A new left party in South Africa?
Unemployed People’s Movemen | 19.12.2013 06:16
It is increasingly looking as though the metal workers' union, with a history of militancy going back to the '80s, is going to spearhead a new left party rooted in trade unions and social movements. At the same time the pressure for Jacob Zuma to resign the presidency is gathering momentum in and out of the ANC. The Marikana chickens seem to be coming home to roost for the ANC.
Wednesday, 18 December 2013
Unemployed People’s Movement Statement
Jacob Zuma Must Go! A Statement of Support for the NUMSA Congress
As the Unemployed People’s Movement we wish to record our full support for the growing demand for Jacob Zuma’s resignation. Zuma’s credibility is in tatters. He has presided over brazen corruption with the state being used to support his family and his cronies instead of society as a whole. Nkandla has become a global symbol of Zuma’s descent in to the most brazen forms of corruption. At the same time the ANC has collapsed into gross forms of repression under Zuma’s leadership. The Marikana Massacre sent shock waves around the world last year. But political assassinations have become the norm in Zuma’s home province. Around the country there is a growing number of activists who, like Andries Tatane and Nqobile Nzuza, have been murdered on protests. The Zuma regime has launched a sustained offensive against the working class. E-tolls, labour brokers and mass retrenchments have been the order of the day under his rule.
At the memorial service for Nelson Mandela in Johannesburg it become clear that even within the ANC there is widespread contempt for Zuma and a refusal to accept that the party of Mandela and Hani should be led by someone like Zuma who really is a disgrace to the nation.
Barney Pityana first called for Zuma’s resignation earlier this year. But as the country has been reflecting on Mandela’s life anger as Zuma’s betrayal of that legacy has been growing. Since Mandela’s passing the demand for Zuma’s resignation has been rapidly gaining momentum inside the ANC and outside the ANC. It is clear to millions of South Africans that we either allow Zuma to continue to plunder the country and repress all dissent while Nzimande and Dlamini keep order in the ranks via the SACP and COSATU and our country turns into a fully-fledged banana republic or we unite and say that ‘Zuma Must Go!’ The Egyptian people successfully removed Mubarak and there is no reason why we can’t dislodge Zuma.
We were very much encouraged by the news that NUMSA has joined the call for Zuma to go. We were also very encouraged to hear that NUMSA has taken a clear and principled position on the Marikana Massacre. It was very, very disappointing for our movement to see the trade union movement compromise itself so badly after the Marikana massacre. We will never forget the scenes of union leaders singing Zuma’s praise while supporting NUM, a yellow and corrupt union, and supporting the massacre of striking workers. This was the lowest point to which Cosatu has ever sunk since its formation. It will go down in history as the disgrace of all disgraces. Today it seems like the trade union movement is restoring its honour. We send our warmest greetings to the NUMSA congress.
If NUMSA does decide to leave the ANC and form an independent workers’ movement, and then a party, we will be very pleased to engage the new formation on the basis of mutual respect. It is our hope that all of the new formations that have formed outside of the ANC – first Abahlali baseMjondolo, then AMCU and now the new formation that seems likely to emerge from NUMSA – should work together, respectfully, to unite struggles in the workplace and in communities and build a South Africa that truly belongs to all who live in it. Such a project has a real chance of building a free and just society.
Malema is just as corrupt as Zuma and he has associated himself with the worst forms of gutter politics. The EFF has no political credibility. But a political project emerging from NUMSA would have real political credibility.
We send our warmest greetings to the NUMSA congress.
Bheki Buthelezi (KwaZulu-Natal) 072 639 9893
Ayanda Kota (Eastern Cape) 078 625 6462
Motsi Khokhoma (Free State) 073 490 7623
Unemployed People’s Movement Statement
Jacob Zuma Must Go! A Statement of Support for the NUMSA Congress
As the Unemployed People’s Movement we wish to record our full support for the growing demand for Jacob Zuma’s resignation. Zuma’s credibility is in tatters. He has presided over brazen corruption with the state being used to support his family and his cronies instead of society as a whole. Nkandla has become a global symbol of Zuma’s descent in to the most brazen forms of corruption. At the same time the ANC has collapsed into gross forms of repression under Zuma’s leadership. The Marikana Massacre sent shock waves around the world last year. But political assassinations have become the norm in Zuma’s home province. Around the country there is a growing number of activists who, like Andries Tatane and Nqobile Nzuza, have been murdered on protests. The Zuma regime has launched a sustained offensive against the working class. E-tolls, labour brokers and mass retrenchments have been the order of the day under his rule.
At the memorial service for Nelson Mandela in Johannesburg it become clear that even within the ANC there is widespread contempt for Zuma and a refusal to accept that the party of Mandela and Hani should be led by someone like Zuma who really is a disgrace to the nation.
Barney Pityana first called for Zuma’s resignation earlier this year. But as the country has been reflecting on Mandela’s life anger as Zuma’s betrayal of that legacy has been growing. Since Mandela’s passing the demand for Zuma’s resignation has been rapidly gaining momentum inside the ANC and outside the ANC. It is clear to millions of South Africans that we either allow Zuma to continue to plunder the country and repress all dissent while Nzimande and Dlamini keep order in the ranks via the SACP and COSATU and our country turns into a fully-fledged banana republic or we unite and say that ‘Zuma Must Go!’ The Egyptian people successfully removed Mubarak and there is no reason why we can’t dislodge Zuma.
We were very much encouraged by the news that NUMSA has joined the call for Zuma to go. We were also very encouraged to hear that NUMSA has taken a clear and principled position on the Marikana Massacre. It was very, very disappointing for our movement to see the trade union movement compromise itself so badly after the Marikana massacre. We will never forget the scenes of union leaders singing Zuma’s praise while supporting NUM, a yellow and corrupt union, and supporting the massacre of striking workers. This was the lowest point to which Cosatu has ever sunk since its formation. It will go down in history as the disgrace of all disgraces. Today it seems like the trade union movement is restoring its honour. We send our warmest greetings to the NUMSA congress.
If NUMSA does decide to leave the ANC and form an independent workers’ movement, and then a party, we will be very pleased to engage the new formation on the basis of mutual respect. It is our hope that all of the new formations that have formed outside of the ANC – first Abahlali baseMjondolo, then AMCU and now the new formation that seems likely to emerge from NUMSA – should work together, respectfully, to unite struggles in the workplace and in communities and build a South Africa that truly belongs to all who live in it. Such a project has a real chance of building a free and just society.
Malema is just as corrupt as Zuma and he has associated himself with the worst forms of gutter politics. The EFF has no political credibility. But a political project emerging from NUMSA would have real political credibility.
We send our warmest greetings to the NUMSA congress.
Bheki Buthelezi (KwaZulu-Natal) 072 639 9893
Ayanda Kota (Eastern Cape) 078 625 6462
Motsi Khokhoma (Free State) 073 490 7623
Unemployed People’s Movemen
