By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The South African Communist Party (SACP) is holding its 5th Special National Congress from December 11 to 14, 2024, in Gauteng.
It intends to drive a radical transformation agenda prioritising the majority’s interests over capitalist and minority influences.
The SACP argues that the discontent seen in the May elections is a rejection of the current neo-liberal policies and a cry for change.
In its congress discussion documents, the party proposes plans to establish a leftist alternative focused on pro-poor policies.
This includes collaborating with progressive trade unions, NGOs, and research institutions to challenge the status quo.
“Our critique of fiscal austerity was that it prioritized the attainment of pre-ordained ratios derived from the neo-liberal playbook over all other considerations and sought to achieve these through expenditure cuts.
“We indicated that we were not arguing for spendthrift policies, nor calling for tolerance of the vast amount of wasteful expenditure that occurs.
“Our problem, we argued, was that austerity-driven cuts were being imposed in ways that were leaving too many priority programmes significantly under-funded and were also being imposed at a time of economic stagnation, thus having a debilitating effect on a languishing economy.
“We argued indeed that austerity was leading to a vicious cycle – cuts imposed to achieve pre-defined fiscal ratios were having a contractionary effect on an already constrained economy, leading to less revenue collection, resulting in turn with yet further cuts.
The combined effect of neo-liberal fiscal and monetary policies, we concluded, was that government’s responses to the deepening economic and social reproduction crisis (such as the post-Covid Economic Rehabilitation and Recovery Programme) had been constrained to the point of being ineffective.
“Where potentially important initiatives like the Presidential employment programme, or the social relief of distress grant were adopted, their impact was blunted as budgets were cut,” argued SACP.
The congress, which starts on Wednesday, will also explore reigniting the SACP’s financial sector campaign to ensure funds for development are directed toward the needs of the working class and marginalised communities.
“While the ultimate goal would be to seek some socially determined defined percentage of total funds channeled for such purposes with a more modest rate of return and greater risk taking, this could perhaps begin by seeking to strengthen enforcement of Financial Sector Charter obligations.
“Identifying issues around which to campaign for a higher impact, properly funded industrial policy.
“Building a popular front for a progressive alternative to neo-liberalism could perhaps begin by building coalitions on specific issue campaigns that would require setting out by identifying potential partners and engaging in discussions with these about the content and details of such campaigns.
” A complementary stream of work would be to try to draw potential partners into a workshop or conference to define key parameters of a broader progressive alternative to neo-liberalism, “wrote SACP.
Opening the congress, Blade Nzimande, who is Minister of Science Technology and Innovation, and chairperson of the SACP, said a huge setback for the revolution is the African National Congress (ANC) alliance with the Democratic Alliance (DA) in the Government of National Unity (GNU).
Both the NHI and the Bela Act were initiated by the SACP as part of its campaign to ensure the lives of the poor were improved.
Nzimande, along with SACP general secretary Solly Mapaila, said the party would push for the full implementation of the Basic Education Laws Amendment (Bela) Act, including the controversial clauses that caused tension within the government of national unity.
He said the education clause in the Constitution was personally initiated by him and it was one of the reasons that the National Party left the 1994 GNU.
“They long lost the battle of white education and the language issue at schools. This (Bela Act) must be implemented in totality. It must be implemented together with the NHI,” Nzimande said.
He rejected the deal between Basic Education Minister Siviwe Gwarube and Solidarity not to implemented the two clauses. “Solidarity represents a tiny section of the Afrikaans-speaking people,” Nzimande said.
Mapaila said the NHI was part of the SACP’s campaign during the tenure of former health Minister Dr Manto Shabalala-Msimang. He said the party would make sure it was implemented along with clauses 4 and 5 of the Bela Act.
The party will also discuss its plans to contest the 2026 local government elections. The party plans to run independently of the ANC after its members have previously been included in the ANC’s lists. The SACP is a member of the Tripartite Alliance, along with the ANC and Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu).
On Thursday, Gauteng premier and ANC provincial chairperson Panyaza Lesufi will address the four-day SACP national conference while ANC Deputy President Paul Mashatile will speak at the meeting on Friday.