Racism at Stellenbosch University- a working class perspective

In March this year 5 white, female researchers from Stellenbosch University published an article in an international journal. They argued that women of colour are less intelligent than white people. It turns out that several of the staff have written similar articles. In fact it seems they have made a career out of racist ‘science’. It should be remembered that racism is a social tool of violence by international capital and imperialism to justify their domination and control.

Another group of 5 researchers, from outside the University, which included a provincial executive member of the SRWP, launched a counter-offensive. They launched a petition calling for the article to be withdrawn. Within a short space of time the petition gathered over 10 000 signatures.

The Psychology Society of South Africa and the Psychology Department at Stellenbosch also called for the article’s withdrawal. Naturally there was and still is widespread anger at the racist article. The editors withdrew it and the university has just adopted measures for modules on anti-racism for all first-year students, new guidelines for research by staff as well as taking steps to establish full departments on Gender and Critical race studies. These are all substantial steps forward. However, important questions and challenges remain.

Response on the Draft Expropriation Bill 2018

Introduction

Contrary to the name of the Bill, namely ‘Expropriation’, it is actually a draft that protects private property of monopolies, the banks and mining houses. It defines the terms of compensation for land expropriation as being with compensation that is linked to market value and must be ‘just and equitable’ as per section 25 of the Constitution. In other words the commanding heights such as banks, mines, and other monopolies are safe from expropriation  as the state would not be able to afford the ‘market value’ which is currently artificially so much inflated that only imperialism would be able to afford to pay for it.

Furthermore the mineral rights are specifically excluded from all forms of expropriation, even in terms of the so-called public interest clauses.

There is only a narrow list of cases where compensation can be excluded.

Thus the draft Expropriation Bill is a sham aimed at fooling the masses that their democratic aspirations for land, housing, jobs, a decent life for all, is going to be addressed with this legislation.  In other words it serves as a means for imperialism capitalism to buy some time to remain in control and to continue to plunder SA and the rest of the continent.  We also respond to Pallo Jordan’s recent position on the land question.

We deal with the clauses below, exposing also the misleading position by the EFF on land and outline our proposals for our approach.

On the Sudan revolution

Danger to the Sudanese revolution

What has brought the fall of dictator al Bashir has been the working class and revolutionary youth in Sudan. It has not been the political leadership of the ‘opposition parties’. Yet these same ‘opposition parties’ now have signed a highly problematic agreement that keeps the military in direct control for the next 2 years and keeps the security forces, including the army and the rapid support forces (janjaweed), in the hands of the very military leaders who have been responsible not only for the massacre of 3^rd June 2019 but for the past decades of rule of Omar al Bashir. In effect the next 2 years is set to be a continuation of the Al Bashir regime but without Al Bashir.

The rank and file ‘bread and dignity’ committees around the country should discuss the proposed ‘deal’ and set their own conditions.

There cannot be bread for all if the large food, oil and mining companies are still under the control of the generals and other capitalists.

There cannot be dignity and peace while Sudanese militias are in Yemen fighting on behalf of the Saudi regime and imperialism.

An urgent task is the setting up of a national coordinating centre of the revolution, comprised of delegates from the rank and file ‘bread and dignity committees from around the country. The hand of friendship should also be extended to the local committees in South Sudan. Delegates should be elected on the basis they are subject to instant recall and not earning more than the wage of an average skilled worker. This national coordinating committee can coordinate struggles as well as be the watchdog over any developments in the country.

We republish an old article from 2007, which is still relevant today. We wish to emphasize that Eskom has sufficient income. There is no reason for any debt and there is no reason for any increase in tariffs for household users. Rather the central theme should be that the subsidy to big capital, who still pay less that 20 cents per KWh, should be ended. Currently househols pay over R1.60 per Kwh. Business uses 80% of electricity but only pay for 57% of the cost. Eskom should be placed under workers control, not privatised. we have updated some elements of the article, such as our email address. It's lessons are still relevant. Unfortunately no one took us serious in 2007. Hopefully the workers' movement can wage an intense struggle to stop the privatization of electricity and for expanded subsidy to the unemployed, pensioners and working class. Essentially, it need a political solution, namely the removal of the ANC-DA governments from power. 

WIVL 15.2.2019

The Blackout scam- How workers are subsidizing big capital

It costs Eskom 16 cents per KiloWatt Hour (KWh) to produce electricity. It charges industry only 16 cents per KWh while the general public has to pay 44 cents per KWh. Large customers of Eskom like BHP Billiton, pays even less, about 12 cents per KWh. This means that the working and lower middle class are subsidizing the electricity cost of big capital. Residential use of electricity is only 19%, while industry uses about 80% of the overall total. But in terms of cost, residential users pay 43% while industry pays only 57%. In the past year BHP Billiton made a profit of R 6 Billion. Clearly the entire working class are subsidizing their profits.

The developments in Venezuela shows how the lack of a revolutionary working class party leads to imperialism and capitalist forces filling the vacuum with its own agencies. The key to the Socialist revolution in Venezuela lies in the establishment of such a party. The central motive force is, despite all the plans and wishes of imperialism, the working class and its struggles and level of organization and consciousness. The revolutionary working class party is nothing else but the organization of the best vanguard working class elements, leading and/or vying for leadership of the struggle, in the interests of the working class, namely for the establishment of Socialism. Such a party still needs to be established in Venezuela today. At the same time it is not sufficient to only have such a party in Venezuela but of necessity in the rest of Central and South America and the neo-colonial world but also in the imperialist centres. The party of Chavez, the PSUV (Socialist Workers Party Unified- Venezuela), despite its name, is a nationalist party, which with Socialist rhetoric, gives a few social gains to the working class, while perpetuating conditions for imperialism-capitalism to extract its super-profits. Its control over the oil industry is a form of state capitalism as there was no workers control anywhere in the commanding heights of the economy. The continued imperialist plunder of Venezuela under Bolivarianism/Chavism is the central reason for its lack of broad industrialisation and development. It is a neo-colony of imperialism. Due to the long stagnation of the world capitalist economy, any real development in Venezuela would mean a decline in the rate of profit in the imperialist centres. Rather than support its own potential competitor, imperialism ensures the permanent subjugation of the masses in Venezuela. The form that it takes is dependent on the working class struggle and the extent that imperialism is able to keep it under control. When one agency is unable to maintain control over the masses for imperialism, they seek other forms. This is why they are preparing a coup. It is all about installing, by any means, a regime that can guarantee continued plunder of the oil and minerals of Venezuela under increased exploitation.

Updates and where to find older articles

We apologise for the long delay in adding our older articles to this site. We will prioritise this in the first 6 months of 2019. Meanwhile we have created a link to the hundreds of articles which we have written over the years. 

We will also be updating our website more regularly henceforth. 

We welcome feedback, comments and criticism on any of our work. 

Note that while we have changed our name to Party, we are still very much a League. For us, our strategic objective is to help build the Socialist Revolutionary Workers Party (SRWP) while maintaining our perspective of rebuilding the Fourth International. 

To access our older articles, go to www.workersinternational.org.za/workersold 

14.1.2019

Statement on Zimbabwe crisis

Workers International Vanguard League condemns the use of live ammunition and other repressive methods to suppress the masses who were protesting against the election results in Zimbabwe. At latest count 6 unarmed protestors were killed in cold blood by the military.  Mnangagwa was at pains to deny that he had taken power through a military coup, yet at the first sign of protests he unleashes the army to shoot down opposition protestors. Under the guise of an election, imperialism is continuing with a military dictatorship. Down with the military dictatorship of Mnangagwa.

In 2017 there was yet again an intensification of the class struggle.  Both MDC and Zanu-PF are long discredited. The Zanu-PF leaders had split and there was every possibility of the struggle developing into a revolutionary uprising. Imperialism responded by a military coup to remove Mugabe, who, up to then, had been their trusty and loyal servant. Neither MDC nor Zanu-PF offered any hope of advancing any of the democratic and Socialist aspirations of the masses. Both these parties offered only a capitalist option.

THE LEADERSHIP OF SAMWU PURGE  WORKERS DEMOCRACY- a workers’ view

The workers in the municipality sector were demanding a decent wages increase of roundabout 15% and the capitalist ANC/SACP government has been offering the workers a meagre 4.4% increase for a multi year period plus 1% CPI , Consumer Price Index. Accordingly, these meagre wages increases would mean the workers will not keep up with the escalation in the price of food , electricity and transport cost. Currently in the public sector the treacherous leadership accepted a 7% increase and that is the demand of the imperialist IMF (International Monetary Fund) and World Bank (WB) to cut workers’ wages and for the capitalist government of ANC/SACP to divert more funds to the pockets of imperialism. Subsequently, the workers’ demands were dropped by the treacherous leadership of SAMWU.and they agree on a similar wage agreement as the public sector and that is a 7% increase , plus 1% and CPI in the next 2 years and that is without the mandate of the workers, who still demand 15%. There was no consultation with the workers; they have to find out by hearsay from their fellow workers, some were confused and found out on certain radio stations, or see it by accident on emails.

On the Farlam Commission report and the Marikana massacre

The leadership of the SACP, NUM, Cosatu and the ANC would have us believe that the striking mineworkers at Marikana were ‘violent’, that they were thugs. The Farlam Commission report, limited as it is, shows the contrary.

Despite the political manipulation of the conclusions of the Farlam Commission by imperialism and the ruling party, the evidence is very clear that the ANC leaders, the NUM leaders and the Lonmin bosses worked together to massacre the striking mineworkers’ leaders.  

A central point made by the Commission was:

‘ It is clear from the evidence that either none, or very few, of the strikers who were killed had been shooting at the police.’ [page 375, paragraph 1083 of the Farlam final, published report]

If you consider that none of the police suffered a single gunshot wound, nor even a scratch and that not a single bullet was found from the supposed shots fired by workers, we can only conclude that not a single worker, who was killed by the police, had shot at the police.  

The police claim that the original plan was to roll out the barb wire all at once, early in the morning and then surround and disperse the few strikers who had come to the koppie.  

The police claimed the one set of barbed wire was to protect the residential area. We know now this was not true. It seems that the real aim of rolling out the barbed wire in 2 directions was to create a channel to direct the strikers to the police with R5 rifles, where they were to be machine-gunned down. The barbed wire was rolled out bit by bit so that the rank and file striker were allowed out. The police knew the leaders would remain behind until the mass of strikers had dispersed safely. The police knew that if they rolled it all out at the same time, there would be a mass of strikers and the leaders would be mixed with the rank and file and there would be no chance to execute them.

After Mthunjwa spoke the miners on the 16th Aug 2012 they were already dispersing. Yet, the police still carried out their attack. Teargas was shot into the leadership group, splitting it, driving the front group with Mambush towards the TRT(Tactical Response Team) team who cut them down in a fusillade (firing squad).

The NUM officials were well aware the RDO’s at Lonmin were underpaid but signed a two year agreement with Lonmin, where they were the sole bargaining union, which excluded addressing the wage demands of the RDO’s. This agreement was due to last until late in 2013. The NUM leaders were thus an instrument of the bosses, holding back the wage demands of the workers.

The Farlam report debates whether NUM could have prevented the strike. The NUM leaders admit they could have raised the demands of the demands of the Rock drillers with the management. They refused to do so. Right up to a few minutes before the massacre took place the Lonmin bosses refused to come to the Koppie to meet with the workers. At stake was not just a meeting of a group of workers, but the entire labour relations system which is based on cheap labour and has the unions in a subjugated role of being the policemen within the workers’ movement to hold back workers demands. If management agreed to negotiate with the workers directly, the next day at Amplats and every other mine and every other workplace, the workers would brush their unions aside and negotiate directly with the bosses using mass action methods. This is further evidence that Anglo American was indeed behind the massacre as they had the most to lose (Anglo controls the SA economy).

The Farlam Commission is part of the capitalist instruments of violence against the masses

The Farlam Commission lists as a central theme:

‘The Commission is of the view that the first „game changer‟ was another

decision by the strikers, to enforce the unprotected strike by violence and

Intimidation.’ (p512).

In other words, they argue that the strikers were violent and thus the heavy militarisation of the police was justified. If the strikers were really intent on killing then there would have been many deaths. The vast majority of the 44 deaths were strikers, killed by the state. 34 workers were gunned down on by the state on the 16th Aug; 2 workers were gunned down by NUM officials on the 11th Aug and a further 2 workers were gunned down by the police on the 13th August.

Despite the claims that strikers were heavily armed on the 16th Aug, not a single police suffered even a scratch. No bullet from any weapon of the strikers was found. The workers were unarmed.

The Commission also blames the workers for refusing to disarm. But the workers had no guns. The only ones who had guns were the police. The workers had sticks and spears. The police could easily have allowed the strikers to leave but their insistence on them putting down the only defensive weapons they had was a pretext for the state to carry out its plan of massacre.

On the #Totalshutdown 1 Aug 2018

Gender-based violence is an international scourge and it is sustained by the world capitalist system. It is a task of the workers' movement to spearhead the total eradication of it. We support a general strike against all forms of gender-based violence (ie violence against women and all gender non-conforming groups).

On the fall of Zuma

The revolutionary period of 1980 to 1993 was partially defeated by the negotiated settlement whose cornerstone was the maintenance of capitalist relations. The negotiated settlement was based on the protection of private property. By 1994 Anglo American directly controlled more than 50% of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange shares. Imperialism maintained its control over SA through the settlement.

By 2007 there was the beginning of large scale revolts against the failure of the ANC-SACP-Cosatu regime to meet the democratic aspirations of the masses. The SACP and Cosatu leadership were able to turn the revolt into a parliamentary dead-end through a change in leadership of the ANC presidency. Vavi and Nzimande toured the imperialist capitals to win support for a Zuma presidency.

Since 2007 the world economic crisis has deepened and there has been a period of sustained attacks on the gains of the working class. This has gone hand in hand with the loss of support for the ANC within the workers’ movement. This loss of support was increasing since 1994, with each class battle that occurred.. In the 2016 local government elections, not only had the ANC lost majority support in a number of key cities but overall, its support is now less than 50% of those who voted. This means that by the 2019 national elections, if the trend continues, that the ANC would only be able to rule with alliance parties outside of the ANC-SACP-Cosatu. There is the prospect of a right wing alliance taking power, in the form of DA-EFF. However both DA and EFF have been losing support. All parliamentary parties are losing support.

Renewed appeal for Solidarity with the Boiketlong 4

On the 21st April 2015 the Magistrates Court in Sebokeng sentenced 4 community activists from Boiketlong, to a total of 16 years in prison. The activists are: Dinah Makhetha, Sipho Mangane, Dan Molefe and Pulane Mahlangu. Key witnesses could not even identify the 4 but the courts sought to use the apartheid law of ‘doctrine of common purpose’ to jail them. They were found not guilty of ‘public violence’ but guilty of ‘assault, arson and malicious damage to property’.

Pulane Mahlangu has run away and no one knows where she is or if she is in good health. Either way, she cannot come home.

Dan Molefe died of stress-related illness in December 2017.

Although released for a short period while the appeal process was underway, both Dinah and Sipho are back in prison as they lost the first level of Appeal. The magistrate is prepared to consider shortening the sentence but not the sentence itself. The appeal process remains underway.

There is now an opportunity for a mediated process that may assist in a process of early release. There is an urgent need to cover the costs of mediation which we estimate could come to about R40 000. Appeals have been made to the community to raise funds as well to the broader movement.

What is at stake?

The state has used an apartheid law, the ‘doctrine of common purpose’, to attempt to crush the resistance of the masses. The law of common purpose is deliberately broad so as to be used to target leaders in the community and working class movement. If left unchallenged it extends the attack on the democratic right to protest.  

The road to Kiev- 26 May 2018

On the 2nd May 2014 socialist Andrew Brazhevsky, was killed by a band of fascists in the House of trade unions in Odessa, Ukraine. The police strategically withdrew and allowed the fascists to enter and burn the building, killing a total of 38 activists. Earlier that year, on the 20th February, a band of fascists overthrew the puppet of Russia, Yanukovitch. The regime of Poroshenko came to power, in alliance with the Svoboda group, that used the swastika as its emblem. The core of the fascists who had gathered in the Maidan square in Kiev, were mainly football fans. They used hotel Dnipro as their base from which to carry out their attacks. At the time, the country was heavily in debt to the IMF.

The workers’ movement had resisted the Yanukovitch regime as well as the fascist regime that came to power. One of their slogans had been for the return of the ex- USSR. If the workers had taken power in Ukraine, that would have posed an immediate threat to the mafia regime of Putin in Russia. On the other hand, through their control of Poland and Georgia, US imperialism has been steadily working to extend its influence in the region. US imperialism was behind the fascist coup that brought Poroshenko to power.

WIVL statement on Africa Day 25 May 2018

Bheki Cele, police minister is at it again, showcasing a raid on a building and portraying an image as if Mozambicans, Zimbabweans and Nigerians are criminals. This is an old capitalist strategy of divide and rule. It is a diversion to make worker fight worker, while imperialism continues to plunder the continent. The wealth in every country in the world has always been a product of multi-cultural primary and secondary labour. Borders have been constructed for spheres of influence for the various ruling classes.

Africa is still under neo-colonial control, plundered by imperialism. The African Union, the AU, and the PAP, Pan African Parliament, are instruments of ensuring that imperialist control of the continent continues.

The biggest slaughter since the second world imperialist war took place in the DRC, where between 1996 and 2003 over 6 million people were killed. The 1994 Rwanda genocide replaced a regime controlled by French imperialism with a regime controlled by US imperialism. It was the Rwandan army backed by the US military that marched across Zaire and  overthrew the dictator Mobutu. In this way, US imperialism ensured they remained in control of the DRC/Zaire. Today Rwanda exports more minerals than is mined there.

The great march to return- Palestine- rejecting the 2-state bantustan ‘option’

Since the 30th March 2018 there have been daily marches by tens of thousands of ordinary Palestinians towards the border fence in Gaza. These marches of return , up to and beyond the 15th May 2018 mark 70 years since the Nakba, the day the mass expulsion of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from their homes by imperialist-backed zionist forces began. Hundreds of Palestinian villages were destroyed. Today’ the biggest refugee group is that of the Palestinians, over 7 million, scattered mostly across the Middle East, across the world and yes, even in Gaza. In fact most of the 2 million people in the Gaza are refugees. All they want is to go home.

Ironically, in the wake of the rise of Nazism, very few countries were willing to take in the thousands of Jewish refugees; in the 1940’s, even the USA was reluctant. Palestine was one of the few countries that welcomed the Jewish refugees, with open arms, sharing the little they had with them. The zionist forces were propped up and funded by imperialism. They hijacked the sympathy of the masses for those butchered by Nazism to promote their own nationalist agenda, which involved the suppression of the Palestinian masses. From the start, imperialism funded and armed the zionist forces to create a permanent division in the Middle East and to create a huge area of reaction, from which to discipline and suppress the masses in the region.

We reject the proposed water levy; we need a rational use of available water

We agree with the Outa (Organization Undoing Tax Abuse) position rejecting the proposed water levy. However the critique does not go far enough. At the heart of the water crisis in Cape Town is a drive by the various levels of government to create business opportunities for big capital. The amounts at stake will make the billions pilfered by the Guptas look like a garden picnic. Under the guise of water conferences the division of the spoils is being hammered out between the representatives of the big capitalists. Privatization is being promoted by Water Institutes that have been set up overnight. Yet there is enough water and the drought conditions are being used to bulldoze ‘get rich quick’ schemes for the elite.

On the military coup in Zimbabwe

On Wed 15th Nov 2017 the Zimbabwe military launched a coup against the leadership of Mugabe. This takes place against a background of an attempt by imperialism to use greater force, fascistic methods and militarism on a global scale, to maintain its control over the masses. The traditional leaders have lost their hold over the masses.

In Zimbabwe, the ruling party had split and faced with the prospect of the masses and the soldiers rising against the Mugabe regime, imperialism decided to assist the military to take over. They hoped and still hope that the military will remain in control and prevent the masses from taking power into their own hands. The aim of imperialism is to maintain the regime while changing leadership. With the powerstructure intact, imperialism hopes to keep the masses in total starvation, as they have done, for years up to now.