MARIKANA 10 YEARS ON | The Historical Significance of the Mineworkers Uprising
by Weizmann Hamilton There can be no tribute more fitting to the martyrs of Marikana than the SA Federation of Trade Unions’ planned National Shut […]
Comment & Analysis
SAFTU’S SECOND CONGRESS | Time for a Counter-Offensive Against Bosses and Government
Saftu’s second congress is taking place at a time of the sharpest escalation of the struggle between the classes in the post-apartheid era. … The necessity for unity in struggle has never been greater. A counter-offensive against this onslaught is absolutely imperative. The weaponry of the class enemy in government, state-owned enterprises and the private sector is trained on both organised workers’ wages and conditions, but also on the wider working class through savage social spending cuts. Preparation for a public sector general strike followed by a national general strike would … enable Saftu to claim the right to lead the working class like the early Cosatu.
OPERATION DUDULA: CAPITALIST REACTION | How should we understand organised xenophobia and how should the working class respond?
The majority of people have reacted with horror at the violent death of Elvis Nyathi, stoned and burned to death by a murderous mob in Diepsloot. The MWP condemns this act of unbridled barbarism. We express our sympathy and solidarity with his family and indeed the entire Diepsloot community amongst whom he had lived in peace.
WORKING CLASS SUMMIT DEBATES | The Workers Party Discussion Paper & the Crisis in Saftu
Over the last few weeks momentum towards convening a second Working Class Summit has been regained. The first Summit, convened by the Saftu trade union […]
LOCAL ELECTIONS 2021 | Working Class DEMANDS a Political Alternative
The 2021 local government elections (LGE21) outcome marks the end of an era. For the first time since 1994 the ANC, the “party of liberation” has crashed below 50%. The working class has punished the ANC in successive elections over the last decade, but never like this before.
WORKING CLASS SUMMIT DEBATES | What ‘type’ of party does the working class need?
We welcome the re-convening of the Working Class Summit on 23-24 October. The creation of a mass workers party will again be discussed. The Saftu federation is also debating this crucial issue. It remains a controversial topic for the leadership. The SRWP leadership is denouncing the idea of a “mass party” as counter-revolutionary, bourgeois and electoralist. They claim it has no basis in Marxism. Are any of these claims true? What is the way forward for the working class on the political front?
SA AFTER THE RIOTS | What are the prospects for SA’s capitalist economy?
Mining profits are booming. June saw the biggest trade surplus on record. The banks are paying dividends to shareholders again and StatsSA reports that the economy is 11% larger than thought. But unemployment has reached yet another record high. Incomes are falling and poverty is increasing. As the ruling class desperately looks for signs of a post-Covid recovery the inequalities and contradictions of SA’s capitalist economy remain as deep as ever. The few ‘green shoots’ the bosses point to are utterly dependent on the current conjuncture in the world economy and in fact underline the sickness of SA capitalism.
RIOTS AND LOOTING A DEAD END! | Build Working Class Unity to Win Jobs and Services for ALL
Since the imprisonment of former president Jacob Zuma, SA has witnessed the most widespread unrest in decades. Tens of thousands of the poor, the destitute and the hungry have raided supermarkets and shopping malls for food, clothes and other consumer goods. The looting and rioting have seen instances of police outnumbered by the crowds, being pelted with stones and put to flight.
CONCOURT RULINGS | Judiciary Clears the Path for Ramaphosa as Capitalism’s Crisis Deepens
The ConCourt judgement is a warning to the different factions of the ruling class not to over-reach themselves as Zuma and the RET faction did. The judicial-wing of the capitalist state has substituted itself as the ruling class’s “executive committee”, given the paralysis of its executive- and legislative-wings as a result of the factional divisions in the ANC, to bring some stability to SA capitalism on the terms of the capitalist class
Ensure the Working Class Summit is a GENUINE Parliament of the Working Class!
Unite all Struggles Around A Launch Date for Workers Party
On 10 and 11 May (provisionally), nearly three since it first met, the Working Class Summit (WCS) will reconvene. This has the potential to be an enormous step-forward for the working class, one for which the MWP has campaigned for more than two years.
Saftu convened the original WCS in July 2018. 1,000 delegates attended representing 147 working class organisations drawn from trade unions, other worker campaigns, community groups and youth structures. At the time we described this gathering as “an historic step forward”.
