{"id":1148,"date":"2020-03-16T20:34:37","date_gmt":"2020-03-16T18:34:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/marxistworkersparty.org.za\/?p=1148"},"modified":"2020-04-23T11:17:53","modified_gmt":"2020-04-23T09:17:53","slug":"covid-19-1-the-class-struggle-continues","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/marxistworkersparty.net\/?p=1148","title":{"rendered":"COVID-19 #1: The Class Struggle Continues"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Reject Class Collaboration \u2013 Build Working Class Solidarity<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Marxist Workers Party statement<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since the end of January South Africans have watched the corona virus spread around the world with growing concern. High levels of HIV, TB and diabetes, not to mention poverty and malnutrition, puts millions of South Africans in the \u201cat risk\u201d category. Together with the state of the public health system, which has all but collapsed in some provinces, many people are extremely worried.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On 5 March, SA\u2019s first case was confirmed.\nOn 11 March the World Health Organisation declared coronavirus a global pandemic.\nLast night, 15 March, Ramaphosa declared a State of Disaster in a televised\naddress. He reported that the number of cases had risen to 61 and for the first\ntime cases of local transmission had been detected. In response, a raft of\nmeasures aimed at limiting the spread of the virus were announced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The preparation of isolation and\nquarantine sites, improvement in surveillance and testing systems and increased\nhospital capacity were promised. Other measures include foreign travel bans,\ncancellation of visas, the closure of 35 land border-crossings, two sea-ports,\nand cancellation of non-essential overseas government travel. Within the\ncountry, gatherings of more than 100 will be \u201cprohibited\u201d, schools closed until\nafter Easter, and prison visits suspended. An appeal has been made to the\nentire population to practice \u201csocial distancing\u201d and to businesses, including\nmalls, to intensify \u201chygiene control\u201d. A new National Command Council, chaired\nby Ramaphosa, will meet three times per week. More measures are likely in the\nfuture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n

State of Disaster<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Such a development is\nunprecedented in the post-1994 democratic-era. The closest comparison is  the States of Emergency in the 1980s. In\nalmost every other country the only comparison is war-time. Such a situation\ncan be disorienting for the working class as the \u2018normal\u2019 rhythm of the class\nstruggle is disrupted. Different moods can affect the class. The fear and\nuncertainty of the new situation can cause some workers to step-back from the\nstruggle. They may even look for protection from the same bosses and\npoliticians that yesterday they were fighting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This can in turn present difficulties for class conscious and organised workers, especially activists and shop stewards. But such moods can pass quickly. The class struggle will rise to the surface again. In both Hong Kong and Italy, strikes have taken place as workers become frustrated with the response of their governments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But in the meantime the capitalist class will consciously exploit the natural tendency towards human solidarity. Ramaphosa wasted no time on this score. He ended his address with the following siren-call: \u201cWe are responding as a united nation to a common threat. This national emergency demands cooperation, collaboration and common action. More than that, it requires solidarity, understanding and compassion. Those who have resources, those who are healthy, need to assist those who are in need and who are vulnerable.<\/em>\u201d In support of Ramaphosa the middle class in the media is also banging the drum of national unity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n

A United Nation?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the idea of a \u201cunited nation\u201d is a complete fiction. In their budget in February the ANC-government declared war against the working class. They announced their intention to tear-up the collective agreement with trade unions in the public sector and cut wages by R161 billion. They announced cuts of another R100 billion to the departments providing the social services that will come under severe strain as the virus spreads. Where was Ramaphosa\u2019s \u201csolidarity, understanding and compassion\u201d then?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let us take a very concrete example. Over recent months the MWP has been at the forefront of the struggle of Gauteng\u2019s EPWP workers. These workers are struggling for permanent jobs and a R12,500 per month minimum wage. Throughout the campaign regular mass meetings have easily attracted 100+ workers. Protests have attracted between 500 and 2,000. In the latest phase of the struggle the ANC-run Gauteng Department of Infrastructure Development (DID) announced the contracts of all 5,000 workers will end on 31 March. A new round of mass action is needed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Therefore the new \u201cprohibition\u201d\non gatherings of more than 100 people poses a serious tactical issue. Workers\ncannot accept the loss of their jobs; nor will they want to be responsible for\nthe spread of the virus. However, if the EPWP workers were to agree to suspend\nmass meetings and protests in the spirit of \u201ca united nation\u201d, will the DID management,\nin the same spirit, place a moratorium on the cancellation of contracts? Anyone\ninvolved in the campaign would laugh at this idea! It is obvious that the DID\nmanagement will try and use the coronavirus crisis as a cover to suppress\nworkers protest and carry out the job cuts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In his address, Ramaphosa warned\nthat the virus \u201c\u2026will have a potentially\nsevere impact on production, the viability of businesses, job retention and job\ncreation.<\/em>\u201d This is a thinly veiled threat. In other words, during the coronavirus\ncrisis the working class will continue to be at the mercy of the unplanned\ncapitalist profit-system. There will be no interference in the \u2018normal\u2019\nfunctioning of capitalism; no interference in the economic dictatorship of the\nbosses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is not ruled-out that the\ngovernment will be forced to make encroachments into the sacred domain of the\nmarket and private property if the coronavirus crisis escalates. But this will\nbe temporary and a last resort. Before they reluctantly take such measures much\ndamage will already have been inflicted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Workers\u2019 Independence<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In truth, the capitalists are\nincapable as a class of behaving towards the working class with \u201csolidarity,\nunderstanding or compassion\u201d. The coronavirus will be used by the bosses to excuse\na thousand sins against workers in the coming weeks and months. This is the\nreal class content of \u201ca united nation\u201d. It is an appeal to unite behind<\/em><\/strong>\nthe capitalist class and accept their leadership in the crisis. It is an appeal\nfor class collaboration to defend and preserve capitalism as long as the crisis\ncontinues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Class conscious workers and\nworking class activists must reject this trap. The class struggle has not been\nsuspended. It continues. The coronavirus crisis has simply changed the\nlandscape upon which the class struggle unfolds. Yes, it poses serious tactical\nissues for the workers movement. But none that cannot be overcome. Worker-activists\nmust help the mass of the working class to channel the instinct for human\nsolidarity in a crisis away from the rocks of class collaboration and into\nsupport for an independent working class programme of action. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This does not mean ignoring reasonable\nmeasures to protect public health. Rather, it is a demand that the working\nclass takes control of them. The bosses\u2019 private property must not limit the\nworking class from doing what must be done in order to defend public health.\nThe crisis must be used to ruthlessly expose the failures of the capitalist\nsystem and show that the system, itself has created the conditions for a crisis\nof this nature. Neo-liberalism has degraded public healthcare systems, created\npoverty and mass unemployment, increasing the vulnerability of the vast\nmajority of working people worldwide.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Saftu<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Saftu leadership\u2019s statement\nin response to Ramaphosa\u2019s address is deeply disappointing. More than any other\ncrisis in the post-World War Two period globally, and in post-apartheid South Africa,\nthe Corona virus crisis exposes the irreconcilable contradictions between\nprivate profit and social need. This demands an approach to combating the\npandemic that places the working class at the head of society and points to the\nnecessity for the overthrow of capitalism and the socialist transformation of\nsociety.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unfortunately the Saftu statement\npoints in the opposite direction. The statement is infused with the spirit of a\n\u2018loyal-opposition\u2019 to the neo-liberal Ramaphosa administration and proposes\nmeasures that ultimately are aimed at saving capitalism from itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This includes the headline, \u201cProtect Us, and We Will Protect Each Other \u2013 SAFTU call on Ramaphosa Government: The War against COVID-19 must be Fully Engaged with Working-Class Support<\/em>\u201d. This clearly indicates that in the view of the Saftu leadership the working class must be won to support the ANC government for the duration of this crisis. The statement closes with an appeal to Ramaphosa: \u201cDon\u2019t waste this crisis President! Change direction! Act to protect your people!<\/em>\u201d The statement talks about \u201cour<\/em><\/strong> state\u201d and \u201cour<\/em><\/strong> economy\u201d and even \u201cour<\/em><\/strong> elites\u201d and \u201cour<\/em><\/strong> stock market\u201d!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We agree this crisis must not be\nwasted\u2026 but for the opposite reasons: to demonstrate the urgent necessity for\nthe abolition of capitalism and the socialist transformation of society.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We agree of course with Saftu’s demands in relation to service delivery, public works for new health facilities etc. But the statement completely mis-educates, and accordingly disarms, the working class for the intensified class battles that will follow in the wake of the coronavirus. The virus is not the cause of the crisis of capitalism. It is an effect of it. It is serving as the catalyst for a deepening of the pre-existing global crisis, which is poised to surpass the 2008 financial crisis. The bill for this crisis will be presented, as the February budget showed, to the working class for payment.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Saftu statement fails to warn\nthat any of the measures the government may take, including as is happening in\nSpain, where the government has taken control of private healthcare, however\nwelcome, will only be temporary and will be returned to private hands as soon\nas the virus is under control. That is unless the working class is prepared in\nadvance to resist this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Keynes<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In previous material<\/a> we\nhave pointed out the weakness in the programme put forward by Saftu as a\nresponse to the economic crisis and threat of a Moody\u2019s downgrade. We have\ncharacterised their position as Keynesian. Amazingly, Saftu\u2019s new statement\nexplicitly confirms this, saying, \u201c\u2026we\nmust follow the advice of the British economist John Maynard Keynes<\/em>\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Keynes was a pro-capitalist\neconomist. His theories and policies were designed to defend<\/em><\/strong> capitalism, not\nchallenge it. His policies were supported<\/em><\/strong> by capitalist governments,\nnot opposed by them. In the post-World War Two period capitalist governments\nneeded to find ways to stabilise wrecked economies, whilst making concessions\nto the pressure of a militant working class. They needed to divert the masses from\nembracing revolutionary socialism and sweeping capitalism away. Their solution\nwas Keynesianism \u2013 it served a counter-revolutionary<\/em><\/strong> agenda for the\ncapitalist class.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We wonder how a self-proclaimed\nsocialist-oriented Marxist-Leninist<\/em><\/strong> trade union federation could issue a statement\nlike this. Keynes\u2019s ideas stand in direct opposition<\/em><\/strong> to the ideas of\nMarx and Lenin. But it is no accident that this embrace of Keynes has become\nexplicit under the shock of the coronavirus crisis. The leadership feels the\nenormous pressure from the capitalist and middle classes for \u201ca united nation\u201d.\nThe ideas of Keynes remain a useful bridge to this, whilst allowing the Saftu\nleadership to criticise the \u2018excesses\u2019 of capitalism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is embarrassing to have the Saftu leadership, in effect, making a call to mimic Trump\u2019s actions in the United States: quantitative easing and lowering interest rates. This will fail, just as it has done this past two weeks in the US, and has globally for the past ten years.    <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most importantly Saftu\u2019s statement fails to condemn any plans for the declaration for a PW Botha-style state of emergency. The speculation in the capitalist press that this is being contemplated may be just that. But why has Ramaphosa beefed-up the security cluster in government and resuscitated the State Security Council which effectively took over the running of the country under PW Botha\u2019s State of Emergency in 1985? Is it because the government is conscious that its credibility is so low, and the conditions its neo-liberal capitalist policies have plunged the working class so unbearable, that there may be mass defiance of the State of Disaster measures, particularly the plans to cut public sector workers\u2019 wages and retrench over 5,000 EPWP workers? In either case it reflects the search by at least a section of the capitalist class for greater powers to wield against the working class. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nothing could be more disastrous\nthan Vavi\u2019s proposal on television that the rolling campaign of mass action\nadopted by the Working Class Steering Committee will have to be reconsidered in\nlight of the State of Disaster. It is the height of na\u00efvety to think that the bosses\nand its government will not use the cover of the virus to step up attacks on\nthe working class. Saftu was established to reclaim the organised working class\u2019s\npolitical AND class independence, not to become the \u201clieutenants of capital in\nthe labour movement\u201d, to quote Trotsky.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not for one minute must the working class disarm.  Our strength lies in our power to bring government and the economy to a complete standstill. We will engage in mass action in a responsible manner. But we cannot announce a ceasefire in the class struggle. The capitalist system, especially in times of crisis does not permit that. The bosses will be clapping their hands at Saftu\u2019s appeal for class peace and step-up the offensive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Resist comrades!<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Do not soften the class lines!<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Sharpen them!<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n