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The establishment of a radical worker’s party in South Africa S Khan orcid.org 0000-0002-8893-1883 Dissertation accepted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree Master of Arts in Political Studies at the North-West University Supervisor: Dr G van Riet Graduation: May 2020 Student number: 25694014 i Acknowledgements I dedicate this dissertation to comrades who have passed away but who left an indelible mark on my own political and intellectual development. They were activists and revolutionaries of the highest calibre committed to the building of a revolutionary party of the working class politically and organisationally independent of all other parties and class influences. The contribution of comrades Andrew ‘Jumbo’ Phiri, Kenny ‘Majozi’ Msoki, Pearl Khanyile, Michael Blake and Kevin John French will forever remain in the memory of the working people. I would also like to thank my wife Parween Khan for always being there, in her unconditional support for everything I have done. Had it not been for her insistence, this dissertation would not have seen the light of day. ii Abstract This dissertation is about the establishment of a Workers’ Party in South Africa today. The aims, reasons and motivation for the study is to explain and outline why a Workers’ Party independent of nationalism (an ideology and movement promoting the interest of a particular nation) has not materialised previously and why the conditions are conducive for it to do so now. The dissertation starts with an outline in Chapter one of the analytical framework which includes the motivation, the problem statement, the aims and methodology of the study. From this we develop our central theoretical statement, our reseach approach and explain the significance of the study and its contribution to the topic. In Chapter two I try to outline the characteristic features of political parties by looking at the theoretical questions with special attention to the development, history and conceptualisation of political parties. This includes focussing especially on the organisational and ideological elements which assists us in understanding the main features of political parties. In Chapter three I look at the historical, organisational and ideological genesis of Workers’ Parties using a Marxist paradigm. I explain the meaning and distinctive characteristics of this paradigm and deal with the character of class society, the capitalist crisis, the evolution and development of consciousness of the working class and the question of reform and revolution. This is followed by an examination of the organisational question and a discussion on the international nature of class struggle. The dissertation also reflects on the ideological divided between Bolshevism and all other ‘neo-Marxist’ views and traces the evolution of the Communist Movement from the First Communist International to the post-Stalinist Social Democratic Euro-Communist organisations. In Chapter four the dissertation examines the historical development of Workers Parties in South Africa with special reference to theoretical standpoint of the Communist Party of South Africa (CPSA) and the South African Communist Party (SACP) and explain that their capitulation to nationalism has its basis in the theoretical and ideological foundations of Stalinism. This chapter includes examining and exploring the underlying theoretical questions such as ‘Colonialism of a Special Type’, ‘national liberation’ theory, the character of ‘national democracy’ and the strategy of a ‘negotiated path to power’. iii This will also include an examination of the call by the Federation of South African Trade Unions (FOSATU) for the formation of a Workers’ Party in South Africa in the 1980’s. Chapter five deals with the post-Apartheid period and examines the development of the politics of the ANC and analyse its evolution from a party of liberation to a fully fledged capitalist party. Here I will reflect on the economic crisis of post-Apartheid South Africa and deal with the political evolution of the African National Congress (ANC) from the Nelson Mandela presidency to the election of Cyril Ramaphosa at the ANC National Congress in December 2017. The chapter will also deal with the crisis of the SACP and the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) who have been instrumental in tying the working class to the bourgeois nationalist programme of the ANC. It will conclude with a look at the working class fight back and the tragedy of the Marikana massacre which it is argued is a turning point in the class struggle. Chapter six looks at the evolution of the idea of establishing a Workers’ Party in South Africa and examines whether political formations like the Democratic Left Front (DLF), the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) or the Workers and Socialist Party (WASP) represent the embryonic features of a Workers’ Party in South Africa today. It then deals in detail with the ‘NUMSA Moment’, its historical genesis and resolutions which lead up to the formation of the Socialist Revolutionary Workers’ Party (SRWP). The dissertation then reflects on the philosophy, objectives, principles, programme, formal organisation and strategy and tactics of the SRWP. In the concluding Chapter the dissertation will reflect on the key observations of the study and try to explain the connections between all the chapters so as to provided a coherent understanding of the argument and its connection with the objectives of the research. It will explain how and why the ‘NUMSA Moment’ and the formation of the SRWP has materialised and is the most important political development in leftwing politics since the advent of democracy. iv KEYWORDS Capitalism Colonialism Communism Democracy Imperialism Marxism Leninism Socialism Stalinism Workers’ Party v ABREVIATIONS AMCU Association of Construction and Mineworkers Union ANC African National Congress APF Anti-Privatisation Forum AZAPO Azanian People’s Organisation BCM Black Consciousness Movement BEE Black Economic Empowerment CCAWUSA Commercial Catering and Allied Workers’ Union of South Africa CCF Concerned Citizens Forum CEC Central Executive Committee COB Brazilian Workers Centre CODESA Convention for a Democratic South Africa COMINTERN Third Communist International COPE Congress of the People COSATU Congress of South African Trade Unions CPSA Communist Party of South Africa CPSU Communist Party of the Soviet Union CST Colonialism of a Special Type CWI Committee for a Workers International DA Democratic Alliance DLF Democratic Left Front DLP Democratic Labour Party DSM Democratic Socialist Movement EFF Economic Freedom Fighters FAWU Food and Allied Workers’ Union FOSATU Federation of South African Trade Unions GDP Gross Domestic Product GEAR Growth, Employment and Redistribution GNU Government of National Unity ICU Industrial and Commercial Workers Union IDoM In Defense of Marxism vi ILO International Labour Organisation IMF International Monetary Fund ISL International Socialist League KCTU Korean Confederation of Trade Unions KKE Communist Party of Greece LPM Landless People’s Movement MF’s Movement for Socialism MWP Mass Workers Party MWT Marxist Workers Tendency of the ANC NDP National Development Plan NDR National Democratic Revolution NEHAWU National Education Health and Allied Workers’ Union NEPAD New Partnership for Africa’s Development NEUM Non-European Unity Movement NFA National Framework Agreement on the Restructuring of State Assets NGDS National Growth and Development Strategy NGO Non-Governmental Organisation NOB’s National Office Bearers’ NP Nationalist Party NUM National Union of Mineworkers NUM New Unity Movement NUMSA National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa NWC National Working Committee OUTA Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse PAC Pan African Congress POPCRU Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union RDP Reconstruction and Development Plan RMG Revolutionary Marxist Group RSDLP Russian Social-Democratic Labour Party SACOD South African Congress of Democrats SACP South African Communist Party vii SACPO South African Coloured People’s Organisation SADTU South African Democratic Teachers Union SAFTU South African Federation of Trade Unions SAHO South Africa History Online SAIC South African Indian Congress SALP South African Labour Party SNC Special National Congress SONA State of the Nation Address SPD German Social Democratic Party SRWP Socialist Revolutionary Workers Party SYRIZA Coalition of the Radical Left UDF United Democratic Front UF United Front WASP Workers and Socialist Party WILSA Workers International League of South Africa WIVP Workers International Vanguard Party WOSA Workers Organisation for Socialist Action WPSA Workers Party of South Africa ZANC Zuma African National Congress viii Contents ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ................................................................................................................... II ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................................................ III KEYWORDS ............................................................................................................................................ V ABREVIATIONS ................................................................................................................................... VI CHAPTER 1 THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A RADICAL WORKERS’ PARTY IN SOUTH AFRICA ....................................................................................................................................
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