PORT ELIZABETH (South Africa)—South Africa comes from a colonial and Apartheid Era where the working class, particularly the black masses, were forcefully removed from their land. They were forced to live in shacks and sell their labor to the racist capitalist bosses.
The liberation movement that fought these racist colonialists culminated in 1994. In the first democratic elections, the current ruling party, the African National Congress (ANC) was elected. It promised a new Era which it called “The Freedom Era”.
One of the main promises was the ANC reform agenda, the Freedom Charter (which was agreed upon in 1955). It stated: “Restriction of land ownership on a racial basis shall be ended, and all the land re-divided amongst those who work it, to banish famine and hunger’’. This was going to be achieved by expropriating the land without compensation.
But this later showed that the working class was sold dreams, as the same party came up with a policy of ‘’willing buyer, willing seller”. In addition to the “dreams sold,” it proved the futility of reformism. It proved that without the complete revolutionary eradication of the capitalist system no working-class emancipation is possible.
The policy that was later adopted by the ANC nullified even the reform of “expropriation of land without compensation” decision and meant that the ANC fully embraced the capitalist mantra, one which says “one who want to sell their land and at the price they want to exchange it for can do so”. Coupled with crisis of capitalism this has created a situation where the working class has become impatient and is occupying un-occupied land.
Everyone needs land and of course different people need it for different reasons. Firstly, and most importantly we all need land for residential purposes: for shelter. People also need land for farming, recreational and other activities. Therefore, the working class in the country is fed up and is occupying the land forcefully.
The same ruling party keeps removing them from the places which they occupy. We recently saw that in Cape Town, where they stripped a person of his dignity by destroying his shack while he was naked. This is certainly not the last time they will do so. This happened after the ruling party had announced that no one will be forcefully removed, or his house or shack destroyed. during the coronavirus pandemic.
The capitalists on the other hand need the land for their businesses to continue exploiting the working class and building institutions that will serve them.
In a communist society the working class will not need to forcefully occupy land which they need. There will be no private ownership of the means of production. The collective will decide what to do and what not to do with it. No individual will own hectares of land which they don’t need while there are others who need the land.
The impatience displayed by the working class presents an opportunity to mobilize them and recruit them in order to channel the anger to the bosses who are the ones who take decisions that get implemented by their puppets the politicians. Aluta Continua!