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The Provincial Executive Committee (PEC) of the South African Communist Party in the Western Cape convened its last constitutional meeting for the year 2024, on 25 – 26 November 2023 in Belville, Cape Town. The meeting was augmented to Districts and public representatives that are active members of the SACP throughout the province. The meeting was convened under the guiding theme: “Rampant neo-liberal and austerity crisis: a threat to the National Democratic Revolution; what of our vanguard?

The Augmented Provincial Executive Committee received political, organisational and financial reports, Central Committee message by CC Member Comrade Buti Manamela, presentation of the ANC headed alliance elections strategy and perspective from the Consulate of the Russian Federation.

Communist Cadres to the Front in the Fight Against Gender-Based Violence

Our augmented PEC sat on the commencement of 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Based Violence. As the SACP in the Western Cape, we reaffirmed our resolve to intensify our Chris Hani Victim Support Programme in partnership with South African Police Services as practical action and commitment to the struggle for combating all forms of gender-based violence.

The Chris Hani Victim Support Brigade campaign aims at providing support and protection to victims of gender-based violence in our communities to defeat the scourge. Accordingly, we urge South Africans to remain vigilant against the scourge and never normalise gender-based violence or be de-sensitised to its damaging effects on our social fabric.

Crises of rampant crime in our communities and escalating rate of extortion in the Western Cape

The SACP’s Augmented Provincial Executive Committee noted with concern the crisis of rampant crime and escalating incidents of extortion in the Western Cape. The recently released quarterly crime statistics reveal that five of South Africa’s most dangerous areas with unacceptably high murder rates are in Cape Town and they include Delft (80), Mfuleni (72), Nyanga (71), Harare (64) and Gugulethu (64). Cumulatively, these figures reflect that more than 350 people were killed in 90 days in Cape Town.

This should challenge all spheres of government to come together and develop an integrated approach to combat crime. As the SACP we are convinced that there is a correlation between skewed resource distribution by the DA-led City of Cape Town and province, mass youth unemployment and crime in the Western Cape.

Compounding the problem further in the fight against crime is the involvement of some police officers in criminal activities such as extortion. The recent report about the arrest of a senior police officer on Wednesday 22 November 2023 in Kraaifontein relating to charges of corruption, extortion and intimidation, is a cause for serious concern. This incident confirms the correctness of our theory that there is an intersection between the criminal network, community, political activists, and some elements within the criminal justice cluster.

Given the rate of police involvement in criminal activities, the SACP in the Western Cape reiterates its call for a commission of inquiry on the prevailing police capacity to prevent, combat and investigate crime in Cape Town. Parallel to this process is the need for the vetting of all police officers from the Constable at the police station to the Provincial Commissioner rank.

SACP commends the Hawks on the arrest of killers of Loyiso Nkohla-Mabandla 

The Augmented PEC commended the Hawks on the arrests made thus far in the case involving the brutal killing of Loyiso Nkohla-Mabandla. The breakthrough which led to the recent arrests must be commended.

Given the pace and positive attitude of the Hawks on this matter, we are confident that the mastermind behind the cowardly assassination of Loyiso will be finally brought to book. The SACP is deeply interested in the truth around the assassination of Loyiso. Are the circumstances not related to the intersection of the criminal network, business, activists and certain elements from the criminal justice cluster? We will watch this trial with keen interest to give us answers to many difficult questions.

Census 2022 and delivery implications in the Western Cape

Statistics South Africa (StatsSA) released the 2022 census survey which shows the evolution of population dynamics in the Western Cape thus making the Western Cape the third largest province in SA. The Western Cape further recorded a large growth in the youthful proportion of the population. However, the labour force survey indicates that youth unemployment is over 31.1 % in the province. Whilst the statistics show that the majority of the motive forces of the revolution have benefitted from the fruits of democracy, that is not the overwhelming experience of Western Cape residents.

This therefore confirms the reality that the neo-liberal DA is failing the workers and poor in the Western Cape. It is for this reason that the Augmented Provincial Executive Committee calls on the workers and poor to ensure that they register and vote for the ANC headed Alliance in 2024.

Advance the implementation of the National Health Insurance

The Augmented PEC welcomed the overwhelming support for the implementation of the National Health Insurance (NHI) Scheme. This overwhelming support follows a series of public hearings across the province and the country. In the Western Cape, the SACP led on the oral and written submissions joined by organs of our Alliance, civil society, individuals and health forums.

The SACP Augmented PEC strongly believes that the implementation of NHI will mark an end to skewed distribution of resources where about R225 billion is spent serving 72 per cent of the public, on the one hand, yet R237 billion is spent on only 27 per cent of the population, on the other hand.  Also, it will mark an end to the current imbalance where there is one doctor for every 2,457 patients in the public sector whilst in the private sector it is one doctor for every 571 patients.

In the final analysis, we call on the National Council of Provinces to convene and adopt the NHI Bill for its speedy implementation. On the day of the seating of the NCOP, the SACP in the province will mobilise its Chris Hani Red brigades and our people to picket outside Parliament in support of the Bill.

SACP’s approach towards 2024 general elections: Towards a reconfigured Alliance

The Augmented Provincial Executive Committee meeting re-affirmed its commitment to support the ANC headed Alliance at the upcoming general elections in 2024. Such a commitment is within the context of a reconfigured Alliance whose basic tenets are that of consultation on policy, governance matters and deployment, abandonment of neo-liberal austerity economic path, strengthening of systems of accountability and answerability.

The meeting called for the strengthening of election machineries and the activist role of communists across the province.

Further, the meeting accepted the general thrust of the ANC headed Alliance elections strategy. The SACP and COSATU participated in the drafting process of the strategy. Given this promising strategy, the SACP calls for the speedy formulation of an implementation plan drawn from the strategy to guide all elections structures in the province.

Furthermore, our meeting convened in the aftermath of the open voter registration conducted by the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) and the outcomes thereof positively reinforce our belief that the consolidation of the democratic project is on course. The deepening of our democratic project depends on voter registration and voter turn-out as well as the integrity of the IEC to conduct regular, free, fair and credible elections.

The SACP has thus resolved in its Augmented PEC meeting to activate its Chris Hani Red Brigades to take the voter registration process to workplaces and farms across the province. Farm workers are the most neglected and yet exploited section of the workers. Against this background, we call on employers and farm owners to allow workers to register so that they can vote at the upcoming general elections.

The Augmented PEC cautioned that in the course of doing elections work, elections must never be reduced to a marketing gimmick and factional work, but must be about the real material development of the people.

Given the Provincial List Process currently underway, the meeting expressed hope and trust that the process will produce committed, hardworking, capable, theoretically sound and selfless individuals who can serve our people, our revolution and our movement. The Party insists on this criterion given the fact that the quality of public representation is essential for the quality-of-service delivery and quality of our democratic discourse.

Coalition in the Western Cape

The Augmented Provincial Executive Committee discussed and resolved on the state of coalition governments and their implication on the movement. After the 2021 elections, there were several hung municipalities in the Western Cape including Thiewateskloof (Overberg), Knysna (Southern Cape), Central Karoo, to mention a few. 

In some of these municipalities, the ANC entered into coalition arrangements with some strange bedfellows such as the Patriotic Alliance and the Good Party. In the wisdom of the SACP, these coalitions are not guided by any principled approach but by desire to access levers of power by some elements and to date there is no strategic benefit for the movement. The meeting has thus mandated the Provincial Office Bearers of the SACP to meet with the ANC about this matter.

Impact of global capitalist crisis on the domestic economy

The meeting received an incisive analysis of politico-economic developments in the global political terrain from Central Committee Member, Comrade Buti Manamela. The foundational premise of the Central Committee input was highlighting the crisis of global capitalism. Thus, our domestic economic crisis is underpinned by our commitment to the Washington consensus which defines our worldview on the economic lenses that defines the relations between our democratic state and the market.

Therefore, austerity as the key tenant of the neo-liberal structural economic development remains a narrow tool which our Treasury is committed to, despite its negative consequences on the lives of the working-class.  This crisis has manifested in the financial austerity measures that are imposed on South Africans through the reduction of public spending, reforms aimed at weakening and ultimately privatising the network economy (transport and logistics, telecommunication, and water) where the private sector or so-called ‘market’ is given unfettered powers.

Our developmental state agenda, our radical implementation of the national democratic revolution, cannot coexist with the Washington consensus. Hence, we strongly believe that austerity is not about cutting the perks but about severe cuts on infrastructure investments, service delivery and development imperatives. Thus, the Party believes that there is no legitimate basis to continue to follow this economic trajectory which condemns the majority, the working-class and poor, to the crisis of the rising cost of living.

The crisis in our economy has been imported from Washington and, as a consequence, the externally induced crisis, combined with lacklustre policy commitments, compromises the capacity of the liberation movement from improving the living conditions of the majority poor. The privatisation of state-owned entities such as South African Airways (SAA) and the attempts to weaken Eskom, Transnet, Post Office are the tell-tales of auctioning these entities. Breaking down entities is antithetical to the developmental state agenda. The approach simply means the government is weakening the capacity of the state and not building state capacity for the developmental state we want to build.

Volatile international political situation

Our historical relations of struggle with the people of Russia remain valid as they were our force during the struggle against the apartheid system. It is for this reason that our Augmented PEC extended a special invitation to the Consulate of the Russian Federation to provide an update on the NATO-sponsored conflict between Ukraine and Russia. The A-PEC also received an update regarding the hybrid war instigated by the West and NATO on Russia through the hand of Ukraine. Comrade Lakov Boskakov gave the update and confirmed that the Special Military Operation is still on course, however, emphasised that the Russian Federation remains open to reasonable proposals to end the conflict and the spirit of the African Union peace mission provides a platform for such discussion.

Special emphasis was placed on the interconnection between the NATO-sponsored Russia-Ukraine conflict as well as the bombardment of Palestine by the apartheid state of Israel with assistance from the West. Thus, the Party fully supports the demand for the International Criminal Court to lay charges against Netanyahu.

Palestinian solidarity struggles

The SACP Western Cape Augmented PEC noted the ceasefire and exchange of hostages between Israel and Palestine. The cessation of hostilities is necessary but not sufficient to end the conflict.

Importantly, the international legal order must prevail and the Western-backed Israeli government must be held accountable for war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide that has been perpetrated by the apartheid Israel state against Palestinians. The illegal occupation is aimed at erasure of Palestine and ethnic cleansing. These atrocities are a violation of international law.

The people of the world cannot stand and watch whilst these acts of genocide are being perpetrated by apartheid Israel. We affirm our commitment to solidarity with the struggling people of Palestine. By refusing to condemn Israel government atrocities against Palestinians, the DA government in the Western Cape chose the side of war criminals. This is an indictment on the DA and history will judge them harshly.

Issued by SACP Western Cape