{"id":851,"date":"2019-11-16T15:22:32","date_gmt":"2019-11-16T13:22:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/marxistworkersparty.org.za\/?p=851"},"modified":"2020-01-01T13:35:10","modified_gmt":"2020-01-01T11:35:10","slug":"part-two-for-mass-working-class-struggle-and-a-bold-socialist-programme-to-break-with-capitalism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/marxistworkersparty.net\/?p=851","title":{"rendered":"PART TWO: For Mass Working Class Struggle & a Bold Socialist Programme to Break with Capitalism"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

One working\nclass \u2013 one struggle. For a trade union united front against job losses,\nprivatisation and austerity.<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

What role\nshould Saftu play?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

by Shaun Arendse<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The announcement of major job losses at SA Airways on 11 November was a deliberate and calculated provocation. The government has provoked strike action to test the response of the workers movement and \u2018public opinion\u2019 ahead of the assault on the public sector and public sector workers being prepared to satisfy imperialism\u2019s watchdog, Moody\u2019s. But the government debt crisis is only one symptom of the profound crisis of South African and world capitalism. The entire system is sick (see Part One: SA\u2019s Economic Crisis \u2013 No Way Out for the Working Class under Capitalism<\/a>). On the same day that SAA\u2019s 944 job losses were announced, ArcelorMittal declared plans to close its Saldanha Bay plant with the loss of more than 2,000 jobs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

A crisis of such\ndepth poses a stark choice for the workers movement. Labour and capital are\nalready fighting a guerrilla struggle of growing intensity \u2013 strikes at CBI\nElectric, Spar South Rand Distribution Centre and Joburg City\u2019s Metrobus to\nname just a few recent skirmishes. The class enemy\u2019s tanks are now beginning to\nroll. A further intensification of the class struggle is posed. The bosses have\nbeen preparing. The 2018 LRA amendments were designed to cripple the right to\nstrike. The determined strike at SAA shows that workers will fight. But simply\nrepelling attacks is not enough.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The crisis of\ncapitalism needs to be overcome and resolved in the interests of the working\nclass. This can only be done on the basis of wide scale nationalisations and democratic\neconomic planning that lays the foundations for a socialist economy. To achieve\nthis, the workers movement must move on to the offensive in the class struggle.\nThe question of leadership will be crucial. What role will the Saftu leaders\nplay?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

Programme<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

To fight effectively workers need to be\narmed with a programme and strategy that can overcome the capitalist crisis.\nThis can only be built upon a clear perspective \u2013 a clear understanding \u2013 of\nthe character and nature of the crisis (see Part One<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over recent\nmonths, in a number of statements[1]<\/a>,\nSaftu has put forward measures including (i) opposition to corruption, outsourcing,\nausterity and privatisation in the public sector, (ii) for more \u2018progressive\u2019\ntaxes on big business and the rich, and (iii) changes to government monetary\npolicy. The centrepiece is a proposal for a R500 billion stimulus package to be\nfunded through more government borrowing, which, presumably, on the basis of\n(i) to (iii), would not escalate the government\u2019s existing debt crisis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A wing of the\ncapitalist class, both in SA and internationally, are calling on governments to\nadopt similar reformist neo-Keynesian measures. The class content of such a\nprogramme is to restore economic growth on\na capitalist basis<\/em> \u2013 i.e. on the basis of the private ownership of the\neconomy to create profits for the owners through the exploitation of the labour\nof the working class \u2013 in the hope that wealth will \u2018trickle down\u2019 to the\nworking class. Unfortunately, Saftu\u2019s programme remains firmly within this\ncapitalist framework. There is no serious mention of nationalisation or\ndemocratic economic planning. This makes Saftu\u2019s programme utopian because it\nflies in the face of the global experience of the class struggle since the\n2007\/8 world financial crisis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We were alarmed by how socialism was referred to in Saftu\u2019s August NEC Statement<\/a> in connection with violent crime \u2013 the statement said that what \u201cthe working class cannot afford to do is say we are waiting for socialism\u201d. This suggests that the Saftu leadership thinks the struggle for socialism is something separate and apart from the class struggle which rages day-in and day-out. This would be fatal for Saftu\u2019s ability to give leadership to the working class in this economic crisis. Marxists fight for all reforms that benefit the working class. But we oppose reformism \u2013 the idea that reforms can last under capitalism and lead incrementally towards the socialist transformation of society. The struggle must be fought with the understanding that however successful our battles, any gains will always be under threat as long as capitalism exists.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The capitalist\nclass is refusing to invest because of a chronic lack of demand, especially in\na country as impoverished as South Africa (see Part One<\/a>). The struggle\nbetween the classes does not arise from an intellectual misunderstanding\nbetween them. It is rooted in their irreconcilable interests. Without decisive\nsocialist measures that place the commanding heights of the economy under the\ncontrol of the working class any \u2018alternative\u2019 policy must persuade<\/em> the bosses to co-operate. But they will simply refuse if\nit is not in their immediate interests. The utopian idea that the bosses can be\nconvinced to act in the interests of \u2018society\u2019 runs through Saftu\u2019s recent\nstatements. Lebohang Phanyeko (a WASP member, see The Founding of the Marxist\nWorkers Party<\/a>) expressed this idea on behalf of Saftu on the protest march\noutside Ramaphosa\u2019s Second SA Investment Conference. He called on the assembled\nrepresentatives of the ruling class \u201cto do the right thing\u201d and invest in the\neconomy. Broadcast throughout the afternoon on SAfm, this sowed illusions in\nthe class enemy and did nothing to prepare the working class for the struggle\nahead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Only armed with\na bold socialist programme will the working class be capable of leading society\nout of the impasse into which the bosses and their politicians have led it. At\nthe heart of this programme must be the demand for the nationalisation of the\nbanks and other major financial institutions alongside the biggest companies in\nall the key sectors of the economy \u2013 agriculture, mining, construction, transport,\nmanufacturing, wholesale and retail etc. Upon the basis of democratic working\nclass control and management of nationalised industry, economic planning can be\nintroduced. What is profit under capitalism would be transformed into a vast\nsocial fund. With the profit motive abolished, social need would be the\ndetermining criteria for spending and investment. Wages could be raised and\nunemployment eliminated. All the long neglected social needs of the working\nclass \u2013 for housing, social services, hospitals, schools etc. \u2013 could be met. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

Struggle<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ruling class\nwill never agree to this. Only a mass movement led by the working class can\nmake it a reality. Uniting the greatest number of workers in struggle will be\ncrucial. The co-operation of Numsa and NUM at Eskom points in the direction of\nhow such a movement can develop: a united front of the trade union movement. Numsa\nand NUM could call joint marches (to Union Buildings and other targets) against\nprivatisation, job losses and austerity. Each could appeal to their federations\nto support the march and mobilise their shop stewards and members for it. This could\nhave a powerful effect on the working class, laying the foundation for a general\nstrike capable of stopping the entire country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the Saftu\nleadership, the purpose of a united front would not be to paint the leadership\nof Cosatu red. It would be to speed up Cosatu\u2019s decline \u2013 to break the more\nthan one million workers still in Cosatu from the Tripartite Alliance. The\ninevitable attack on public sector workers that the ANC government must carry\nout will position them as the main enemy of the members of Nehawu, Sadtu and\nSamwu in particular. Ramaphosa is keenly aware of the importance of the public\nsector for his remaining base amongst the organised working class. He will\ntread carefully. Saftu will need to be skilful in exploiting the\ncontradictions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If at this\nstage, it proves impossible to use the Numsa\/NUM co-operation as a lever on\nCosatu, Saftu should go ahead with marches anyway, making a loud appeal to\nCosatu\u2019s shop stewards and members to participate in defiance of their\nleadership (the same for AMCU, Nactu and Fedusa). This can be given flesh if\nSaftu shop stewards and members pioneer the revival of industrial locals \u2013\nworkplace based structures that unite workers regardless of union affiliation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, the\nentire united front tactic will only work if Saftu sufficiently distinguishes\nitself from the Cosatu leadership and offers a clear way forward to all workers\non the basis of a bold socialist programme.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

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

Across the world\nmass movements are taking place. All the ingredients are present for South\nAfrica to join this wave. But the major weakness of these movements is present\nin SA too \u2013 the lack of a political alternative. If and when capitalist\ngovernments are toppled by mass movements, who will take the power? It is only\nthe working class which is capable of building socialism. Workers need a party.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Working\nClass Summit that Saftu convened in July 2018 made a clear declaration in\nfavour of a workers party.[2]<\/a>\nIn October 2018, Saftu\u2019s Special Central Committee endorsed this, building on\nprevious Saftu positions in favour of a workers party.[3]<\/a>\nNow things have gone quiet. The report of Saftu\u2019s September Political &\nIdeological Commission does not even mention the workers party! Why? Almost\ncertainly because of the\ncreation of the Socialist Revolutionary Workers Party<\/a> by a section of the\nNumsa leadership behind the back of Saftu.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A workers party\nwhich unites the class\u2019s struggles in the workplaces, the communities and in\nthe schools, colleges and universities will be an indispensable weapon for this<\/em> struggle, against this<\/em> capitalist crisis. It cannot be\ntreated as a side project or an optional extra. The workers party is part of\nthe preparation of the working class to take power and lead society out of the\ncapitalist crisis. But a party cannot be imposed on the struggle; it must grow\nout of it. To begin building the political unity of the working class, a\nworkers party will need to be organised on a federal<\/em> basis in its initial stage \u2013 allowing unions, community\nstructures, youth campaigns and the existing working class political groups and\nparties, including the MWP and the SRWP, to affiliate. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the basis of\na successful march, especially one led by a trade union united front, the Working\nClass Summit could be reconvened, to prepare a general strike, especially as a\nresponse to the February budget, and tackle again the burning question of\nworking class political representation \u2013 a workers party.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

FOR STRUGGLE:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n