Friday, August 21, 2015

SACP Western Cape Provincial Council and Political Education Declaration, 14 -16 August 2015
18 August 2015

Reclaiming People`s Political Power in the Western Cape, Defending the Unity of the Party and raising the bar of Communist morality and discipline!

We, Communist Cadres of the SACP Western Cape, constituted by branches and districts across the province, converged for three days in Sea Point, Cape Town as delegates to the 8th Provincial Council and Political Education School. The context of this gathering is to ensure that resolutions and decisions of the SACP`s 3rd Special National Congress are filtered down, discussed and a programme formulated for implementation in our society and communities. We first and foremost recognise the ongoing valiant struggles of our past and present woman cadres, we recognised and commemorated Comrade Ruth First and devoted the three-day programme to the late Comrade Judy Malqueeny, a dedicated and selfless Cadre of the SACP and Congress Movement.

Today, 16 August 2015, also marks three years since the tragic events of the Marikana tragedy. The SACP in the province wishes to reiterate its deepest condolences to all the families who lost their loved ones. The harsh working conditions facing workers, engineered by transnational mining companies and their bosses, are an issue that cannot be ignored and must therefore be dealt with decisively.

Delegates from urban and rural townships, informal settlements, coastal villages and farm communities form part of the growing vanguard party of the workers and the poor, which now stands at over 230 000 members nationally. Delegates present, recognised the national and provincial growth of the Party but maintained the importance of ensuring that our communist cadres, once recruited, are developed into active, Marxist-Leninist revolutionaries capable of taking responsibility of 2nd, more radical phase of the National Democratic Revolution and ensuring that we build Socialism, not only in the future but now!

Echoing the roaring call from the 3rd SNC of: "Communist cadres to the front: Unite the Working Class, Our Communities and our Movement!", delegates present came to the three-day programme armed with the focus at-hand of ensuring Communist cadres continuously develop their understanding our revolution and translate this understanding into practically uniting the working class on the ground in different terrains - our communities, workplaces, the state, economy, environmental sustainability and in the battle of ideas. The weekends programme also received messages of support from our Alliance partners, the ANC, COSATU and SANCO. A clear subject rang throughout - the need to strengthen grass roots activism to ensure that leadership, our membership and the masses on the ground are not disconnected in our collective struggles and in our campaign to reclaim political power in the Western Cape. Our collective Alliance objectives must raise the bar of political and organisational discipline and rise above personalities, factionalism and other narrow political squabbles. Challenges of unity, building and rebuilding our structures and developing cadres in all localities must be formulated through Alliance sittings. Declarations and resolutions, therefore, from the National Alliance Summit must be filtered down to sub-national structures of the Alliance.

The first session of the three-day programme received presentations from the 7th Provincial Congress PEC on the political and organisational state of the SACP in the Western Cape. The successful convening of the 8th Provincial Conference of the ANC and the Provincial Congress of COSATU was welcomed by Party delegates present, whilst the Party fully comprehends the nature and multi-ideological and class dynamics of our Alliance partners, the trend of identifying and spreading an anti-communist perspective during these important elective conferences and congresses must be heavily condemned. At all times, SACP comrades deployed and actively participating in our Alliance have exhibited a principled approach in a contested space. To be clear, the Party has a proud history of building, defending and strengthening both COSATU and the ANC.

The second session of the three-day programme saw the handing-over and presentation of the SACP Moses Kotane Award, conferred to Comrade Norman Levy who has been active in the SACP and Congress movement since 1946, the award was conferred in recognition of selfless service, absolute dedication and commitment to the SACP and the working class struggle for socialism and for his tireless efforts to the congress movement.

An important feature of our three-day programme was our group discussions and planning based on these presentations and attached tasks - developing plans and programmes of action focussing on the development of female cadres and eliminating patriarchy in our society, strengthening progressive youth forces and increasing class consciousness amongst young people, ensuring that the Socialist alternative finds space in various fora in the Battle of ideas, in taking up and leading the daily struggles of the working class in our communities and workplaces, strengthening the vanguard role the Party plays in uniting and organising workers and lastly formulating an independent yet Alliance complimentary 2016 Local Government Elections.

As delegates from branches and districts, we stand firm in our commitment to lead from the front, we have concluded our three-day programme resolving upon setting forth on the following programmes and campaigns:

An anti-eviction campaign against financialised apartheid-era forced removals;
a campaign of ensuring accessible, affordable and safe public transport, a campaign against the privatisation of our public roads - as the Party we will lead demonstrations to SANRAL offices in this effect;
a campaign geared towards uniting the peoples camp in all our communities and across the historical and current neo-liberal entrenched racial divisions.
strengthening organs of peoples power and redefining the role of civic organisations and street committees to be at the centre of community development;
abolishing VAT on sanitary towels and a sanitary towel donation campaign targeting working class communities;
and, a campaign and demonstration to reverse the influence of attempts at corporate capture by dominant, monopoly Naspers and ensure that our archives are brought back under the ownership of the SABC.
Our immediate tasks decided upon through our discussions also included re-energising the Financial Sector Campaign Coalition, the Know and Act in Your Neighbourhood Campaign and the Qina Msebenzi Campaign.

Once again, the SACP in the Western Cape reaffirms its clear and unwavering commitment to lead the struggles of the working class in the Western Cape, towards a more humane society - an alternative to capitalism, the Socialist alternative.

"Communist Cadre to the front: Unite the working class, our communities and our movement!"

Issued by the SACP Western Cape

Contact:
Barry Mitchell - 2nd Provincial Deputy Secretary
Mobile: 076 3160165

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