SOUTH AFRICA The Communist Party (1) THE FOLLOWING is an extract from an article entitled United front to end apartheid, the road to mass action in South Africa', written by L. Mzansi. The article appeared in The African Communist (the organ of the South African Communist Party - SACP) No 97 in the second quarter of 1984.
The article defines the strategic approach which the author believes should determine the line of action of the Communist Party in the mass movement. For a further article on this theme, see issue
DOCUMENT a universal political struggle ... in such a manner as to obtain the support of all opposition strata for the struggle and for our party'. (5)
We should note Lenin's emphasis on the broadness of the task facing the workers party, which must address itself to all classes and all opposition strata.
In the art of going to the broad masses, much can be learnt from the experience in the 1930s of the Popular Front against Fascism and War and from its theoretical leader, Georgi Dimitrov. But in applying these lessons to our own struggle, we must constantly be aware of Dimitrov's warning to the Seventh Congress of the Communist International (CI) in 1935:
"It is necessary in each country to investigate, study and ascertain the national peculiarities, the specific national features .. and map out accordingly effective methods and affive methods and forms of struggle. Lenin persistently warned us against ... stereotyped methods ... mechanical levelling and identification of tactical rules, of rules of struggle." (6)
It is especially when approaching the problem of work among the broadest masses and the nonproletarian classes and strata that we should heed Lenin's advice to display the utmost flexibility in .. tactics'. (7) But such tactical flexibility must never be confused with opportunism or abdication of the ideological struggle.
Dimitrov's address to the Seventh Congress of the CI in 1935 was the culmination of many years of struggle by the working class against the growing menace of fascism. This struggle included armed confrontations and street battles. But it also included the struggle of the working-class movement 'with itself", especially in reaching a clearer understanding of the nature of fascism. 1. The nature of this crisis is analysed in the statement of the SACP Central Committee, September 1983, ('The African
Communist' No 96, first quarter, 1984).
OR Tambo, 1984, Liberation is in in apartheid South Africa and a call to the sight; analysis of the present situation people by the ANC, London; ANC ppl-2 4. Georgi Dimitrov (1882-1949), a Bul- 3. Ibid. garian Communist who had moved to
Germany attracted world attention when in 1933 he was imprisoned by the Nazis on charges of having set the Reichstag on fire. He defended himself at the trial and was acquitted. He became a Soviet citizen and served as executive secretary of the Comintern from 1934-43 and was chief proponent of the People's Front policy adopted at the Comintern's seventh congress in 1935. He was permier
5. VI Lenin What is to be done' in Selec- of Bulgaria, 1946-49.
ted Works Vol 1, Progress Publishers,
6. Dimitrou, 1969. For the unity of Moscow.
the working class against fascism.
Sophia, Sophia Press.
7. VI Lenin, 1968 Selected Works Vol
1, Progress Publishers. International Viewpoint 30 September 1985
No 101 of The African Communist. The annual address for 1984 of the President of the African National Congress, Comrade O R Tambo, a document rich in theoretical and practical insights, points out that the revolutionary ferment in our country has 'plunged the ruling racist clique into deeper and deeper levels of crisis.' The document goes on to explain that recent manoeuvres on the constitutional front by the Nationalist Party are an implicit recognition of the insolubility of the crisis. (1) The racist regime is involved in 'crisis management', a desperate attempt to see that things do not get entirely out of hand. 'In other words,' the statement continues, the fascists recognise that they can no longer rule in the old way? (2)
The regime has begun to tinker with apartheid in order to entrench white domination. Among the reforms have been the new constitution, which gives to Coloured and Indian people a man, and or presk Loca people a sham form of representation Authorities Act, which claims to give 'urban Blacks' a greater measure of self-government over the urban ghettoes.
President Tambo's statement emphasizes that these measures are a reaction to the growing revolutionary upsurge of the oppressed majority in our country and poses the question: What intermediate objectives should we set ourselves, building on what we have achieved, and in preparation for the next stage in our forward march to victory?'
In a key passage the president lays out the forces and structures 12 constituting the offensive against apartheid: 'Our revolutionary struggle rests on four pillars. These are, first, the all-round vanguard activity of the underground structures of the ANC, second, the united mass action of the peoples, third, our armed offensive spearheaded by Umkhonto we Sizwe and fourth, the international drive to isolate the apartheid regime ...' (3)
This article tries to examine some implications of the second "pillar" the united mass action of the peoples, in the light of the experience of the world working-class movement, and especially the theoretical contribution of Georgi Dimitrov (4) on the questions of the united and popular fronts.
Mass popular resistance to apartheid and white rule has reached unprecedented heights in our country. As never before, broad layers of the working people, youth, women and the intelligentsia are being drawn into political activity. This development, by its own momentum, has opened up possibilities for developing new forms of struggle and drawing in even wider sections of our peoples. But the organization of mass popular resistance poses special problems both at the level of practical activity and of theoretical understanding.
For Communists this new situation brings special responsibilities. As Lenin pointed out:
"To bring political knowledge to the workers, the social-democrats (ie the Communists) must go among all classes of the population, must despatch units of their army in all directions ... We must take upon ourselves the task of organizing
Although it fell to Dimitrov to present the final formulation, this process of understanding was a collective one, in which the experience of many Communist Parties (for example, the French, Italian and Bulgarian parties) played an important part.
The basic strategy worked out by Dimitrov and adopted by the CI was to form the broadest possible front of democratic classes and strata on the basis of the defence of democratic rights and against fascism and war. At the core of this broad popular front was to be a united front of workers' parties and organizations, based on a pact between the Communists and Social-Democrats and the uniting of their respective trade union centres ...
In the first place it was necessary to define the enemy's most vulnerable point, in this case the vulnerable point of fascism. Dimitrov defined the "Achilles heel' of fascism very simply: its social composition was extremely heterogeneous. (8) Fascism posed as the champion of the nation as a whole, but in fact represented the
Yusuf Dadoo (left) and Moses Madhida (right) in September 1979. Dadoo, who died in September 1983 was national chairperson of the South African
Communist Party, vice-chair of the ANC politico military council and ex-president of the South African Indian Congress. Moses Madhida is the current general secretary of the CP and a member of the Executive Committee of the ANC. (DR)
most reactionary elements of the capitalist class. It followed that the development of a broad front must be based on discovering those interests of the various strata that could not be satisfied by the fascists, but instead were being ignored or trampled upon.
'In every country there are certain key questions ... agitating vast masses of the people ... around which the struggle for the united front must be developed.' (9)
Secondly, these key questions had to be taken up and expressed in clear language that the masses could understand.
•We must learn to talk to the masses, not in the language of book formulas, but in the language of fighters for the cause of the masses whose every word and every idea reflect the innermost thoughts and sentiments of the masses.? (10) National democratic revolution
Finally, it was necessary to be ready to find new forms of struggle and new organizational methods so that, as the mass movement developed, could go over from defensive actions offensive actions leading (in the conditions of that time) to a mass political strike.
In trying to apply the lessons of imitrov and the Popular Front to ur own times and our own struggle, is just as important to understand what is different as to see what is the ame. The differences are very simple but also very important.
Firstly, our struggle is a national democratic revolution whose main content is the national liberation of the African people, leading to a democratic state in which all oppressed minorities will find the fullest expression of their aspirations and interests. It is a struggle for majority rule against a small white minority that has monopolised political and economic power.
Secondly, the context in which the question of mass action has been raised (not abstractly, but by life itself), and in which organizations like the democratic trade unions and the United Democratic Front have emerged, is one in which the popular masses are on the offensive and hold the initiative. In this respect our situation differs radically from that in the 1930s when the working class was on the defensive against the fascist onslaught.
The first difference - the national democratic nature of our revolution -has two important implications. In the first place, it means that a strong objective basis exists for consolidating the unity of all classes, strata and national groups among the oppressed Black majority on the basis of the struggle for majority rule. Though it would be wrong to underestimate, or even deny, the existence of class and ethnic differences among the oppressed, it would be more wrong, and even more dangerous, to exaggerate them.
This means that it is not difficult to identify those issues around which the broadest possible unity of the oppressed can be forged. As Dimitrov put it, "The path is incicated by life itself and by the initiative of the masses themselves? (11) This is what Comrade Tambo meant when he stated that 'the formation of the UDF was a product of our people's determination to be their own liberators.' (12)
Secondly, the national democratic character of our revolution enables us to identify the 'Achilles heel' of our enemy as precisely and in as few - though different - words as Dimitrov did. The most vulnerable point of the white oppressors is their small number and their diminishing proportion in relation to the total population...
A proper understanding of the second major difference between Dimitrov's situation and our own struggle - the fact that we are on the offensive - also tells us how we can strike most effectively at that Achilles heel' and destroy white minority rule. To find the answer we can go back to Dimitrov. Writing about the difference between the united front (workers' organizations only) and the popular front (also peasant, petitbougeoisie and bourgeois democrats), he stated:
"Some comrades are quite needlessly racking their brains over the problems of what to begin with -the united proletarian front or the
CC of the CPSU; 1971. 'Outline History of the CI' Moscow. Progress Publishers. 9. Ibid. 10. Ibid 11. Ibid. 12. OR Tambo 1984.
13
International Viewpoint 30 September 1985
METAL CRALUED WORKERS
UNIDS
MINATANO THE ML
ECT
SENT
TUR
Bishop Desmond Tutu addresses the crowd. The banner shows the growing power of the unions (DR)
antifascist popular front ... The united proletarian front and the antifascist popular front are connected by the living dialectics of struggle ... they are interwoven, the one passing into the other in the process of the practical struggle ... ' (13)
It is in this sense that we should seek the answer to questions posed by united mass action: its dialectical relation to the other 'pillars' of our struggle, the ANC underground, the armed struggle and the international solidarity campaign. That the level of development of these four 'pillars' has been uneven is the manifestation of a universal law of social development. It means that our movement must be ready to shift the emphasis of struggle as conditions unfold. It also opens up positive possibilities for developing the mass struggle. Freedom Charter
As a result of its armed actions and of the ANC's underground political work, the prestige and standing of our movement among the masses are today higher than ever before. The Freedom Charter, the programme of our national democratic revolution, has become the principal rallying point and inspiration of the oppressed majority and democratic whites. Today it is around the Freedom Charter that all political forces and groupings are obliged to define their positions. It is this political fact that provided the basis for the emergence of the 14
United Democratic Front (UDF) and shows the way to its future development.
It is not necessary for an organization such as the UDF to take up a formal position in regard to the Freedom Charter. That position has been defined by life itself. As Mac Maharaj pointed out in an incisive contribution to Mayibuye, the UDF is not an alliance but a front of organizations that express their position in terms of adherence to the Freedom Charter.
What is important is not that adherence to the Charter be a condition of membership to the UDF, but that those member organizations who adhere to the Charter should through patient and brotherly discussion, and even more by joint action, make ever more evident the central importance of the Charter and its historical role in the unfolding struggle.
This being the case, it is not necessary, either, that artificial minimum conditions be formulated which would fall below the Charter in terms of political elaboration and which might be seized upon to block the open discussion and joint action which develop in the light of the ideals of the Charter. It is the task of the ANC and of the Communists to provide the ideological leaven that will raise the mass struggle to even greater heights. More important still, it is the task of these vanguard organizations to define the concrete tasks ahead and discover the issues around which mass action on the broadest possible basis can be instigated. In the words of Lenin:
It is necessary to know at every moment how to find the particular link in the chain which must be grasped with all one's strength in order to keep the whole chain in place and prepare to move on resolutely to the next link? (14)
The guiding principle in seeking that link is provided by Dimitrov: to define the enemy's most vulnerable point. If that vulnerable point is the enemy's inability to go on ruling in the old way, and the necessity he finds himself in to develop ways of enlisting sections of the oppressed in their own domination, then it follows that the concrete tasks of the mass struggle must be aimed at frustrating this aim.
It is in this sense that we should understand the following key passage in Comrade Tambo's address:
We must begin to use our accumulated strength to destroy the organs of government of the apartheid regime. We have to undermine and weaken its control over us, exactly by frustrating its attempts to control us ... rendering the enemy's instruments of authority unworkable (and) creating conditions in whicl the country becomes increasingly ungovernable.' ... (15)
Our movement holds the high ground on the South African political terrain at the present time. Those who refuse to join such joint actions, whether for sectarian political reasons or out of sheer oportunism, will define themselves out of the struggle. The masses themselves will see to that. O 13. G Dimitrov op cit 14. VI Lenin Collected Works Vol 22 15. OR Tambo 1984 op cit. 15. OR Tambo 1984 op cit.
International Viewpoint 30 September 1985
DOCUMENT The Communist Party (2) WE REPRINT below an extract from an article entitled 'Botha's reforms have not changed "colonialism of a special type" ' signed Denga and published in "The African Communist", organ of the SACP.
It is over twenty years since the South African Communist Party characterised the system in South Africa as internal colonialism or colonialism of a special type) ...
As the SACP programme states, apartheid as it exists today is a continuation as well as intensification of the colonial relations that obtained before the British transferred power to the local settlers. Its evolution to modern forms was also determined by man by many other factors such as the balance of forces between the oppressed and the oppressors, intraruling class relations and so on -but in the final analysis, the apartheid system developed in the way it did to serve the capitalist imperative of profit.
From the above, two conclusions can be drawn. Firstly, it is this concrete historical approach which leads us to characterise the system as internal colonialism. An attempt to run away from this historical reality leads to such conceptual pitfalls as racial capitalism' which smacks of subjectivism in the writings of those who use it. The system is viewed as a product of the evil genius of the ruling classes rather than one shaped on the foundation of concrete, objective historical circumstances. This concept also persuades us to believe that national oppression does not engender antagonistic contradictions which can only be resolved by means of revolution, but that the ruling class itself can remove them if it so wishes!...
As indicated above, the level of development of productive forces in South Africa is such that they have long come into conflict with the relations of production. The direct social consequence is the sharp contradiction between labour and capital. There is no doubting that the material prerequisites for socialism exist in South Africa: a certain level of industrialisation. socio economic contradi- strialisation, socio economic contradctions and the force to carry out the revolution (the working class).
However, as we have indicated the system of capitalism in South Africa has its specific character arising from its colonial roots. Production relations here express more than mere economic relations; they also reflect the political position of the various sections of society. For a Black worker, the size of the pay packet is determined long before he enters the labour market. At work, the boss is white, and the Black workers' position vis-a-vis his white counterpart is determined in the statute books on the basis of his colour. Therefore, the nature of exploitation manifests itself first and foremost in the context of the place he occupies in the racial equation, in the specific way in which production relations manifest themselves under internal colonialism. He therefore not only sees his position on the factory-floor through the colonial screen, but also identifies with the rest of his number who belong to the lower 'caste' . This is not a false consciousness, but a reflection of the most immediate contradiction within South African society - between the oppressed people and their rulers. Alignment of the forces of the revolution
This is not to suggest that the day-to-day economic struggles of Black workers automatically assume a political content. Left on their own these constitute an attempt to get a better bargain for the workers' labour power within the confines of existing colonial relations. However, in so far as class struggle in the political sense is not an abstract pure' struggle against an abstract capitalist, but one waged under concrete conditions the struggle of the Black worker for improvement of his condi-
International Viewpoint 30 September 1985
• SOUTH AFRICA tions is inevitably bound up with the struggle for national emancipation from colonial oppression. Only this struggle can secure for the working class the necessary conditions for the emancipation of labour. And in the struggle to destroy internal colonialism, all classes and strata who suffer under its oppression are active participants ...
For any revolutionary movement, a correct analysis of the character of the system must aim at identifying the forces of change as well as those they are pitted against. The system of national oppression in South Africa (internal colonialism), like any other antagonistic system, 'has not only forged the weapons that are not only lorged he weapons brat are to destroy it, but also the men to wield these weapons.? These are first and foremost the Black workers who are the most dynamic and revolutionary force, the landless peasantry, the Black petty bourgeoisie and the rest of the middle strata. At the bottom of the pile stand the mass of the African people, the most oppressed and exploited of all'. On the other hand, most of the non-capitalist sections amongst the whites support and actively defend the system from which they gain materially, although, as the Communist Party programme states, it is not in their long-term interest. A few far-sighted individuals amongst them have joined forces with the oppressed and struggling Black people.
South African political life is in a state of flux. The independent historical actions of the democratic forces have thrown the ruling class into disarray; and the long-drawnout process of disintegration of old alliances within the ruling class and its supporters appears to be reaching its culmination. A discussion of 'colonialism of a special type cannot ignore this historic process, in particular with regard to its effects on the non-capitalist sections of the white community. The intensificaton of the armed and mass actions of the democratic majority is forcing the regime to adopt even tighter authoritarian methods of rule in relation to the white community.
What will be the long-term effects of this on them - a retreat into the Botha laager? What are the implications of the United Democratic Front's attraction into its ranks of forces ranging from liberals to revolutionaries? Have we fully grasped the strategic significance of the UDF slogan, UDF unites, apartheid divides"? Is it correct to characterise actions for democracy by a section of the white community as 'solidarity action' (or in the case of workers, acts of 'proletarian internationalism')? ...
15
SOUTH AFRICA
DOCUMENT