blade Nzimande will deliver the Party's 99th anniversary statement at 12h00.

The SACP 99th founding anniversary celebrations will be held under the theme: 'Learning from the Past, Active in the Present, Building the Future, Building Socialism Now'.

Access to the webinar: Digital Platforms and Links

To access the webinar on Zoom, participants will need to use or click the link below. 

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87145412064?pwd=YkJORFBIYk1RMlNZR0R0ZTh2ZFlKQT09

The webinar will also be live-streamed on the SACP Facebook Page: South African Communist Party. The Facebook Page link is: https://www.facebook.com/SACP1921

The SACP is also looking forward to the TV live broadcast of the virtual rally

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Umsebenzi Online is an online voice of the South African working class

ISSUED BY THE SOUTH AFRICAN COMMUNIST PARTY | SACP
EST. 1921 AS THE COMMUNIST PARTY OF SOUTH AFRICA | CPSA

Dr Alex Mohubetswane Mashilo
Central Committee Member:
Head of Media & Communications

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Hlengiwe Nkonyane
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OFFICE, WEBSITE, SOCIAL & MULTI-MEDIA DIGITAL PLATFORMS

Office: +27 (0) 11 339 3621/2
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