Benutzereinstellungen

Neue Veranstaltungshinweise

Southern Africa

Es wurden keine neuen Veranstaltungshinweise in der letzten Woche veröffentlicht

Kommende Veranstaltungen

Southern Africa | Miscellaneous

Keine kommenden Veranstaltungen veröffentlicht

The Way Forward for South Africa

category southern africa | miscellaneous | opinion / analysis author Tuesday November 07, 2017 23:19author by Nkululeko Khubisa - TAAC Report this post to the editors

Class Struggle and Anarchism

South Africa is in a mess. That is clear, more than 20 years since the end of apartheid. We have won many things. It was our struggle that beat apartheid laws and the old government. But we are not free yet. Corruption, poverty, job losses, hatred, violence, the apartheid legacy are all part of the mess.

What is the way forward for South Africa? It is struggle by the masses of the people for a better society.

What does that require?
anarchistbanneratantiprivatisationforummarchjohannesburgca2007.jpg


Published in “Tokologo: Newsletter of the Tokologo African Anarchist Collective”, numbers 7/8, November 2017

South Africa is in a mess. That is clear, more than 20 years since the end of apartheid. We have won many things. It was our struggle that beat apartheid laws and the old government. But we are not free yet. Corruption, poverty, job losses, hatred, violence, the apartheid legacy are all part of the mess.

What is the way forward for South Africa? It is struggle by the masses of the people for a better society.

What does that require?

EDUCATE!
The way forward is unity and solidarity, but that means we need knowledge. People need to be mobilised and taught about politics – real politics, not the party system – and this process needs to take place at all levels.

If everybody among the working class and poor could be informed and alert, and brought to the knowledge about what is really happening around them, and why, and how to fix it, they will want to take action. And that action will be directed into the right channels, not wasted-and not captured by the politicians and bosses.

People need to know the most important concepts, which include “capitalism,” the “state,” the “ruling class,” “imperialism” and the centrality of the working “class struggle.” Knowing these will allow us to identify the real enemy. Knowledge is a tool to use against the oppressor. We need to understand how best we can fight back.

THE ENEMY
Capitalism is a system that is based on using money, paying workers wages to produce things (like food, clothes) or services (like cleaning), which are sold by the employers (bosses) to make more money: in other words, profit. The profit comes from the workers putting in more work than they get paid.

Capitalism puts profit first before needs, it is wasteful and unstable. That is why we have a crisis today, with jobs scarce. Capitalist organisations include private firms like Lonmin (mining), and government firms like ESKOM (electricity), run by private or government bosses.

The state – the government – is also caught in the cookie jar of capitalism. The people at the top of the state include politicians, MPs, top officials, department heads, mayors, municipal managers, directors, generals, government bosses and so on. These people (state managers and government bosses) have power, privileges and control over a lot of production, administration, tax, and weapons, The means of production (factories, equipment, raw materials) controlled or influenced by the state is not means held directly by the government (like railways, or ESKOM). It also includes means outside government, influenced by large share percentages in private firms (government shares in Lonmin), partnerships (TELKOM), contracting (RDP house building), and laws.

The state supports capitalism since it’s beneficial to it and because the state and capitalism work together. The state pretends to be neutral while it’s not. States can’t bring liberation, they oppress the working class and poor. The bosses and the state managers form the ruling class of a country.

Imperialism is a system in which the ruling class of one country expands to control other areas and countries, sometimes directly (through invasions and force) or more hidden (through unfair trade, agreements, pressure and so on). Local ruling classes may collaborate with, or resist, imperialism-but they are always oppressors too.

RULING CLASS VS WORKING CLASS
The class that is against the ruling class, against exploitation, poverty, authoritarianism, shortages, high prices, divisions and hatred among the masses is the working class.

Working class struggle is the only way to overthrow capitalism and the state. The working class includes all people who do NOT own or control the means of production, or the administrative power and violence means of the state. It includes the poor and unemployed, and it is worldwide.

We are kept back because we are not informed. The truth is hidden by the system. We also need to know that a key part of capitalism and the state to divide and rule us, the working class majority. This is done through xenophobia, parties, unemployment, job insecurity, racism, sexism, the way the workplace works etc.

But if we can fight against these factors and become united and determined, we can overthrow the system of oppression, and cut loose from its chains. Then we can build a new world.

MOBILISATION, SELF-MANAGEMENT
Our way forward is through anarchism. We have to build organisations that possess the characteristics of empowering working class communities, co-operation ad mobilisation, self-management, and class independence – and have a strategy (plan of action). This is mass anarchism. This strategy focuses on mass organisation of the working class as the path to revolution and a new society. This means developing knowledge from grass-root levels, winning the masses to anarchist ideas, using direct democracy, councils, delegates. We need to also unite anarchists into “specific” political organisations to work among the masses.

We need to destroy top-down discussion and decision-making, the rule of the elites, the system that oppresses and exploits. Let us replace thus with real people’s power. Unity and solidarity what we need.

Forward with anarchism!!!!

Verwandter Link: http://zabalaza.net
This page can be viewed in
English Italiano Deutsch

Southern Africa | Miscellaneous | en

Fri 29 Mar, 09:51

browse text browse image

textAnarchism, Ethnicity and the Battle of the ANC Clones 16:18 Tue 28 Oct by Jon 0 comments

Once again we, the Zabalaza Anarchist Communist Front (ZACF), have to defend our political tradition from bourgeois politicians, this time on both sides of the ANC split, and explain to them what exactly is meant by a term that they throw about without actually knowing its meaning.

textReal Human Freedom Not Fake Human Rights 03:46 Fri 21 Mar by Zabalaza Anarchist Communist Front 0 comments

South Africa is said to have one of the most progressive constitutions in the world. It enshrines the rights of every person, of every background, from workers and immigrants to women and homosexuals. As such you would think that, especially for people from oppressed groups, South Africa would be a safe haven.

imageSurviving Zimbabwe: An anarchist critique Mar 19 by Leroy Maisiri 0 comments

This article, with the guidance of anarchism as a theory, provides a critical analysis of Zimbabwe and its current state, arguing against simple analysis and going beyond individual politics. The real, underlying problem is a society governed by a class system under the control of a predatory state that cannot survive a day without the exploitation of its people. It is essential to organize and educate the masses for a revolution they can claim as their own, against all forms of oppression and that builds on everyday struggles to improve the deplorable conditions of Zimbabwe.

imageAlternatives from the Ground Up Mar 17 by Lucien van der Walt 0 comments

This commentary, an input at a Globalization School debate in Cape Town, engages current labor and Left debates on building alternatives, drawing on the experiences of the radical wing of the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa, and on anarchism and syndicalism. It argues for a strategy of bottom-up mobilization based on debate and pluralism, and building structures of counter-power and a revolutionary counter-culture that can prefigure and create a new social order. The aim is to foster a class-based movement against exploitation, domination, and oppression, including national oppression, that can win reforms through self-activity, unite a range of struggles against oppression, and develop the capacity and unity needed for deep social change. This should be outside parliament, the political party system and the state. The outcome, ultimately, would be the replacement of capitalism, the state, and social and economic inequality, by a universal human community based on self-management, the democratization of daily life, participatory economic planning, and libertarian socialism.

imageWhere to now Zimbabwe? An anarchist / syndicalist perspective after the dust has settled Mar 08 by Leroy Maisiri 0 comments

It’s been around 100 days since the birth of a “new” Zimbabwe: 37 years of authoritarian rule by Robert Mugabe ended when Emmerson Mnangagwa took power through a soft military coup . But what has changed, what we can we expect now? This paper argues that no deep changes are taking place. The slight liberalizing of political life and some promises of economic reform (good and bad) do matter. But the changes in the White House of Zimbabwe centre on removing one vicious state capitalist manager to make way for another, and will not bring liberation for the masses. This replacement does not address the problems Zimbabwe faces: a ruthless ruling class, a predatory state, crisis-ridden capitalism and imperialism. The problem is not individuals: the system is the problem. This paper argues against Mugabe and Mnangagwa, but also against the state as a form of social organization and against the idea that states can be used for liberating the people. All states oppress the working class, peasantry and poor, and the state in Zimbabwe is just an extreme example of how states are based on repression, corruption and promoting the interests of economic and political elites (the ruling class). It rejects the notion that Mugabe was a champion of the poor and landless, and the claim that his ousting was a defeat for progressive forces. But it has no illusions in Mnangagwa. True, real freedom will never come through parliament, or military take- overs, or old men who take turns to spout out neo-liberal or ultra-nationalist rhetoric, while their hands are covered in blood. It can only come from mass action and organising, the transformative engine to build real democratic, stateless socialism based on self-management, freedom political tolerance and common property (anarchism).

imageOut with the old, in with the not so new Feb 19 by Shawn Hattingh 0 comments

The article looks at the structural reasons why Ramaphosa replacing Zuma as the head of state in South Africa won't end corruption.

imageA South African ruling class brawl Mar 31 by Shawn Hattingh 0 comments

In the midst of gorging themselves through exploitation and corruption, competing factions of the flabby ruling class in South Africa (the ruling class being capitalists, politicians and top state officials) have once again stepped into the ring to take pieces out of one another. In the one corner of the fight is the Zuma faction - comprised of sections of Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) capitalists, top state officials, and politicians aligned to Zuma - while in the other corner is the Ramaphosa/Gordhan faction - comprised of sections of the ANC leadership such as Ramaphosa and Gordhan, white capital and the South African Communist Party (SACP). These factions have recently been standing toe to toe exchanging blows and in the process, metaphorical blood has been spilled: those of a few Cabinet Ministers, including Pravin Gordhan.

more >>

textAnarchism, Ethnicity and the Battle of the ANC Clones Oct 28 Zabalaza Anarchist Communist Front 0 comments

Once again we, the Zabalaza Anarchist Communist Front (ZACF), have to defend our political tradition from bourgeois politicians, this time on both sides of the ANC split, and explain to them what exactly is meant by a term that they throw about without actually knowing its meaning.

textReal Human Freedom Not Fake Human Rights Mar 21 0 comments

South Africa is said to have one of the most progressive constitutions in the world. It enshrines the rights of every person, of every background, from workers and immigrants to women and homosexuals. As such you would think that, especially for people from oppressed groups, South Africa would be a safe haven.

© 2005-2024 Anarkismo.net. Unless otherwise stated by the author, all content is free for non-commercial reuse, reprint, and rebroadcast, on the net and elsewhere. Opinions are those of the contributors and are not necessarily endorsed by Anarkismo.net. [ Disclaimer | Privacy ]