Industrial Workers’ ICWP Collective Grows here ♦ Capitalist Parties Attack Workers here ♦
Communist Philosophy and Class Struggle: Industrial Workers’ Party Collective Plans to Double Its Membership
GQEBERHA (South Africa), June 24— “We work, work, and work, but the bosses are always trying to underpay us,” said comrade Sima, whose factory burnt down. “They give you a target and you meet it, they then increase the targets, and you meet them, but they don’t increase your money as the target increases.”
Our collective started our weekly meeting with a discussion around Dialectics, the philosophy of struggle. We were about fifteen comrades, newer and relatively older, women and men.
In these meetings we discuss the Red Flag and plan the week’s activities. Discussion of dialectical materialism will be ongoing as part of our communist classes. We do not just read notes and lecture. We are more interested in the thoughts of new comrades and the contradictions they have in their workplaces and in their lives in general.
Comrade Sima’s example showed the most important contradiction, which is the contradiction between the workers and the bosses.
“As we have learnt in dialectics,” comrade Sbu responded, “in capitalism there is a unity between the workers and bosses. They need us to make profit and we need them for a salary. But there is also a conflict, as the bosses need to pay us as little as possible, while we need as much as possible in order to survive.
“Therefore, the conflict side is the most important,” comrade Sbu continued. “This is the reason why under capitalism there is no rescuing of workers. The solution is the revolution, as we learnt that contradictions must be resolved.”
“We have just read from the Lenin quote,” comrade Xola interjected, “that the conflict side of the contradiction of opposites is absolute. For this same reason, reformists and union reps are lying and fooling us with their ‘let’s work together’ slogan”.
This sparked a lively discussion about unions. “I really love these dialectics already,” comrade Vuyo mentioned. “It’s my first time ever hearing about them but what is said here is true. It happens every day. Union reps have offices next to management. They spend more time with them than with us. And every time we strike or want something, they always say we must be ‘reasonable.’
“They say that because they want to give us what the bosses want, not what we wanted,” comrade Vuyo continued. “Indeed, they work with the bosses. That’s why they always want to make it as if bosses are our friends. But we know they are planning to fire you if you talk too much during a strike”.
Comrade Sima asked a question. “Comrades, we know that these unions don’t care even if they see what things we suffer from work. What can the party do, now?”
“Comrade we are sympathetic to the workers,” comrade Dudo answered. “However, we are not a union, and we can’t individually help workers at a certain factory for things like wages. And we do not plan like that. It would make us behave like reformists. It’s like treating the symptoms instead of getting rid of the disease.
“We have to get rid of capitalism,” comrade Dudo concluded, “and we know we cannot solve workers’ suffering by doing what unions do. That is dangerous for us and the working class. It delays us and the revolution”.
Comrade Sbu added, “That’s why we are here. This is part of the solution we bring, spreading communism and communist ideas and learning about how change happens and what we can do to change the system and the world through a communist revolution”.
“I want to recruit more and more people,” exclaimed a new comrade.
We have agreed to double our numbers by September, when we attend the international meeting. Comrades took notes. They are enthusiastic about the Red Flag distribution this week and next Sunday’s meeting. After today’s active participation of all the comrades, we are getting more confident that our target of thirty is too low.
The enthusiasm continued over the next days as comrades kept calling and talking. We want to keep the momentum and overcome our own internal contradictions, because only those can hinder our progress. We continue to struggle collectively and build communist relationships with new comrades.
Read About Dialectical Materialism here
Capitalist Parties Divided Over Imperialist Loyalties, United in Attacking the Working Class
GQEBERHA (South Africa), July 9— “There is nothing better that this coalition will bring,” said a comrade at a meeting discussing the May 29 South African elections. “We had them govern Gqeberha. They changed mayors monthly. It brought chaos, gangsterism. We can expect the same thing again but on the national scale”.
For the first time since the end of Apartheid in 1994, the African National Congress (ANC) did not win an outright majority. It got only 40% of the vote and had to form a coalition government with the rival Democratic Alliance (DA) and smaller parties.
Many people in South Africa and around the world still view the ANC as a saviour. Or at least as a “better” evil than the DA, which they view as racist. However, the ANC is no better than the DA. They preside over the racist capitalism that has subjected millions of masses to poverty, crime, and desperation for thirty years.
Only 59% of those registered cast votes, a historic low. This is testament to the fact that most people, millions of people, reject the ANC and the capitalist racist system it governs.
There is no difference between the ANC and the DA apart from the fact that they are backed by different groups of local and international capitalists who are in conflict. It is for this reason there was a stalemate in forming a government or cabinet, as they were trying to get departments that will enable them to better serve their respective capitalist imperialist masters.
From a communist perspective, the ANC-DA alliance reinforces the need for a truly revolutionary party, ICWP. A party that prioritizes the interest of the working class rather than compromising with the forces of oppression and the DA. This alliance clearly demonstrates that the ANC has completely abandoned its liberation roots.
Masses have already rejected the imperialist ANC-DA coalition. Our job is to mobilise for communism and win them over. We must bring the communist alternative to the masses and grow our collectives.
We have an opportunity to win hundreds of people in just a few neighbourhoods. This starts with having a real, consistent struggle with friends, family, coworkers, and neighbours.
Some people are celebrating the loss of the ANC majority as some kind of a punishment for its neglect of the masses and its embrace of liberalism. We need to show the masses the futility of elections and the dangers of capitalism. We’ve been voting since 1994 yet nothing has changed. Or, should we say, things are changing for the worse?
Only a communist revolution led by ICWP can end the horrors of capitalism worldwide, not just in South Africa. As more and more workers lose their jobs and more young people struggle to find work, we need to present our party as the only alternative. Only communism can free us from this brutal system.
As ICWP we must redouble our efforts in building more collectives in industrial plants and recruiting young people in schools, colleges, and universities. We must put more emphasis, too, on recruiting soldiers to the party. Without them, we can’t hope to win.