Forwarded from Dale McKinley (South Africa)

[Louis Proyect <lnp3@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

For your perusal - an article I have just written for the next issue of the
SA Labour Bulletin.

Best,
Dale
_______________________________
The End of the Age of 'Innocence':
The Alliance and the South African Working Class/Left
(*Article for South African Labour Bulletin - 092000)

by Dale T. McKinley


"The first line of defence, of those opposed to change, is... ignore the
facts".
Anonymous

There is something seriously rotten in the state of South African Alliance
politics. Out of the ranks of those who, for years, fought courageous and
difficult battles to fundamentally change South African society, has
emerged a political modus operandi whose sole function appears to be to
attack and deligitimise critical dissent and practical efforts to advance
revolutionary change. This transformation of yesterday's freedom fighters
into today's ideological and organisational gatekeepers has left, in its
wake, a 'liberation movement' increasingly dominated by 'members' who are
organisationally cowed, ideologically confused and politically
unprincipled. At the same time however, this rotten state of affairs is
providing opportunities for a 'new' and revitalised left resistance that
has the potential to change the terrain of the South African liberation
landscape.

The ANC leadership - coming out of the class closet

If the warning signs have been visible for some years now, then the actions
(both verbal and practical) of the Alliance leadership over the past
several months provide confirmation of this sorry state of affairs. There
can surely be little argument that the leadership of the ANC, after years
of engaging in myriad political and class gymnastics, has finally come out
of the class closet. The historic 'mission' of the ANC's petty bourgeois
leadership, a politically stabilised and deracialised capitalism, is baring
its teeth.

The macro-economic altar - GEAR - upon which the ANC's societal 'line of
march' has been pursued is, in reality, now firmly embedded in the realm of

non-debate. In turn, this has necessitated the complete sidelining of
working class forces as the class reference point for socio-economic
'transformation'. This 'role' is now occupied by an aspirant black
bourgeoisie whose adherents present themselves, simultaneously, as
unquestionable patriots and as the 'natural' inheritors of the liberation
struggle. These 'liberators', are to be found, in equal measure, amongst
the ranks of budding (private) capitalist speculators and entrepreneurs, as
well as in the higher echelons of the state bureaucracy, with the political
'transit station' most often being top leadership positions in the
Alliance. Coupled to these 'internal' road signs of an explicit petty
bourgeois, nationalist class agenda are the 'external' demands of
international capital (a.k.a. neo-liberalism), that have been
disingenuously presented as a fait accompli whilst being progressively
painted over with a more acceptable 'African' face.

It is partly the ANC leadership's 'success' in marketing its narrow class
interests (coupled as they are to the more global, but equally narrow,
interests of international capital) as those of the South African working
class that has led to the present state of rottenness in the Alliance. Its
dedicated campaign to sell a vision of harmonious 'nation building'
comprised of levelling class 'projects', has made it appear as though there
have been no other political choices that could be made. And yet, as the
African and internationalist revolutionary, Thomas Sankara, clearly pointed
out, it is precisely the hard political choices that must be made if there
is to be any meaningful 'revolution' to benefit the majority, but from
which the African petty bourgeoisie always recoils:

"The revolution in Africa faces this great danger: every time, it is
initiated by the petty bourgeoisie. At the beginning of the revolution the
big bourgeoisie is attacked. That's easy.they are the very wealthy, the big
capitalists.But after a few years it is necessary to take on the petty
bourgeoisie. And when the petty bourgeoisie is attacked, we attack the very
leadership of the revolution.Every revolution comes to a crossroads where
it must choose: to go after the petty bourgeoisie and be able to keep the
revolution radical - which causes you many difficulties; or to coddle the
petty bourgeoisie - and you have no difficulties. But then you also no
longer have a revolution. You have a pseudo-revolution. This is why we say
that the petty bourgeoisie is constantly torn between two interests. It has
two books. On the one hand Karl Marx's Capital, on the other a chequebook.
It wavers: Che Guevara or Onassis? They have to choose."

The SACP and COSATU leadership - revolution by rote

What has been more arguable is the degree to which the leaderships of the
junior cousins in the Alliance, the SACP and COSATU, have inculcated the
political demands of the ANC's unbridled pursuit of a deracialised
capitalism with all of its associated organisational 'requirements'. Having
relied on the efficacy of Alliance 'traditions' of talk, talk and more
talk, occasionally buttressed by limited use of organised worker power, it
is not surprising that these two flag bearers of the 'left' have
effectively consigned themselves to the role of nuisance-makers. Whilst
publicly decrying the economic flip-flops of the ANC and making constant
noises about the need for more effective Alliance 'consultations' and
'processes', the SACP and COSATU leadership have not been willing to make
the connection between the deracialised capitalism pursued by the ANC and
thus 'learn' the parallel organisational/class lessons in relation to the
Alliance.

The political tactics adopted by the SACP and COSATU leadership have
rendered a working class-led struggle for socialism (that lies at the
programmatic heart of both organisations) practically and theoretically
ineffective. Those tactics have revolved around seeking to win concessions
from the ANC, both in and outside the state, within a framework that has
consistently watered-down economic demands being made (e.g., the basis for
job creation, a more radical redistribution of resources and the
socialisation of basic services). At the same time, the approach to the
systematic closing down of working class political space within the
Alliance has been to rely on talk-shop Alliance 'Summits' that only serve
to consolidate the ANC leadership's preference for elite-pacting and
further demobilise and disempower base structures. The leadership of the
SACP and COSATU have, unwittingly or not, been party to the now rampant and
unapologetic attack on, and deligitimisation of, critical dissent and
revolutionary activism. In the process, they have been gradually but
effectively cutting the very ground from underneath the political and
organisational feet of the working class.

The glue that has held working class forces in check, whilst ensuring their
gradual but effective political marginalisation, has been the constant
propagation of the need for 'unity' within the Alliance. Besides stressing
its 'historical' basis (without paying any attention to the existence of a
more contemporary strategic commonality between Alliance formations), this
'unity' is counter-posed to the dangers of an independent, socialist
workers movement and political organisation that will break such 'unity'
and thus weaken the 'liberation movement'. However, the kind of unity that
the leadership of the Alliance has fashioned revolves around a mass of
radical-sounding rhetoric about 'transformation', 'a progressive NDR', a
'developmental state', workers' interests and the 'national interest'. On
paper, it looks impressive, and when repeated often enough within the
organisations and publicly, sounds all the more believable.

The Alliance leaderships have, much like the approach of many high school
teachers to education, become professional practitioners in waging
revolution by rote. Like a rabbit whose eyes are transfixed by the oncoming
headlights of a fast moving vehicle, much of the Alliance's constituency
have become numbed by the sheer intensity of what appear to be the
unshakeable 'headlights' of the 'liberation movement'.

All the while however, the ANC leadership has proceeded apace, to further
entrench (deracialised) capitalist relations of production and
distribution. In the process, and with the assistance of the leadership of
the SACP and COSATU, they have actively attacked any concomitant critical
questioning and engagement with the substance behind such rhetoric. Not
surprisingly, organised workers, and to a lesser extent others on the left,
are now grappling with the resultant political and organisational confusion
as to where their class interests lie. Likewise, they are desperately, if
unevenly, trying to defend the space for the very critical dissent and
revolutionary activism that has supposedly always underpinned the existence
of the liberation struggle. My own recent experience in being expelled from
the SACP is but one example of the extent to which the political and
organisational rot has set in and is symbolic of what lies in store for the
'left' within the Alliance.

The 'example' of my expulsion from the SACP

After seven years as an SACP member involved in grassroots activism,
holding various leadership positions in SACP, making regular intellectual
contributions and spending a shorter (four-year) stint at the SACP Head
Office, formal disciplinary charges were brought against me by the SACP
Central Committee. The charges claimed that I had brought "the SACP into
disrepute, publicly attacked and questioned the bona fides and integrity of
the SACP and its leaders. publicly and consistently attacked the ANC and
COSATU, and the leadership of these organisations. and publicly and
consistently promoted positions that undermine the SACP". The evidence used
for these serious accusations were a series of public articles I had
written in various publications, in my capacity as a freelance journalist,
in which I took a critical look at the class politics of the ANC
leadership, the tactics of the COSATU leadership in opposing GEAR and the
content of Budget 2000.

A disciplinary hearing was hurriedly convened (designed to take place just
prior to the quarterly meeting of the SACP Central Committee), procedural
rights to the representation of my choice were summarily dismissed and the
SACP CC endorsed the disciplinary committee's (DC) recommendation for my
expulsion the day after the hearing. Although I was allowed to present my
written response to the charges, there was no open discussion of key
political issues I raised (in either the DC or the CC) and neither were
copies of my response circulated to members of the two bodies. In short, it
was patently obvious that the SACP leadership had already passed political
and organisational judgement prior to the 'disciplinary process', that they
were merely going through the procedural 'motions' as required by the SACP
Constitution and that the intended effect of my expulsion was to discourage
and/or silence legitimate socialist debate and critique (whether as applied
within the SACP or in the public domain) emanating from the lower ranks of
the SACP.

If the SACP leadership is elected to represent working class interests and
wage an ideological 'battle' against capitalism (in whatever form), it then
becomes extremely difficult to comprehend why such charges were brought
against myself (but which have implications and effects far beyond my
person) for merely expressing, in the socialist tradition of robust and
polemical debate, political arguments and economic perspectives that are
consistent with being a revolutionary communist. This is even more so,
when, at the same time, there are innumerable and incontestable examples of
leading SACP members who have engaged (and continue to do so) in activities
and/or public interventions that are in direct contradiction to the SACP's
own political programme and principles. Likewise, there are equally
incontestable examples of SACP leaders that have engaged in what can only
be called opportunist and liquidationist activities that have seen once
vibrant Party structures reduced to organisational shells, once dynamic
organic intellectuals and organisers replaced with procedural quiescence
and political cliquism. Similar, if contextually different, arguments could
be applied to the rest of the Alliance leadership.

One of the 'weapons' used in my case to rationalise such political
hypocrisy and organisational contradiction, and which has become
commonplace amongst the leadership of the Alliance, is the manipulation of
the concept and practice of democratic centralism. Rather than embracing
and affirming the right to vigorous debate, dissent and organisational
control by base structures as the means to effect democratic and
disciplined adherence to collectively mandated programmatic decisions,
these leaderships have abrogated unto themselves the (undemocratic)
privilege of determining what is, and is not, central to implementing that
programme. Even worse, they have elevated their individual perspectives to
the level of programmatic 'policy', thus effectively destroying any
meaningful application of democratic centralism.

A 'new' working class/left resistance

Many of the political and organisational challenges that have confronted
the SACP and COSATU have stemmed directly from the ANC leadership's
systematic institutionalisation of a deracialised capitalism. The fact that
this has been a focal point of much debate and opposition both within and
outside the Alliance (as in my case), does not take away from its reality.
It is precisely the associated political and economic trajectory of the ANC
(both within and outside government) that has given rise to an intensified
class struggle within the Alliance, and in South Africa more generally. A
critical and robust engagement with the political and policy choices of the
ANC and Alliance leaderships, and thus with the parallel consequences for
an Alliance that claims leadership by, and for, the working class is
essential revolutionary work.

By necessity, such work raises difficult political questions, and poses
equally difficult organisational choices, centred around the character,
meaning and need for the present Alliance. This is but a part of a
necessary, and continual, assessment and critique of the political,
economic and social balance of class forces. The active discouraging and/or
silencing of these essential components of any self-respecting South
African left is tantamount to a political and organisational betrayal of
everything that the masses of South Africans have fought for. Tactical
opportunism is bad enough, but when Alliance leaders begin to seriously and
unapologetically argue that there is some sort of strategic necessity in
containing mass militancy and suppressing critical, left dissent then it is
past time to mount a dynamic and confident resistance.

All evidence confirms that the present Alliance leadership is both
unwilling and incapable of representing the legitimate demands of the
organised working class and associated fellow travellers in an
anti-capitalist socialist struggle. Rather than joining in the chorus of
continual, and increasingly transparent, excuses for why the form and
content of working class struggle is rapidly losing direction and power
respectively, the left (both inside and outside the Alliance) must come
together in a common defence of the right to critical dissent and debate
that is now under effective threat. From whatever ideological and/or
organisational orientation, it is imperative that the South African left
rises up in defence of this inalienable right.

It is no mistake that the main watchwords of all active and dedicated
revolutionaries in the contemporary period have been that if we do not
learn the lessons of history, we are condemned to repeat them. The tragic
consequences of the bureaucratic and politically opportunistic stifling of
open and honest critique and debate within 'liberation movement' parties
throughout the 20th century are there for all of us to see and learn from.
There are too many strategic and theoretical challenges to confront, too
many working class struggles to wage and too many opportunities for
mass-based, anti-capitalist mobilisation to grasp for organised
revolutionaries to repeat the devastating mistakes of the past.

Simultaneously, the South African left must begin the difficult but
necessary task of transforming its dissent into an open, honest and
collective debate about new forms of specifically socialist, and more
general anti-capitalist, struggle and political organisation. There are
already beginning to emerge, in a more focused and organised way,
alternative nodes of resistance that cut across most key political, social
and economic issues. The time is ripe for these emergent strands to pull
together in order to 'capture' a broader societal space. Working class/left
dissent and debate will continue to reside at the margins as long as its
focus remains predominately re-active and responsive to the tactical moves
of capital and to those who have shown they have neither the objective nor
subjective interests of the South African masses at heart. In revolutionary
struggles there are no political forms that are sacrosanct, and the content
of such struggles is in the hands of those who make them.
_____________________________
Dr. Dale T. McKinley
P.O. Box 10128
Fourways East, 2055
Johannesburg, South Africa
Tel & Fax: (27 11) 701-3901
Email: <drdalet@xxxxxxxxxx>



Louis Proyect
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