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The South African Communist Party (SACP) in Mpumalanga Province held a successful Provincial Working Committee meeting at Emalahleni Municipality on 16 June 2024 following the National and Provincial Government Elections. The aim of the meeting was to reflect on the recent electoral outcomes and to pave a way forward in dealing with the current tasks at hand.

The meeting was characterised by robust engagements from members taking note that we come from the elections that produced a threat to our hard-won democracy. The electoral decline of the ANC nationally and provincially poses serious questions to us as to what really happened and how did we get ourselves here, considering that we ran a very strong campaign and the majority of our people on the ground gave us confidence that we would win elections overwhelmingly.

Diagnosis of the outcomes

The SACP believes that some of the reasons for the poor results are of our own making and could have been avoided. These reasons include, among others:

o  The 6th administration which is perceived to have acted unfairly against the workers and the people of South Africa by implementing austerity measures that were hindering the development of the working class and poor.

o  Lack of service delivery particularly to poor communities; including load shedding, lack of access to water and sanitation, unemployment, poverty and inequality. The Party notes that in some instances, water was not provided to some communities because of petty bourgeoisie elements that wanted to make money by providing water through water tankers.

o  Factionalism and personality cult that is daily destroying the ANC, and nothing is being done to deal with this challenge. Personal glorification of certain leaders and the use of money to buy members and supporters of certain individuals further divided the organisation because this gives the impression that only those with money are fit to lead regardless of their capacity.

o  Infighting and political killings without arrest is a serious problem and will destroy the ANC if not dealt with. Many cases of political killings especially in our province remain unresolved and some of the families and friends of the victims have turned their backs against the Movement.

o  Social distance between the movement with its deployed cadres and the people continues to hurt the ANC. The movement needs to deploy cadres who understand their mandate and have capacity to deal with the current challenges and are thus able to adapt to the current material conditions.

o  The lack of cohesion in the PYA structures has caused some people to either stay at home or vote for cult organisations in the absence of a political home from the progressive forces. The PYA will need to put more effort in winning the confidence of the people in all sectors of society.

o  The SACP in the province is deeply concerned that there are allegations of our own comrades working with the opposition and voting against the ANC. The results of Gert Sibande, Emalahleni and some areas should be looked at, with a view of instituting an investigation on the matter. It is well known that there are those who like to be petty on real issues affecting the movement, but we view working with opposition as low intensity counter revolution and should be dealt with thoroughly.

These are some of the factors that we believe could have influenced the outcomes and there are some not mentioned above that could have been a factor. The PWC resolved that the Party with its alliance partners need to go back to the people and update them on the issues they have raised during the campaign.

The Service Delivery Task Team that was established should be kept in place and be given more responsibilities to ensure that the upcoming administration doesn’t take time in responding to service delivery concerns of the people.

The National Democratic Revolution

The results of the general elections pose a serious danger to the National Democratic Revolution which the SACP views as a direct road to socialism. The Party believes that the NDR remains our programme and we should continue to focus on its strategic goals if we are to continue to be relevant in the current political phase.

The recent developments nationally and some provinces in relation to the formation of government makes us wonder if the NDR is still intact. The formation of government with right-wingers is a serious danger to the NDR and the SACP in the province is diametrically opposed to this arrangement. These right-wingers like the DA are the mouthpiece of our class enemy and it is unnecessary to form a government with them because the people are going to suffer out of this arrangement, especially the  primary motive force of the NDR which is the working class and poor.

SACP calls for unity of the progressive forces

The SACP in Mpumalanga believes that the current administration poses danger to the left and only the unity of the progressive forces will bring back the confidence of the people. Building a Popular Left Front and a powerful socialist movement of the workers and the poor remains our primary objective in the current concrete conditions.

Moreover, we call for unity of the ANC. These are trying times, public spats and insults are not going to assist the difficult moment we find ourselves in. The Congress Movement should also deal with ill-discipline among members in order to regain confidence of our people, particularly against elements of tribalism, regionalism and factionalism.

The SACP is disturbed by divisive and barbaric conduct of threatening a life for the First Deputy Provincial Secretary, Comrade Mandla Tibane, by tempering with his car wheels. We view this conduct to be criminal and boils down to the disrespect for SACP leaders that must be made to be fearful and donate their independence to people who are operating in the dark. This matter raised a serious concern to all structures of the SACP and it must come to an end. Criminals must leave politics to elected leaders.

Crime and corruption are on the rise in our province and have contributed negatively to the outcome of the 2024 General Elections. The resurgence of political violence was a threat to the people of Mpumalanga which is precisely because of criminals roaming the streets while our police force is highly divided and only pre-occupied with the removal of the Provincial Commissioner. The SACP is going to intensify its programme to fight against crime and corruption throughout the province.

The SACP wishes the Mpumalanga 7th Administration well

The SACP also welcomes the appointment of the new Premier of Mpumalanga Province, Comrade Mandla Ndlovu, and conveys its best wishes to all Members of the Executive and wishes the 7th administration well in these trying times. However, support of the SACP will never come in a blank cheque; we will support the upcoming government on the basis it deals with the issues raised above.

This new administration needs to be responsive to the needs of the people and those who are dragging their feet in providing service delivery should also be dealt with. We cannot continue to have the people crying over the same issues for more than 30 years. Things need to be done differently this time.

Issued by SACP Mpumalanga Province