"Patronage, money politics, self-enrichment through looting of public resources and exploitation of the masses of our people in the abused name of representing them must be tackled decisively and brought to an end": says the Young Communist League of South Africa [uFasimba] in Gauteng.

Statement of the 3rd YCLSA Gauteng Congress Provincial Executive Committee, 4th Plenary Session

3 June 2012

The YCLSA`s 3rd Congress Provincial Executive Committee (PEC) in Gauteng convened in its 4thPlenary Session on Saturday, 2 June 2012 in Johannesburg. The PEC is the organisation`s highest decision-making body in between provincial congresses and councils. It is responsible for implementing the tasks delegated to provinces by the constitution, national and provincial congresses and the National Committee.

The PEC received and considered the political and organisational reports presented by the provincial working committee, which is responsible for the management of day to day organisational and political operations and oversees the functioning of the provincial secretariat. As part of the preparations for the 13th National Congress of the vanguard party of the working class the SACP, the PEC received and discussed `The South African Road to Socialism` - the Party`s draft political programme for the forthcoming period starting July 2012 and ending July 2017. The PEC took a number of decisions of which it would like to publicly communicate only two, given their high priority status.

The challenges of class reconfiguration within the historically oppressed and previously disadvantaged

The PEC noted that the process of class reconfiguration, contradictions and divisions is deepening in South Africa and that the province of Gauteng represents a leading case. The PEC is deeply concerned that a significant number of dynamics underpinning the emergence and development of the capitalist strata from within the historically oppressed and previously disadvantaged represents one of the greatest threats facing the national democratic revolution and the struggle for socialism in the present and forthcoming period.

In particular, private capital accumulation by some of the aspirant, emerging and developing capitalist strata from within the historically oppressed and previously disadvantaged is preceded by their election and appointment to positions of leadership, power and authority within the movement and government, and is linked with state tenders. In other instances, this involves increasing exploitation of the masses of our people by the post-1994 newly founded capitalist class axis. This axis is constituted by the new strata of aspirant, emerging and developing capitalists from within the historically oppressed and previously disadvantaged on the one hand. On the other hand it is constituted by the colonial, apartheid and imperialist capitalist classes. The latter is represented overwhelmingly by multinational corporations mainly from imperialist countries. These multinational corporations appear to have attained significant levels of influence over particular policy directions with some the aspirant, emerging and developing capitalist class strata from the historically oppressed and previously disadvantaged serving as an intermediary link and political brokers.

The development of this axis of mass exploitation of our people constitutes one of the increasing barriers over the capacity of the national democratic revolution to transform the economic structure of colonial and apartheid South Africa. This structure is essentially capitalist and dominated by the mining-energy-finance complex in which the aspirant, emerging and developing capitalist class strata is incapable of developing productive forces and advancing industrialisation as opposed to the classical bourgeois analysed by Marx and Engels in the Communist Manifesto and in greater detail by Marx in Capital.

It is our considered view that private capital accumulation by some of the elements of the historically oppressed and previously disadvantaged capitalist strata will be misunderstood if looked at in isolation from their preceding election and appointment into leadership positions, power and authority within our movement and government. In our view, this is one of the drivers of a new phenomenon whereby positions of leadership in our movement are almost forever contested with increasing patronage and use of money which is most often than not linked with state tenders in the one extreme and corruption in the other.

Partially finding expression in this tendency is an emerging possibility of a threat within some of the organisations in our movement whereby leadership preferences of some dominant leaders could be imposed upon the rank and file in a variety of coercive ways including abuse of power and authority, patronage and money. The latter could generate the stifling and financialisation of internal democracy and the piling up of the "sins of incumbency".

The PEC is gravely concerned that the capital city - Tshwane, while not an isolated case, appears to have been turned into a sort of a camp by various forces of private capital accumulators for looting and scavenging over public resources.

The PEC will be consulting on the tasks facing the YCLSA with the rank and file through branch general meetings, district councils and a provincial council scheduled to take place on 24 June 2012 as part of developing a revolutionary response.

Until then and beyond, as the YCLSA we will amongst others demand that all municipal properties in the province be audited. This must include a thoroughgoing investigation and or forensic auditing into the leasing and sale of such property. A transparent process needs to be put in place to identify for the public those who benefit and have befitted from the leasing, use and sale of such property. We will also demand a transparent process to identify for the public all the leaders across the spectrum of political parties who benefit and benefitted from state tenders at both local and provincial government levels.

By the end of June we will launch our campaign against tenderisation of the acquisition and delivery of public goods and services. We do not underestimate the tasks lying ahead in this battle, but we are prepared to lay our lives in the interest of the working class and poor if need be because this is class struggle.

SACP 13th National Congress and ANC 53rd National Conference:

SACP 13th National Congress:

The PEC welcomed the release of `The South African Road to Socialism: Draft Political Programme of the SACP 2012 - 2017`. The programme correctly conceptualises the period since the last Party congress held in 2007. It further captures well the tactical adjustments that the Party adopted in order to move with times and adapt to the ever changing material conditions. Contributions developed by the PEC will be presented to districts and branches in political schools, district and provincial councils for consideration with further revolutionary inputs welcome. This will culminate in the SACP provincial council scheduled to take place in the last week of June with our work submitted to the YCLSA National Committee.

After a thoroughgoing assessment we reiterate our support for SACP Gauteng 10th Provincial Congress` declaration to reaffirm confidence and principled support in the leadership of our General Secretary Comrade Blade Nzimande and the entire Marxist-Leninist disciplined leadership of the Central Committee. This is a shared view which emerged in our own 3rd Provincial Congress in defence of the Party, its programme and leadership.

ANC 53rd National Congress:

The PEC noted that processes are underway to assess the performance of ANC leadership in the run up to the movement`s 53rd National Conference to be held in December 2012 in Mangaung. As the YCLSA, we regard the ANC as a unitary organisation whose leadership is not limited to the national level but includes provincial, regional and branch levels. As a province, we shall therefore assess the performance of the provincial leadership of the ANC. In particular, we shall place alliance relations at the centre of the assessment and analyse the extent to which the alliance is reflected in governance among others.

We shall make use of the national alliance relations that developed in the post-Polokwane period at the national level which in our view are the best of all times since our 1994 transition to democracy. To that end we would like to congratulate the national leadership under the leadership of President Comrade Jacob Zuma.

In the interest of the working class and the poor, of whom we are part, we shall also assess the class character, position, location and activities of the provincial leadership. On the one hand this analysis will be conducted in relation to private capital accumulation. On the other hand it will be conducted in relation the persisting challenges of poverty, unemployment, inequality, landlessness and homelessness suffered in particular within the working class.

If frankness is to apply, whatever the provincial leadership identifies are the required progressive and revolutionary attributes of the leadership to be elected in Mangaung must first of all be demonstrated in the provincial leadership itself. As the YCLSA we believe in the leadership that leads by example.

In general, we shall not identify names for the leadership of the ANC. We shall leave this to ANC members including communist cadres (of whom we are part) in their own right as ANC members within the ANC and the processes and procedures developed by the movement. In particular, the process of leadership preferences must be informed by policy content. In this regard the PEC is satisfied the young communists are engaging very well the ANC discussion documents developed for consideration by the movement`s National Policy Conference later this month with its outcomes expected to be ratified by the 53rd National Conference in December 2012.

We also understand and accept that matters relating to leadership preferences are officially reserved until the nomination process is opened. In this regard we call on all young communists within the ANC to abide by this decision of the movement, and display exemplary behaviour.

Released as adopted by 4th Plenary Session of the 3rd YCLSA Gauteng Congress in Johannesburg,Saturday, 3 June 2012 by:

Alex Mashilo - Provincial Secretary
082 9200 308

Matankana Mothapo - Provincial Spokesperson
082 7590 900