{"id":925,"date":"2019-12-04T12:03:16","date_gmt":"2019-12-04T10:03:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/marxistworkersparty.org.za\/?page_id=925"},"modified":"2026-04-07T17:09:34","modified_gmt":"2026-04-07T15:09:34","slug":"what-we-stand-for","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/marxistworkersparty.net\/?page_id=925","title":{"rendered":"What We Stand For"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>The Programme of the Marxist Workers Party<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><em>South Africa faces a crisis. The\ncapitalist economy in SA and worldwide is in a dead-end. Poverty pay and the\nthreat of retrenchment weigh down the majority of workers. Mass unemployment\nthreatens to leave an entire generation on the scrap heap. Working class\ncommunities are engulfed in a social crisis. Widespread poverty drives crime,\ndrug addiction and violence against women. &nbsp;Neither the ANC government, nor any of the parties\nrepresented in parliament, have a way out. Instead, these defenders of the\ncapitalist profit-system police the working class on behalf of the bosses. The\nvery right to organise and to strike is under attack. Only the working class is\ncapable of leading society out of this dead-end. This will require organisation\nand mass struggle armed with a bold and revolutionary socialist programme. Only\nalong this path can capitalism be ended creating the pre-condition for the socialist\nreconstruction of the economy and the rebuilding of society in the interests of\nthe working class majority.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:30px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Work &amp; Unemployment<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong>Fight all retrenchments and closures.<\/strong> Struggle for the nationalisation of job\nshedding big businesses under democratic workers control, enforced through\nworkplace occupations. <\/li><li><strong>Once a member, always a member. <\/strong>Retrenched workers to retain union membership\nand full democratic rights in union structures. Organise the chronically\nunemployed under the leadership of the trade union movement \u2013 build unemployed-workers\nand unemployed-youth locals in communities.<\/li><li><strong>Workers\u2019 economic planning to end unemployment.<\/strong>&nbsp;Struggle for a reduction of the working\nweek to 30 hours with no cuts in pay. Demand democratic control of hiring and\nfiring and the re-design of shift patterns by workers\u2019 representatives. Share\nout the work with the unemployed.<\/li><li><strong>Reject the ANC\u2019s poverty-level minimum wage.<\/strong>&nbsp;Organise the workplaces to win a living\nwage of R12,500 per month for all full-time workers backed-up by a rigorous\nregime of workplace inspections under the democratic control of workers\u2019\nrepresentatives. Nationalise non-complying big business; on the basis of proven\nunaffordability, subsidies and tax relief to small and family businesses adequate\nfor the minimum wage to be paid. For a basic income social grant of R8,000 per\nmonth for all those not in work \u2013 unemployed, pensioners, disabled etc.<\/li><li><strong>Expose the bosses\u2019 lies!<\/strong> Abolish so-called \u2018business secrets\u2019. Demand\nthat the financial accounts of big business are opened to inspection by\nworkers\u2019 representatives. When the bosses say \u201cwe can\u2019t afford it\u201d, the\nworkers\u2019 movement must say \u201cprove it!\u201d <\/li><li><strong>Abolish outsourcing and labour broking!<\/strong> Build a mass campaign to enforce anti-labour\nbroking legislation. Make all EPWP workers permanent.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:30px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The Trade Union Movement<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong>Defend the right to strike and organise!<\/strong> Scrap the LRA amendments. Organised mass\ndefiance of unjust labour laws that prevent workers defending themselves. Scrap\nthe category of \u201cessential services\u201d \u2013 workers themselves will determine the\nlevel and organisation of emergency cover during strikes. Fight for the passing\nof a trade union freedom bill <em>increasing<\/em>\nthe powers of trade unions, drafted by workers\u2019 representatives.<\/li><li><strong>Revolutionary in word AND Revolutionary in\ndeed!<\/strong> Build the principled\nunity of the trade union movement on the basis of class independence from the\nbosses, democracy and workers\u2019 control. Campaign in every federation and every\nunion for a programme of <a href=\"https:\/\/marxistworkersparty.net\/?page_id=222\">revolutionary trade unionism<\/a> that links workers\u2019 struggles on day-to-day\nissues to the struggle for socialism. Cosatu out of the Tripartite Alliance.<\/li><li><strong>One working class, one struggle!<\/strong> <strong>For maximum\nworkers unity in struggle. <\/strong>Build workplace, industry- and sector-wide\naction-committees that unite the workers of all federations, unions, and those\nnot members of unions. <\/li><li><strong>Struggle against bureaucracy and careerism!\nTrade union leaders are not CEOs!<\/strong> Salary and wage control of all trade union officials determined\ndemocratically sector-by-sector. Abolish trade union investment funds \u2013 cash-out\nall investments into fixed-interest savings to fund membership benefits, strike\nand solidarity funds.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:30px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The Social Crisis in Working Class Communities<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong>Nothing <em>for<\/em> communities, <em>without<\/em> communities!<\/strong> Build democratic, accountable, mass community organisations in every community. Build direct links with workplaces and trade unions. Link-up all community organisations in a country-wide socialist civic federation to unite and co-ordinate service delivery protests and campaign and fight for:<ul><li><strong>A mass decent house-building, electricity, water, sanitation, road and public transport infrastructure programme.<\/strong> Nationalise the big construction companies, building wholesalers and big building retailers. Full community involvement in the design of houses and the planning of communities. Place housing waiting lists under the democratic control of community organisations, with allocation on the basis of fair and objective criteria, including current housing situation, number of dependents and length of time on waiting list.<\/li><li><strong>A publicly-funded, free, accessible and high quality national health <em>service <\/em>\u2013 reject National Health <em>Insurance<\/em>. <\/strong>Nationalise Mediclinic, Netcare, Life Healthcare, and the big pharmaceutical companies under the democratic control of health workers, patients and communities.<\/li><li><strong>Funding and resources to end violence against women and children. <\/strong>For (i) a free, accessible, secure and high-quality network of women\u2019s shelters for survivors of domestic abuse and rape, with provision for children, giving women the freedom to leave abusive relationships, (ii) an increase in the child support grant, (iii) free, accessible, secure and high-quality pre-school child-care and elderly-care centres to relieve the domestic burden on women, (iv) free, accessible and high-quality sexual health and family planning services to allow women genuine choice over if, and when, to have children, (v) dismiss all police officers, magistrates and judges guilty of victim blaming in cases of gender-based violence and LGBT+ hate crimes. Scrap the discriminatory anti-woman Traditional Courts Bill.<\/li><li><strong>Publicly-funded, free, accessible and high quality education from nursery to tertiary.<\/strong> Re-establish parent-teacher-learner committees to place schools under democratic community control. Cancel all student debt and end financial and academic exclusions.<\/li><\/ul><\/li><li><strong>Make communities safe! Organise against crime, drugs and gangsterism.<\/strong> Organise community watch programmes in every community, including patrols of crime \u2018hot spots\u2019; mass community mobilisations against gangsterism and organised crime. Campaign for free, accessible and high-quality community drug rehabilitation programmes linked to guaranteed jobs for recovering addicts. Trade unions andcommunity organisations to campaign against gender based violence, LGBT+ hate crimes and xenophobic attacks, taking up the defenceof women, LGBT+ people and foreign residents in workplaces and communities with their full involvement.<\/li><li><strong>For community-controlled policing!<\/strong> Struggle for working class oversight and control of policing through organised community and trade union participation in Community Policing Forums, including worker-representatives of police unions and private security unions. Campaign for the election of station commanders, district and provincial commissioners and magistrates and judges; community control of hiring and firing in SAPS to combat corruption and the waste of police resources. Dismiss all perpetrators of bribery, harassment, rape and torture. Abolish the militarised tactical and public order policing units used to suppress working class protests.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:30px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>For Working Class Unity<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong>For working class unity, leadership and mass\nclass-based struggle against sexism, LGBT+ discrimination, tribalism, racism\nand xenophobia. <\/strong>Overcome all\npossible lines of division within the working class in united\nworking class organisations, built on clear anti-sexist, anti-LGBT+\ndiscrimination, anti-tribalist, anti-racist and anti-xenophobic principles. For\nthe full and equal participation in working class organisations of all\nforeign-born workers and residents. Build a united working class mass movement to\nend the capitalist economic foundations of society which guarantee poverty and\ninequality and upon which intolerance, prejudice and discrimination rest.<\/li><li><strong>Build a class-independent trade union-led\nCampaign Against Sexual Harassment, Domestic Violence, Rape and the Murder of\nWomen.<\/strong> United action of men\nand women workers to end sexual harassment in the workplace. Demand from the\nbosses (i) equal pay for work of equal value, (ii) employer subsidised\nhealthcare, (iii) housing allowances adequate to allow women to leave abusive\nrelationships, (iv) adequate paid parental leave for all workers, (v) safe\nemployer-provided transport to and from night-shifts, (vi) free workplace\nchildcare facilities.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:30px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The Economic Crisis<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong>No to the privatisation of SAA, Eskom and the\nother SOEs! No job losses at the SOEs!<\/strong> Re-structure the SOEs on the basis of <em>socialist<\/em> nationalisation:<ul><li><strong>Recover the stolen R-billions!<\/strong> Organise a worker and trade union-led commission\nto investigate and drive-out corruption.<\/li><\/ul><ul><li><strong>End the looting of the SOEs! <\/strong>End outsourcing. Kick-out big business\n\u2018consultants\u2019. Cancel all contracts and tenders and bring workers and services\nin-house.<\/li><\/ul><ul><li><strong>Sack the boards of all the SOEs!<\/strong> For workers\u2019 control of the SOEs. For fully\nelected and recallable boards composed of representatives of the workers in the\nSOE, their trade unions and consumer and community groups.<\/li><\/ul><ul><li><strong>Reject the capitalist organisation of the SOEs\nas profit-driven silos! <\/strong>Integrate\nthe SOEs according to a democratic economic plan, reducing waste and achieving\nscales of economy, whilst protecting jobs, wages and conditions. Extend\nsocialist nationalisation to support the SOEs \u2013 e.g. (i) nationalise Sasol and\nEngen to supply cost-price jet fuel to SAA, (ii) nationalise the coal mines to supply\ncost-price coal to Eskom.<\/li><\/ul><\/li><li><strong>Place the levers of finance in the hands of the\nworking class for planned investment.&nbsp;<\/strong>Nationalise under democratic working class control Standard Bank, ABSA,\nFNB, Nedbank, Capitec and Investec along with the entire financial sector. For\na state monopoly over credit, under the control of democratically elected\ncommittees of the working class. Guarantee the savings of all working class and\nmiddle class people and small businesses. Bond and debt relief for struggling\nhome-owners and small businesses. Abolish garnishee orders!<\/li><li><strong>Oppose imperialism\u2019s watch-dogs! Combat the\nsabotage of Moody\u2019s and the other ratings agencies.<\/strong>&nbsp;Defend the economy from a downgrade via a\nstate monopoly of foreign trade alongside capital and price controls under the\ncontrol of democratically elected committees of the working class.<\/li><li><strong>For a socialist economy to meet the needs of the\nworking class majority. <\/strong>Nationalise\nunder democratic working class control the biggest companies in all the key\nsectors of the economy: agriculture, mining, construction, transport,\nmanufacturing, telecommunications, wholesale, retail and distribution. Integrate\nnationalised industry according to a democratic socialist plan of production to\nraise wages, protect and create new jobs and end poverty.<\/li><li><strong>Restore the land to the people \u2013 restore the land\nto the working class!<\/strong>\nNationalise big agri-business and the 36,000 big commercial farms that control\n95% of agricultural land; support and debt cancellation for small and\nsubsistence farmers. Democratically elected community committees to determine\nthe use of non-agricultural land \u2013 home owner-occupiers and small business\npremises exempt. Scrap the Traditional Courts Bill and the Traditional and Khoisan\nLeadership Act. End state salaries for traditional\nleaders and abolish the traditional authorities. Put all taxes and royalties\ncurrently paid to traditional leaders by mining companies under the democratic\ncontrol of elected and accountable community committees to spend on social\ndevelopment.<\/li><li><strong>Socialist planning to solve the environmental\ncrisis. <\/strong>Rapid re-direction of\nenergy generation toward renewables. Kick out the IPPs and build a\npublicly-owned renewables sector. Retrofit the entire economy to eliminate\npollution with re-training and guaranteed jobs for any workers whose jobs are\nrendered obsolete.<\/li><li><strong>Workers of the world unite! Socialism cannot be built in one\ncountry! <\/strong>Build solidarity and\ninternational links with the workers of the world in the global struggle\nagainst capitalism and imperialism, laying the foundations of co-operation for\na worldwide socialist plan of production.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:30px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>For Working Class Power<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Our\nprogramme to overcome the economic crisis is a direct challenge to the rule of\nthe capitalist class. They will resist it ferociously using all the forces of\nthe capitalist state, backed-up by world imperialism. The working class needs\nto build a vehicle that can take political power out of the hands of the bosses\nand their politicians and transfer it to a revolutionary socialist government\nleading a workers state built upon a workers democracy.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong>Forge the fighting unity of the working class in a party of mass\nstruggle.<\/strong> Build a socialist mass workers party to\nunite the struggles of the workplaces, the communities and the youth as a vital\nstep toward the creation of a mass revolutionary party.<\/li><li><strong>Implement the Saftu and Working Class Summit resolutions on the\nworkers party.<\/strong> Build a unifying, democratic and\nopen socialist mass workers party on a federal basis, allowing unions,\ncommunity structures, youth campaigns and the existing working class political\ngroups and parties to affiliate.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n<!--themify_builder_static--><!--\/themify_builder_static--><div class=\"brz-root__container\"><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mh-excerpt\"><p>The Programme of the Marxist Workers Party South Africa faces a crisis. The capitalist economy in SA and worldwide is in a dead-end. Poverty pay <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/marxistworkersparty.net\/?page_id=925\" title=\"What We Stand For\">[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"brizy-blank-template.php","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-925","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"acf":[],"_hostinger_reach_plugin_has_subscription_block":false,"_hostinger_reach_plugin_is_elementor":false,"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/marxistworkersparty.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/925","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/marxistworkersparty.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/marxistworkersparty.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marxistworkersparty.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marxistworkersparty.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=925"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/marxistworkersparty.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/925\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7294,"href":"https:\/\/marxistworkersparty.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/925\/revisions\/7294"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/marxistworkersparty.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=925"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}