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The South African Communist Party (SACP) and Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) held a bilateral meeting on 23-24 August 2023 at Sunbell Building, Nehawu Offices in Bellville. This meeting took place during a significant period in world history in which South Africa hosted the 15th BRICS summit attended by the heads of states and Governments to define a progressive developmental agenda outside the Western imperialist prism.

On the side-lines of the BRICS Summit, the Revolutionary Alliance together with the Friends of Cuba Society, in the form of the solidarity with the people of Cuba initiative, hosted the esteemed President of the People’s Republic of Cuba, His Excellency, Miguel Diaz-Canel.

SACP and COSATU congratulate the ANC in the Western Cape for convening a successful 9th Provincial and Southern Cape and Dullah Omar Regional Conferences

The Ten – Aside Bilateral meeting took place against the backdrop of a successful albeit highly contested 9th Provincial Conference as well as Regional Conferences in both Southern Cape and Cape Metro. The most recent conference was the 8th Regional Conference of Dullah Omar Region.  Therefore, the SACP-COSATU congratulates the collective newly elected leadership of the region.

Regrettably, though, the SACP and Cosatu noted with concern that ANC conferences are reduced to leadership elections without substantive policy discussions as a basis to develop a political programme of action. Thus, the SACP and COSATU emphasised on the need to rid the movement of regressive tendencies of money politics, regionalism, ethnic chauvinism, and factionalism in order to create conducive conditions for the renewal of the ANC that is capable of meaningfully consolidating the unity of all the mass democratic movements structures towards the 2024 general elections.

SACP and COSATU are geared towards the ANC headed alliance victory

In addition, the bilateral meeting conducted a shared analysis of the political climate ahead of the upcoming general elections in 2024 as well as attendant issues of candidate selection process of the African National Congress. The meeting was acutely aware that our ideological opponents have already made some ill-informed predictions that the ANC headed alliance support in the Western Cape will further decline.  The socialist axis is determined that, given the reconfiguration of the alliance currently under-way, the ANC headed alliance will have an improved electoral outcome.

However, regressive tendencies within the movement and any betrayal of the basic tenets of the reconfiguration of the alliance will be the only threat to our electoral performance. Such basic tenets include:

o A common analysis of the socio-economic conditions facing the primary motive force-the working class; followed by a common socio-economic approach programme; manifesto development, and its joint implementation by adequately inclusive alliance leadership in all key sites of power and terrains of struggles;

o Conducting of an alliance candidate selection based on common alliance discipline during the elections campaign, as well as alliance public representatives and office bearers afterward;

o Provisions enabling elected SACP, COSATU, SANCO representatives to articulate independent perspectives where they are deployed within the framework of a reconfigured alliance 

o Accountability of SACP members to the SACP, just as ANC members are expected to be accountable to the ANC and our people;

o A common approach and binding democratic consensus-seeking consultation to the coalitions when it becomes necessary to seek coalition partners’ post-elections based on the results of elections.

Thus the socialist axis argues that the reconfiguration of the alliance refers, amongst other things, to the development of a common alliance committed to defend and advance our shared NDR-based on the vision of the Freedom Charter.

SACP and COSATU call for Justice to be served for the Rheinmetal-Denel Munitions Eight workers

The meeting of the two components of the socialist axis expressed extreme disappointment by the decision of the Director of Public Prosecution Western Cape Division to refuse to prosecute Rheinmetal-Denel Munitions Company, Somerset West plant, following the explosion in 2018 that claimed lives of eight workers who were residing in Macassar community.

The SACP and COSATU strongly believe that this horrific incident was never sufficiently investigated by the police and the company was allowed to investigate itself which investigation absolved the company. However, a formal inquiry was duly instituted by the Department of Labour in terms of the law which recommended that the company must be criminally prosecuted. The failure of the police to investigate resulted in the DPP Western Cape Division declining to prosecute.

The reality is that the company is liable for criminal prosecution for the loss of life of ordinary workers. It is clear that the company places pursuit of profit above human life and justice. Police ineptitude and complicity with the company bosses robbed the families and the community of Macassar of justice and fair compensation. The decision by the DPP Western Cape Division is a cover-up which represents a miscarriage of justice.  

It is important to note that the Rheinmetal-Denel Munitions (Pty) Somerset West plant is prone to devastating explosions because the infamous 2018 explosion was followed by yet another explosion in 2021 which signifies that the company is reckless and continues to gamble with the lives of poor workers. This confirms that the company places the lives of workers at risk in pursuit of profit. It further confirms that the company is not compliant with the provisions of Occupational Health and Safety Act. In addition, the lack of prosecution protects the company at the expense of poor workers and, in doing so, the state is wittingly or unwittingly complicit in the decimation of the lives of ordinary workers.

Against this background, the SACP and COSATU resolved to approach the Police, Provincial Commissioner Adv Patekile, and NPA’s National Director of Public Prosecution, Shamila Batohi, to seek justice for the deceased workers and their families.

Further, the police ineptitude and complicity in the cover-up will be reported to the Independent Police Investigative Directorate in the province. The heads of those who slept on duty must roll.

Furthermore, the SACP and COSATU will visit families of the Rheinmetall-Denel Munitions Eight and also mobilise the broader Macassar community against the injustice by the NPA. Thus, call on the reviewal of the Public Private Partnership which Denel has with Rheinmetall on behalf of the government as guided by the Department of Public Enterprise and National Treasurer.

SACP and COSATU call for the Public Transport Indaba in the Western Cape

The meeting further reflected on immediate challenges confronting the working class in the Western Cape in particular the recent taxi strike which was precipitated by the implementation of the draconian by-laws on impoundment of mini-bus taxis. The Neoliberal Democratic Alliance government is choking the taxi industry and informal businesses in general, on the one hand, and neglecting the working-class communities in terms of service delivery as well as imposing exorbitant tariff increases, on the other hand.

Against this background, the meeting agreed to engage SANTACO, civil society, Prasa, Golden Arrow Bus service, local and provincial state and all other related stakeholders for the convening of the Public Transport Indaba before the end of the year. The envisaged Public Transport Indaba shall be used as a platform to get to the root of the structural and systematic challenges facing public transport in the Western Cape. Such an indaba must be able to deal with the question of an integrated, safe, affordable and reliable public transport system.  Key amongst other issues is the subsidising of the taxi industry and its formalisation and transformation on a more urgent basis.

No to Privatisation of all State Owned Companies

As the SACP and Cosatu, we reject the continued privatisation of state entities such as Eskom, SAA, Transnet including the Ports. We demand an end to privatisation of State Owned Entities and call for the abandonment of neo-liberal austerity measures. 

In the same vein, as SACP and COSATU, we reject the subordination of our economy to international oligopolies. There can never be any basis for surrendering our national political and economic sovereignty. Against this background, the SACP and COSATU will use the Medium Term Budget Statement by the Minister of Finance to picket against privatisation and neo-liberal austerity measures. 

The DA Service Delivery Failures, Tariff Increases and war against the taxi industry

The DA led administration faces a crisis of providing basic services for our people, the piling uncollected waste, sewage crisis is evidence of the DA failures. The termination of contracts of service providers who were contracted to collect waste have plunged our people to health hazards. Therefore, the present crisis of uncollected waste confirms the wrong policy choices which led to the outsourcing of waste collection. Against this background, the SACP and COSATU call for the insourcing of these basic services.

Further, the SACP and COSATU calls on the DA led City of Cape to desist from using exorbitant tariffs either electricity or water for revenue generation. The meeting characterized the present electricity tariff of 17. 6% which is above 15. 1% tariff as set by the National Energy Regulator as insensitive to the present economic position of the working class in the City of Cape Town. Above all, the DA led City of Cape Town confirms its ideological orientation that it is a part of the rich not of the workers and the poor.

Therefore, the SACP and COSATU will join the Electricity Tariffs Must Fall Movement on Saturday 26 August 2023.

Major campaigns for the SACP and COSATU in the Western Cape

In the lead up to COSATU’s National Day of action on 7 October 2023 and beyond, the two components of the alliance will take forward the following campaigns:

o   Decent work

o   Transformation of the financial sector

o   Fight against crime and extortion 

o   Rising cost of living

o   Uncollected waste and the crisis of sewage, and 

o   Transformation of public transport 

Issued by SACP and COSATU