Remembering Comrade Felijito
GQEBERHA, February 12— Comrade Nontsikelelo was a young mother in the New Brighton township of Gqeberha. She shared her house with her parents. She and her parents were unemployed. A member of ICWP recruited her. As he gave her Red Flag, he emphasized that capitalist greed creates unbearable living conditions for the working class. We all must unite to fight for communism to create a society based on the needs of the workers, not profit.
On January 16th, gang members raped and murdered comrade Nontsikelelo. The entire community was shocked to hear this tragic news. Her neighbours, with ICWP, organized a beautiful memorial for comrade Nontsikelelo. Comrades pledged to remember her tragic death and recruit more communist members of ICWP. Only communism can eliminate gangs and the capitalist system that promotes them.
As the community was mourning this death, just a few days later, a Mozambican worker was shot dead while buying food at the local grocery. Felijito Bulo was 22 years old when he died. Just a week earlier, Felijito met with several comrades from Mozambique who are interested in organizing ICWP. We explained to these workers why we need a mass international party that will fight racism, sexism, and xenophobia. We gave as an example the genocidal war in Gaza to show that only the working class, led by ICWP, can end imperialism and wars.
Many Mozambican friends met at the house of ICWP members to raise money for the burial. We collected money from neighbours. ICWP members from other areas also contributed. With this help, comrade Felijito’s body was returned to his hometown in Mozambique for burial.
ICWP comrades have been regularly active in this township. After the successful toyi-toyi organized last month, more workers are getting to know communism. Many new workers are looking at Red Flag as a symbol of hope to create a communist future.
We met some workers from Zimbabwe and Mozambique. They live in the township and face severe racism. ICWP comrades have been building a strong relationship with them, teaching them Xhosa and helping them defend against physical violence. When a worker from Mozambique was robbed, an ICWP member was able to retrieve his cell phone and cash the next day.
All these activities give us confidence to fight xenophobia as more workers are organizing for May Day. The capitalist bosses have given up on the masses of unemployed workers here. Their solution is gang violence, closing schools and clinics, building more prisons, and a bleak future.
We know that the working class produces everything, and only the working class under communist leadership can meet our needs. This May Day will herald a new era of a mass communist ICWP from Gqeberha to Gaza. Long live communism!