Tuesday, April 06, 2010

Reflections on Cuba: ANC Executive Member Discusses the Revolution Today

Reflections on CUBA

Viewpoint by Bathabile Dlamini

Cuba is still one of the few countries which leave an indelible impression in the mind of any one who has visited her, despite the fact that she has been under the yoke of oppression for decades. Each time I visit Cuba, I find tremendous change. Of course, the people of Cuba have been adversely affected by the blockade and the collapse of the Eastern block, more particularly the Soviet Union which was its main trading partner. However, no one has dampened her spirit of internationalism. After all these years of repression by the Western powers, Cuba still remains a veritable symbol of the resilience of the human spirit.

Despite all the attempts to hinder her progress, no one has been able to destroy Cuba's revolution. No one has been able to erase the memories of the struggle against fascism and imperialism and her fight for social justice. No one has been able to silence Cubans. Far from being docile, the repression has done the opposite and spurred the Cubans to chat their own course in every sphere of international relations.

The resilience that the people of Cuba have shown demonstrates that they have always had an understanding of what they wanted. Most of their programmes are well thought out. Both the leadership and the masses have a conviction to defend their revolution at a high level as well as at a community level. As a country that is trying to fashion a shared future from the ruins of the apartheid edifice there is a lot we can emulate from Cuba.

What we need to learn from Cuba is that communities play a critical role in defending the gains of the revolution. Despite the continuous pressure from the imperialist force, communities are the bedrock on which Cuba's defence against the imperialists is founded.

The level of consciousness in Cuba is very high and it starts at a local level. Communities have a clear goal of defending their country. At a local level, they have committees dedicated towards defending the gains of the revolution. At all time, they have a clear understanding of what is happening. They are always vigilant.

Their first target is fighting crime, monitor if there is internal counter revolution so as to help the state to prepare for a counter offensive in advance. Some may see red if they see the word counter offensive. Counter offensive may include cracking down on drug trafficking.

We all know that drugs really need a counter offensive because they affect and destroy the development of a person. We are all witnesses to what is happening in our areas. Drugs have not only destroyed the social fibre of our communities, but they have also shattered the lives of young people who are the future of our country. In order to fight crime and drugs, our people and the state need to join hands because as citizens we have a responsibility to defend our country, protect our youth and our future.

The other lesson we need to learn from Cuba is that they protect the property of the state.

Ass far as vigilance is concerned in Cuba, communities are the first to know if there is a stranger in the area and what that person is doing in the country.

They ensure that all children go to school and if there are problems they help the children.

They screen people for social security so that no one can claim to qualify for social security when they don't.

Communities form part of vaccination programmes for children as well as mosquito elimination programmes. Above all, local committees mobilise communities on all critical social issues. Members of the community engage the youth at a young age. They learn responsibility and mentor them. Children as young as 14 can start serving in these committees.

They receive training on how these committees work and people who serve in these committees are volunteers who have their full-time employment but they are still very committed to their work.

I am very proud of the serving NEC for trying to bring to the fore again the veterans of our struggle. At some stage, I felt we were pushing away the living legends and heroes and heroines of our struggle for our selfish interest. It is also energizing that the ANC has worked tirelessly for the formation of the Veterans League.

This is going to bring back the dignity of the ANC. Veterans are important because they are the walking institutional memory of the organisation. They are the custodians of the organisation. They have a responsibility of installing the culture and good practices of the ANC. What is also important about veterans is that they must strive to be neutral so that they can sustain the unity and cohesion of the movement. Right now we need experienced Veterans to give us direction on how they have kept the Alliance together and how we can co-exist and focus on a minimum platform of action.

As South Africans we need to be proud of our veterans who sacrificed everything and fought for the liberation of this country. There are also many unsung heroes and heroines of the struggle that we need to honour by making the ANC better. The ANC has always been a torchbearer and a trail blazer in the liberation of our people. Humility and selflessness are some of the values that have always been the compass of the ANC. That is why it was able to survive under difficult conditions.

Veterans are well respected, they have a very important role. They mentor the younger generation and their younger generation starts from 40 years. They practically impart the skills, knowledge and better leadership quantities. Leaders in Cuba have worked for everything they have, earned respect for laying a good and strong foundation for younger generations.

They are not seen as a threat by the younger generation. If the generation that is mentored presently like the Minister of Foreign Affairs does not lose this practice, the revolution of the people of Cuba is safe for generations to come.

That is why in Cuba you will never see leaders who do not grow organically within the structures of the party landing in very senior and sensitive positions without anyone being able to account about their background. This does not mean that people must not join the ANC but patience is very important because it helps you to understand the organisation and be able to respond to issues in a manner that benefits the ANC.

Yes, the ANC is a multi-class organization and as such anyone can be a member of the ANC as long as he/she is committed to its principles. In this regard, respecting the principles of the organisation is of paramount importance. However, joining the ANC for positions will kill its fabric and its paramount responsibility of transforming South Africa into a united, non- racial, non-sexist, democratic, and a prosperous country.

Other comrades that have created a huge gap in the ANC are those who are part time strugglers who come in and go as they like. Yes they participated fully when we were campaigning for the elections. Babezokhipha iANC emlonyeni wesilwane. When the counter-revolutionaries came together in their failed attempt to destroy the soul of the ANC, they rose in unison to defend our movement from the enemies of the people. But where are they now? Buyani bafowethu nodadewethu sizokwenza umsebenzi sonke.

I wonder what reasons will you give to Dube, Chief Albert Luthuli, Charlotte Maxeke, Lillian Ngoyi, Naicker, Helen Joseph, Chris Hani, Solomon Mahlangu, Dulcie September, Oliver Tambo and Walter Sisulu if you abandon the ANC. All these titans made the ultimate sacrifice under difficult conditions.

Cuban people continue to be generous, their situation and economic conditions have not turned them to be in a jungle where the mantra of the survival of the fittest reigns supreme, and where some animals are more equal than others as in George Orwell's book Animal Farm says.

They continue to provide human resources to needy countries without huge expectations. Doctors and Professions of different fields are all over the world trying to help the world deal with the challenges they are facing such as illiteracy and diseases and other social ills: eg Cuba sent doctors to Haiti long ago, even before the latest disaster which has devastated the country. As we speak, there are more doctors from Cuba running hospitals on the ground in Haiti.

America has been using the Cuban route to Haiti for refueling since the natural disaster occurred because it is a shorter route, but no one is talking, about this. If Cuba was a selfish country, they would have put conditions for this, but because people's lives are more important they will never put conditions. They are not opportunists.

As expected, American people choose not to talk about this. Instead of highlighting the Cubans' contribution to the betterment of humanity, the media has become obsessed with stories about the so called abuses of human rights. They do not talk about Cuba's spirit of internationalism which contributed to the liberation of the people of Africa. Even today there are many countries which have employed hundreds of doctors from Cuba because of their high level of education and their campaign on education. The standards of health in Cuba surprise many old democracies who are highly industrialised and do not face any blockade or oppression by imperialists.

In two years time, the ANC will celebrate its centenary. When this milestone event in the evolution of the ANC dawns, we will also be celebrating Cuba's selfless contribution in our struggle. Some among us never made such contributions to our own liberation.

Unlike in South Africa, all Cubans celebrate their country's milestone. They do not fold their arms and throw all manner of negative criticism as is the case with some sections of our society in South Africa.

They celebrate Jose Marti who is the father of the struggle because he developed the theoretical base of their struggle and died in the war. Marti was not only a man of words but also a man action. He only lived for 42 years but he was already a professor who contributed his intellectual capacity to a number of countries.

They also celebrate without fear the life of Che Guevara, and without any regret because he was also an internationalist. He left his country Argentina to fight the struggle of the people of Cuba through very difficult conditions. He was an asthmatic qualified doctor and fought in Sierra-Maestra and led the forces to Santa Clara. Che Guevara died at the age of 39 but had contributed a lot in the fight for human rights and a better world. In Havana, the Capital City of Cuba the Airport is named after Jose Marti and there is a big monument facing the department of communications with a big cartoon-like picture of Che Guevara where he started working as a Minister.

In villa Clara there is a huge statue of Che Guevara with an eternal light. He lives on there with other heroes of the struggle who died with him in Bolivia and only one woman died in Bolivia.

All districts of Cuba have statues and big billboards like pictures of the fallen Comrades who participated in the struggle for liberation of the people of Cuba. Their billboards are not full of advertisements that indoctrinate our children and our people with artificial and unrealistic lives. The billboards are the warehouse of the struggle for their liberation unlike in South Africa where the media undermines our people, spread jealousy, gossip, hatred of development of other African people, lack of focus, prioritization of things that are not important.

In Cuba they respect and honour the struggle of their martyrs. Unlike here they do not attach a prize to celebrating their historic events.

I have no doubt that if we can build some statues of our heroes in key places, there will be those who will be obsessed with counting amounts of money used for those. This obsession with the money that is spent either to build statues of our heroes and heroines or to celebrate historic events negates the fact that our people paid the ultimate price sacrifice for all of us to enjoy this freedom.

The Cuban people have never stopped fighting. The only thing we can do as South Africans is to pledge solidarity with the people of Cuba for their contribution in our struggle.

Lessons learnt from the people of Cuba are thus:

* Internationalism
* Resilience
* Dynamism
* Defence of the revolution
* Commitment to the drive for economic recovery.

Lastly the ANC has always deployed Senior Members of the organisations as Ambassadors to Cuba, I thought that deploying a younger person will disadvantage us. Ambassador Justice Pitso is one of our few young leaders of the ANC that are serious about their work. I was impressed by the way his office staff is committed to the work of the Embassy. They have a good approach to the work they do and a strong relationship and partnership with the people of Cuba.

Bathabile Dlamini is an ANC NEC member and Deputy Minister of Social Development.

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