As we stand on the seventh day of our national Women’s Month, we pay tribute to the courageous women who fought against colonial and apartheid oppression in our struggle for liberation, freedom, and social emancipation. Today, we reassert our commitment to the ongoing battle for gender equality and the dismantling of patriarchy.

In unity, women and men must organise themselves in non-racial and non-sexist ways, striving towards complete social emancipation. This cannot be achieved without the liberation of women, gender equality, breaking the chains of colonial and apartheid legacies, eradicating economic exploitation, overthrowing imperialism, and fighting for a just and peaceful planet. 

The South African Communist Party, founded as the Communist Party of South Africa in 1921, marked its 102nd anniversary last Sunday, 30 July. Throughout our history, the SACP has played a pivotal role in the struggle for liberation and democratic transformation and inclusive development. We pride ourselves on championing the principle of non-racialism, along with the principle of non-sexism, both in our organisation and having both enshrined in our country’s democratically adopted constitution.

As a formidable force, which the apartheid regime banned in 1950 before banning others ten years later in 1960, alongside our allies, we led the charge to overthrow colonial and apartheid regimes, culminating in the historic democratic breakthrough of April 1994. This momentous achievement brought about massive social advances benefitting millions of our people, not least the formerly oppressed and the working-class and poor. The democratic gains include, and are not limited to, the provision of free housing to working-class and poor families, significant expansions in education at all levels and healthcare, electrification, clean drinking water, workers’ rights and labour protecting standards.

Yet, our hard-won gains have come under constant threat. The negatives have clouded the positives, and in some areas, progress has even reversed. Challenges such as electricity generation and transmission under-capacity, corruption, gender-based violence, and heightened imperialist aggression demand our unwavering attention.

See attachments for full speech.