Header image 

International Communist Workers Party

line decor
   ICWP@Anonymousspeech.com       RSS image    
line decor

Español

About ICWP

Red Flag newspaper

Article Series from Red Flag

Communist Dialectics

Home

South Africa Student Movement:

Opportunity to Mobilize for Communism

Text Size:  ABC  ABC

SOUTH AFRICA— The student movement against rising tuition fees (#feesmustfall) has entered its fifth week.  Students have completely shut down thirty universities and hundreds of colleges.  Campuses have turned into battle fields. Police use of rubber bullets, tear gas and physical assaults on students has left many seriously injured. 
The South African workers and students have a long history.  They have learned the hard way that repression by the bosses can only be countered by mass working-class violence.
Members of the International Communist Workers’ Party (ICWP) have massively distributed Red Flags and the Communist Education pamphlets (available here). Some students have joined our party.  But it has become clear that we need to do more, to be in the forefront of the struggle. 

The crisis in the education system in South Africa is really part of a deep crisis of overproduction in the world.  Imperialism has unleashed tremendous productive forces, creating a huge surplus of oil, steel, cement, cars, housing, food and many other commodities.  At the same time, it has created over five billion wage slaves who live on less than five dollars a day, barely able to survive in the midst of plenty.
Masses of workers and students are desperately searching for an alternative to capitalism’s periodic crises and the unbearable life it creates for the masses.   One student we met at a demonstration decided to join ICWP when the comrades offered a communist alternative.  They explained that under capitalism, education also becomes a commodity.  Racism and sexism have persisted and over 60% of youth (mostly black) are unemployed.  In communist society without wage slavery, education will be integrated with lifelong learning and sharing different tasks.
The masses in South Africa are disenchanted with the African National Congress (ANC).  The hope that ANC can bring fundamental change is proving to be an empty promise. It is this feeling of betrayal and yearning for change that is propelling student demonstrations.  Thousands of ANC supporters are deserting. 
This gives us a tremendous opportunity to turn workers’ and students’ rising anger onto a revolutionary communist path.  We had a very sharp discussion among comrades about how to be bold and advance our line in a mass way.  We are determined to carry on our mass work with more collective efforts.

Next Article