Wednesday, September 30, 2020

Instability in Mali Caused by Imperialist Foreign Policy

MILITARY MUTINY RESULTS IN THE DETENTION OF PRESIDENT, PRIME MINISTER AND OTHER OFFICIALS

August 30, 2020

By Abayomi Azikiwe

Reprinted from Fighting Words

https://fighting-words.net/2020/08/30/instability-in-mali-caused-by-imperialist-foreign-policy/

A mutiny by lower-ranking military officers on August 18 in the West African state of Mali has prompted the condemnation of regional, continental and international organizations.

President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita was forced over the national media to resign from office after being elected just two years ago.

Demonstrations against the government in Bamako, the capital, have escalated over the last few months in the aftermath of legislative elections. Opposition parties and coalitions are accusing Keita of corruption, irregularities in the elections earlier this year and with the failure to bring stability to the northern region of the country which has been the scene of an insurgency by several Islamist groupings.

The mutiny began among the soldiers at the Kati military base where columns of troops headed towards the capital seizing control of the presidential residence and national media outlets. Later the president and prime minister were not available for comment after being detained by the mutineers.

This incident drew an immediate response from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), a regional organization of 15 governments. An announcement was made indicating that the borders of Mali with contiguous states were to be sealed and the membership of Mali in ECOWAS was effectively suspended.

Later the continental African Union (AU), composed of 55 member-states, followed the lead of ECOWAS by prohibiting the military regime from participating in meetings and deliberations of the organization based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterrez, spoke out against the coup as well saying that the situation should be returned to normal under the elected civilian government in Mali.

A statement was issued by the AU Commission Chair on the situation in Mali, saying: “The Chairperson of the African Union Commission Moussa Faki Mahamat strongly condemns the forced detention of the President of Mali Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, the Prime Minister and other members of the Malian Government and calls for their immediate release. The Chairperson strongly rejects any attempt at the unconstitutional change of government in Mali and calls on the mutineers to cease all recourse to violence, and calls for the respect of the country’s institutions. The Chairperson further calls on the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the United Nations and the entire international community to combine our collective efforts to oppose any use of force as a means to end the political crisis in Mali.”

ECOWAS sent a delegation to meet with the coup leaders and the deposed politicians. Former Federal Republic of Nigeria President Goodluck Jonathan headed the mission to Mali where talks failed to reach an agreement to return President Keita to office.

According to reports, the military forces in control of the country are seeking to remain in their positions for a period of three years. They have agreed, in principle it appears, to the release of the president and other officials. However, the reinstallation of the president has been rejected by the mutineers.

The Role of Imperialism in the Destabilization of Mali

Since 2012, the country has experienced heightened levels of violence and instability. The imperialist war of aggression waged by the United States, NATO and its allies in the region against Libya during 2011 triggered not only mass carnage in what was then Africa’s most prosperous nation. That war, which was approved by the UN Security Council in two resolutions, resulted in the increasing dislocation and conflict throughout North and West Africa.

Many Malians had taken up residence in Libya due to its economic strength and social stability prior to the overthrow of the Jamahiriya, the political system established by former leader, Col. Muammar Gaddafi. During the course of the daily blanket bombing operations in Libya carried out by the Pentagon and NATO in 2011, tens of thousands of people were killed including Gaddafi, who had just two years earlier represented the AU at the United Nations General Assembly in 2009.

These events provided an opening for rebel groupings within northern Mali to make a bid for the control of key areas inside the country. The reemergence of an unresolved regional issue in Mali involving the Tuareg population in the north placed tremendous pressure on the military to end the insurgency.

The Tuareg question in northern Mali is a direct result of the failure of France to resolve regional issues in the country prior to independence in 1960. Mali represented in its earliest phase of independence the Pan-Africanist and anti-imperialist tendencies within the liberation movements which emerged in the post-World War II period.

There have been several military conflicts over the status of the Tuareg people even at the onset of national independence in the early 1960s. Later, in 1990, Algeria mediated an end to another series of clashes through the auspices of the predecessor of the AU, the Organization of African Unity (OAU).

However, in recent years the emergence of Muslim groupings which are reportedly linked to al-Qaeda and ISIS, suggests that the objectives of these armed organizations are centered on the creation of a state controlled by Islamic law. Such tendencies within the Muslim world have their origins in geo-political regions where the U.S. is seeking hegemony.

For example in Afghanistan, it was successive Democratic and Republican administrations which armed and politically bolstered select Islamic groupings that served to undermine socialism and the role of the former Soviet Union. Later in Libya, Yemen and Syria, similar organizations waged the ground operations while Pentagon and NATO-allied bombers destroyed large swaths of territory in these states.

The U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) carried out its first major military project in Libya by destroying the national infrastructure, expropriating the wealth of the country and consequently plunging the nation into poverty and lawlessness. AFRICOM has established military relationships with many of the AU member-states under the guise of training and the enhancement of security. Nonetheless, since the formation of AFRICOM under the administration of President George W. Bush, Jr. in 2008, the security status of many states in West and North African has deteriorated.

Implications for a Political Settlement in Mali

Of course it will be up to the people of Mali to resolve the current political quagmire along with the assistance of ECOWAS and the AU. A coalition of opposition forces known as the M5-RFP and a broader June 5 Movement has welcomed the seizure of power by the military units.

The opposition had in recent months demanded the resignation of Keita and the entire government. Various leaders who were waging a struggle against the ousted government have been quoted as supporting the three year transitional period under the direction of the military mutineers.

A former foreign minister and member of the opposition M5 told DW.com that: “What is important for us is to see that this transition delivers to the Malian people’s expectations.  This is a historic opportunity for our country. We must take time to put things back in place.”

During the period after the previous coup in 2012, the military junta did not maintain power for an extended period. The elections held after the coup resulted in Keita coming to power. Keita has been very close politically to France which deployed thousands of troops to Mali when the situation worsened in early 2013. AFRICOM facilitated the intervention by France through the utilization of the Pentagon Air Force which assisted in the transporting of military personnel and equipment. French forces are continuing to occupy Mali irrespective of the recent coup.

France has spoken against the coup along with the U.S. Nevertheless, it remains to be seen what diplomatic posture Washington and Paris will take towards the new regime in Bamako. Both of the officers designated as leaders of the 2012 and 2020 coups were trained in the U.S. by the Pentagon. These military training programs also have an ideological and political orientation as well.

The imperialist states are consistently recruiting potential allies which will adhere to the imperatives of Western foreign policy objectives.

An article published in the Washington Post emphasizes: “Col. Assimi Goita, who emerged Thursday (Aug. 20) as the head of the junta in power, worked for years with U.S. Special Operations forces focused on fighting extremism in West Africa. He spoke regularly with U.S. troops and attended U.S.-led training exercises, said officers from both countries, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.

Goita, who also received training from Germany and France, according to the officers, headed Mali’s special forces unit in the country’s restive central region, where fighters linked to al-Qaeda and the Islamic State have established a stronghold that has alarmed global leaders.”

The same pattern holds true for Capt. Amadou Haya Sanogo, the leader of the 2012 putsch in Mali. Sanogo was educated in several military training centers in the U.S. The same Washington Post wrote in 2012: “Capt. Amadou Haya Sanogo, who led a renegade military faction that on Thursday deposed Mali’s democratically elected president, visited the United States several times to receive professional military education, including basic officer training, said Patrick Barnes, a U.S. Africa Command official based in Washington.”

Consequently, the struggle of the Malian people is to overcome the influence of imperialism in its internal affairs. This can also be applied to the AU region as a whole. Genuine independence cannot be secured while the Pentagon and NATO maintain dominance over military affairs.

Southern Africa Region Calls for Solidarity with Mozambique

REBEL GROUP OPERATING IN THE NORTH OF THE COUNTRY THREATENS POPULATION AND NATURAL GAS RESOURCES

September 8, 2020 

By Abayomi Azikiwe

Reprinted from Fighting Words 

https://fighting-words.net/2020/09/08/southern-africa-region-calls-for-solidarity-with-mozambique/

Over the last several months the security situation in the Cabo Delgado province of the Republic of Mozambique has worsened in the aftermath of several armed attacks by a self-proclaimed Islamist group.

One strategic port town, Mocimboa da Praia, was seized by 1,000 insurgents jeopardizing the homes and livelihoods of the people in the area along with endangering a key sector in the national economy which has held the promise of significant development for this former Portuguese colony.

Mocimboa da Praia is located just 70 kilometers from the border with the United Republic of Tanzania, a contiguous state with a long history of cooperation with the ruling party, the Front for the Liberation of Mozambique (FRELIMO), which led the armed independence struggle against Portuguese colonialism during the 1960s up until independence during 1974-75. The port was the base for the military operations in the north aimed at preventing further damage by the rebel group which calls itself the Ahlu Sunnah Wal-Jamaa (ASWJ), known as well as “Al-Shabaab”, meaning “the youth” in Arabic.

This port was the scene of the emergence of the ASWJ nearly three years ago in October 2017 when 30 rebels attacked a police station killing two officers and causing property damage. After 2017, the number and severity of the ASWJ attacks have grown exponentially.

Since 2017, when the rebels were responsible for 3 armed attacks, these operations have accelerated with 19 in 2018, 34 in 2019 and 43 so far in 2020. According to Thunis Marais of the Rhula Intelligent Solutions, a Mozambique-based risk management firm, there could have been as many as 617 attacks by the ASWJ resulting in 1,842 deaths.

The escalation of these rebel attacks has generated concern throughout the Southern African Development Community (SADC) regional organization. SADC is composed of 15 states extending from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) down to the Republic of South Africa and outward into the Indian Ocean states of Seychelles, Mauritius, Madagascar and the Union of Comoros. At two recently-held regional conferences of SADC in August, the issue of Mozambican security was discussed as regional governments pledged to assist Maputo.

Even among mass organizations, there is a growing awareness of the danger posed by the attacks in Cabo Delgado. Obviously, the numerical rise in attacks indicates that external funding, perhaps connected with the same interests that have facilitated the so-called Islamic State (ISIS), are now involved in spreading the same threats to Southern Africa.

The Role of Western Capitalist States in Southern African Energy Development

Over the last several years, geological surveys of the Indian Ocean coastline of Mozambique and neighboring countries indicate that there are vast natural gas deposits which have drawn the attention of international mining companies and financial institutions. Prospects for the extraction of the gas could provide the Mozambique government with much needed revenue to build infrastructure including public transportation, housing, healthcare and education.

There are multinational corporations from the United States and France involved in the development of Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) projects. The Mozambique LNG Total website says of the status of the country’s energy resource:

“The Mozambique LNG Project started with the discovery of a vast quantity of natural gas off the coast of northern Mozambique in 2010, leading to a $20 billion Final Investment Decision in 2019. Now, through cooperation and responsible project planning, the project is on track to deliver LNG in 2024. For now, our plans for the approximately 65 trillion cubic feet of recoverable natural gas include a two-train project with the ability to expand up to 43 million tons per annum (MTPA). The Project is operated by Total – the world’s second largest LNG player with a leading presence in Africa – which is uniquely qualified to ensure the Mozambique LNG Project helps to meet the world’s increasing demand for sustainable, reliable and cleaner energy sources.”

U.S.-based energy firm Anadarko Petroleum Corporation has agreed to construct a LNG liquefaction and export terminal in Mozambique which will cost approximately $20 billion. Reportedly Anadarko has agreed to a takeover by Occidental Petroleum Corporation which will then sell its interests to Total SA, the same firm mentioned above that is based in France.

In addition to the role of Anadarko and Occidental, the Export-Import Bank (EXIM) of the U.S., an independent federal agency, has agreed to provide $4.7 billion in financing for the Mozambique LNG project in an effort to enhance Washington and Wall Street’s competition with the People’s Republic of China (PRC) for economic influence in Africa. An EXIM press release in June says of the effort that: “As part of EXIM’s historic 2019 reauthorization, Congress directed EXIM to establish the ‘Program on China and Transformational Exports.’ The Program’s purpose is to advance the United States’ comparative leadership in the world with respect to China and strengthen America’s competitiveness through EXIM’s support of transformational U.S. exports—and the U.S. jobs that make them possible—as U.S. companies seek to compete and win in the global marketplace.”

Many geo-political regions of the world are expected to move away from a reliance on coal for energy purposes to LNG since it is considered a cleaner form of energy. Consequently, Mozambique and other regions of East Africa have been the source of much exploration and economic speculation.

Aggravating the already existing security situation in Mozambique, the impact of climate change has also been a major challenge since 2019 when Cyclones Idai and Kenneth struck the northern region of the country causing monumental environmental and structural damage along with the loss of wildlife and people. Consequently, the appearance of an armed insurgency grouping will further hamper the capacity of the government in the capital of Maputo to rapidly address these formidable issues.

Solidarity Expands to Mass Organizations

During a SADC People’s Summit held virtually from August 18-21, there was a regional call for solidarity with Mozambique in response to the security situation in Cabo Delgado. Also in Tanzania, the country will be holding general elections on October 28.

Both Mozambique and Tanzania have Islamic populations which extend back for centuries even prior to the advent of colonialism. Mozambique has a smaller proportion of Muslims than Tanzania and its islands. In Mozambique it is estimated that 17% of the population are Muslim largely centered in the north of the country. In Tanzania on the mainland, it is said that 35% of the people adhere to Islam while on the island of Zanzibar, 99% of the population are Muslim.

The existence of significant Muslim populations in Mozambique, Tanzania as well as other East African states such as Kenya and Somalia, provides an opening for the Islamist groupings aligned with ISIS to gain a base within the countries. Often, as in other states in West Asia such as Iraq and Syria, the existence of uneven social development and unresolved political grievances can be exploited to wage attacks on governments and the people. These Islamist groupings have their origins in geo-political areas where the U.S. has waged war against sovereign states including Libya in 2011, where the Pentagon and NATO overthrew the government of former leader Col. Muammar Gaddafi, rendering the North African country to impoverishment and instability.

Similar attacks on civilians such as public executions through beheadings and other forms of violence are surfacing in the character of the insurgent activities being carried out in Mozambique, Kenya and Somalia. These armed actions against civilians and government installations are at variance with the character of the wars waged by national liberation movements such as FRELIMO which focused attention during the independence struggle on structures which upheld the colonial and imperialist systems based in the Western countries.

According to a report on the People’s Summit in August: “The Southern African People’s Solidarity Network (SAPSN) has called upon peace-loving citizens in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to stand in solidarity with the people of Mozambique as the country deals with multiple and overlapping crises, including military conflicts and religious extremism. SAPSN also instructed citizens in the region to stand in solidarity with citizens in the United Republic of Tanzania as the country holds its General Election on October 28 this year.”

The gathering urged regional governments and people’s organizations to stand in solidarity against extremism, drug trafficking, human rights violations and the attempt to plunder resources by local and foreign interests. The SAPSN Declaration issued at the conclusion of the conference emphasized: “We understand that the growing conflict in Northern Mozambique is ultimately the result of extra-activism and theft of natural resources at the cost of the local small-scale food producers, including farmers, fisher folks, livestock holders, herders, and host communities.”

Reparations Demand Expanding Among African People Worldwide

BURUNDI AND THE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO ARE ISSUING CALLS FOR DAMAGES RENDERED DURING EUROPEAN IMPERIALIST OCCUPATION JOINING EFFORTS ALREADY UNDERWAY ACROSS THE CONTINENT AND THE DIASPORA

September 27, 2020

By Abayomi Azikiwe

Reprinted from Fighting Words

https://fighting-words.net/2020/09/27/reparations-demand-expanding-among-african-people-worldwide/

During late August, the Central African state of Burundi appealed to the Belgian and German governments to pay reparations for the crimes committed during their colonial occupation of this country during the 19th and 20th centuries.

Burundi joins the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), which had already spoken to the issue making similar claims on Belgium, the imperialist power which laid waste to the country from 1876 through the 1960s.

Prior to the recent efforts by Burundi and the DRC, people in the Republic of Namibia and the United Republic of Tanzania filed claims against the German government for their role in the genocide carried out during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In Namibia, formerly known as Southwest Africa, the Nama and Herero nations suffered immensely as a result of the mass extermination of their people.

In Tanzania, there were atrocities committed by the German colonial authorities which prompted the rebellion against injustice known as the Maji Maji Revolt of 1905-1907. A similar war of liberation was waged also in Namibia, although in both cases the imperialists were able, through the ruthless use of weaponry, to overcome at that time, the resistance of the African people.

These demands for reparations are not isolated. There are other countries within the African Diaspora which have also made the same demands.

The International Struggle for Reparations

Of course in the United States, various organizations, going back decades, have made the call for the payment of reparations for nearly 250 years of African enslavement. Some of these organizations include the Nation of Islam, Republic of New Africa, National Black Economic Development Conference, National Coalition for Black Reparations in America (NCOBRA), among others. Additional demands for reparations are being made for mass killings and displacement as occurred in Tulsa, Oklahoma in 1921, when an estimated 300 African Americans were killed by white mobs including law-enforcement agents.

Even in the Caribbean island-nation of Haiti, after the 12 year rebellion and revolutionary war for independence (1791-1803), the former colonial and slave-owning power of France in 1825 demanded the payment of indemnity for their supposed economic losses during the liberation of the country. Concurrently, successive U.S. administrations in the wake of the Haitian Revolution refused to recognize the African-Caribbean nation diplomatically until 1862, more than a year after the beginning of the Civil War.

Deposed Haitian President Jean Bertrand Aristide raised the demand for reparations from France based upon the post-colonial history of the country. Aristide was overthrown by a coalition of imperialist states including the U.S., France and Canada in 2004.

On a broader level, the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), composed of various governments within the region, has established a Commission to pursue reparations from the imperialist states. The Caribbean Reparations Commission explains its mission on their website saying: “The CARICOM Reparations Commission is a regional body created to Establish the moral, ethical and legal case for the payment of Reparations by the Governments of all the former colonial powers and the relevant institutions of those countries, to the nations and people of the Caribbean Community for the Crimes against Humanity of Native Genocide, the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade and a racialized system of chattel Slavery.”

The U.S. had a vested interest in not recognizing Haiti because of its own role in the Atlantic Slave Trade.  It was the profits accrued from the involuntary servitude of African people which fueled the rise of industrial capitalism. The fact that the U.S. fought a protracted Civil War which killed nearly a million people in order to end legal enslavement is a clear illustration of the significance of the system to the growth and development of the country.

With specific reference to Burundi, a report on the actual political situation involving the government says: “The country’s senate has put together a panel of experts to assess the damage done during colonialism and advise on the cost of damages, according to Radio France International. Burundi plans to send these recommendations to the German and Belgium governments. The country also intends to demand the European countries return stolen historical artifacts and archive material. From 1890, Germany colonized Burundi, which became part of German East Africa.”

As this issue relates to the neighboring DRC, the Belgian colonialists engaged in genocidal policies inside the country for decades. Millions of Congolese were forced to work for the Belgian monarchy and later the colonial government in Brussels. It has been estimated that 8-10 million Congolese people died during the initial colonial engagement from 1876-1908, when after this period, King Leopold II relinquished direct control of the vast and mineral wealthy country to the regime in Brussels.

The African Exponent news service wrote of the continuing colonial and neo-colonial control by imperialism in the DRC that: “King Leopold later handed Congo to Belgium, and the country perpetuated the evil rule initiated by Leopold, till Congo obtained its independence in 1960. And even after independence, the West connived together to assassinate Patrice Lumumba who had been democratically elected as the first prime minister of the country. In his place the West ensured its proxy, Mobutu Sese Seko got in, and his rule was extremely disastrous to the country as it was characterized by ruthlessness and looting that sounded like fiction.”

A report issued by the United Nations Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent surmised that Belgium should pay reparations to the DRC for the human rights violations committed by the colonial authorities. The Working Group goes as far as to suggest that the problems which have arisen since the independence of the country in June 1960 are a direct result of the legacy of colonialism.

Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba (1925-1961), who was the first leader of the independent former Belgian Congo, was overthrown by an alliance of U.S., Belgian and other imperialist powers. These interests deliberately targeted Lumumba and his Congolese National Movement (MNC) for destabilization and liquidation. Although much information has been uncovered about the coup and brutal assassination of Lumumba (1960-1961) and his comrades, no person or entity has ever been held accountable in a court of law.

This report from the Working Group on the historical role of colonialism as well as the racist policies of contemporary Belgian society, emphatically notes: “[W]ith a view to closing the dark chapter in history and as a means of reconciliation and healing….to issue an apology for the atrocities committed during colonization. The root causes of present-day human rights violations lie in the lack of recognition of the true scope of the violence and injustice of colonization.  We are concerned about the human rights situation of people of African descent in Belgium who experience racism and racial discrimination. There is clear evidence that racial discrimination is endemic in institutions in Belgium.”

Responses by Imperialism to Demands for Reparations and the Way Forward

All of the colonial, neo-colonial and imperialist states charged with human rights violations, genocide and other crimes against the people have either rejected the claims made against them or have provided inadequate responses. The U.S. has never even apologized for the centuries of enslavement and national oppression of African people.

Germany was reported to have made a miniscule offer to Namibia for its colonial atrocities. The Namibian government of President Hage Geingob, the leader of the South-West African People’s Organization (SWAPO), the liberation movement which led the struggle for independence against the settler-colonial apartheid regime, has dismissed the German gestures as insulting.

A report published in an independent newspaper said that the talks between Germany and Namibia did not result in any real offer by Berlin to provide reparations for colonial crimes against humanity. The article emphasizes that: “A German special envoy in the ongoing genocide negotiations has rejected claims that his country had offered to pay Namibia about €10 million, or N$180 million, as reparations. In June this year, President Hage Geingob said in his state of the nation address that Namibia rejected a €10 million offer by Germany as reparations for the genocide perpetrated by German settlers between 1904 and 1908. This offer was ‘an insult’, according to Geingob.

Geingob in June also announced that the genocide talks were at an advance stage and that Germany was ready to apologize to the affected communities. However, Germany is now rejecting Geingob’s claims saying no offer was made for reparations.”

These developments in Africa, the Caribbean and among African Americans in the U.S. illustrate the convergence of these struggles to hold the racist systems of slavery, colonialism and neo-colonialism responsible for their crimes historically and in recent decades. African Americans are still consistently targeted by law-enforcement and vigilantes for brutality and assassination.

The existence of these complimentary demands provides even broader openings for international solidarity and organization. Only when there is a worldwide movement aimed at reversing the legacy of imperialism, will there be the possibility of creating a new international system based on genuine equality, self-determination and social justice.

Zimbabwe Ruling Party Says There is No Crisis in the Country

NEIGHBORING SOUTH AFRICAN ANC DELEGATION VISITS HARARE FOR HIGH-LEVEL TALKS ON ATTEMPTS TO DESTABILIZE THE SADC REGION

September 13, 2020

By Abayomi Azikiwe

Reprinted from Fighting Words

https://fighting-words.net/2020/09/13/zimbabwe-ruling-party-says-there-is-no-crisis-in-the-country/

Over the last two decades the western imperialist states and their allies have imposed draconian sanctions on the Southern African nation of Zimbabwe.

Not only has the economic embargo impacted the majority of Zimbabweans, the entire Southern African Development Community (SADC) region has been impacted negatively.

Nonetheless, the 15-member SADC grouping has maintained its solidarity with Harare amid repeated attempts to destabilize and overthrow the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union, Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) ruling party. These efforts include the funding of numerous opposition parties and their political initiatives along with threats some years ago to engage in a direct military intervention by Britain, the former colonial power.

On September 8, the fraternal African National Congress (ANC) of South Africa sent a delegation to Zimbabwe for discussions with its ZANU-PF counterparts. ZANU-PF acting spokesperson Patrick Chinamasa told the Zimbabwe Herald newspaper that the ANC delegation would only meet with the ruling party as they were sister organizations which had transformed themselves from liberation movements into ruling parties.

The visit by the ANC leadership group comes amid the backdrop of renewed attempts by opposition parties in both countries to cast aspersions on the Zimbabwe government. Ace Magashule, the Secretary General of the ANC and a member of the national executive council (NEC) of the ANC , led the delegation from South Africa aimed at discussing important matters affecting the entire SADC region.

An article published on September 9 in the state-owned Herald says: “Apart from Cde Magashule, the ANC delegation includes party national chairman Cde Samson Gwede Mantashe, Cde Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula (member of the NEC and Minister of Defense and Military Veterans), Cde Tony Yengeni (member of the NEC and National Working Committee (NWC), and chairperson of the NEC on Peace and Stability), Cde Lindiwe Zulu (member of the NEC, chairperson of the NEC on International Relations and Minister of Social Development) and Cde Enoch Godongwana (member of NEC and chairperson of the NEC on Economic Transformation).”

At the same time the current social and political situation in South Africa is a cause for concern within the region and Africa as a whole. South Africa has the largest number of COVID-19 pandemic cases while the ANC government is struggling to provide adequate testing and mitigation efforts. As of September 9, the number of confirmed cases in South Africa is 640,441. Some 15,086 people have died from the virus and 567,729 are considered recovered.

The pandemic and the government’s declaration of a health emergency in late March have been paralleled by the rise of an already high jobless rate. Concomitantly, the value of the national currency, the rand, has been in decline.

President Cyril Ramaphosa told a virtual briefing of the South African National Editors Forum (SANEF) on September 9, in relationship to government policy aimed at addressing the financial crisis: “We will be able to identify key projects across all our provinces that we can embark on. Some of them are ready and some are almost ready by a press of a button very shortly and they will create quite a number of jobs.”

Contrasting these figures with Zimbabwe where the number of those infected are far lower, the ZANU-PF government has been successful in limiting the spread of the disease inside the country. Zimbabwe has 7,388 confirmed COVID-19 cases, some 2,018 deaths from the disease, while 5,477 people are deemed to have recovered.

These official statistics on the public health situation in Zimbabwe have ironically been confirmed by the United States Embassy in the capital of Harare. Successive administrations in Washington since 2000 and even before, have maintained a hostile diplomatic posture towards ZANU-PF.

However, in a press release issued on September 9, the U.S. Embassy warned of the overall threat of international travel which has continued since March. The Embassy cited the same statistics being published by various global data centers including the World Health Organization (WHO), which has been publicly attacked by the administration of President Donald Trump leading to the withdrawal of funding to the agency based in Geneva, Switzerland.

Opposition Parties and Imperialism in Southern Africa

The leading group attempting to unseat the elected ZANU-PF government in Zimbabwe is the Movement for Democratic Change (Alliance). The MDC-A is one of many other MDC formations which arose at the time of the comprehensive land reform program during 2000 when the previous administration of the late first President Robert Mugabe expedited land redistribution.

Zimbabwe’s land question was the basis for the mobilization and organization of the people during the national liberation struggle of the 1960s and 1970s. In order to avoid an outright military victory by the armed revolutionary guerrilla organizations of ZANU-PF and the-then Zimbabwe African People’s Union (ZAPU-PF) headed by the late Vice President Joshua Nkomo, the U.S., working with Britain, the previous colonial power in Zimbabwe, facilitated a political settlement to the independence war at the Lancaster House talks in late 1979.

These talks resulted in internationally-supervised multi-party elections during April 1980 when ZANU-PF won an overwhelming majority. A coalition government encompassing ZANU-PF, ZAPU-PF and the remnants of the settler-colonial regime ruled the country for five years when a new republic was born. By 1987, ZANU-PF and ZAPU-PF had merged, resolving many of the political difficulties which arose during the early years of independence.

Both Washington and London had pledged to assist the Zimbabwe government in the land reform process during the Lancaster House talks. These imperialist governments reneged on their promises prompting the ZANU-PF administration to pass legislation in 2000 expropriating the European settler-colonial agricultural class, taking back for the African people the most arable and productive land inside the country.

Despite reports to the contrary in recent months, the Zimbabwe Minister of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services, Monica Mutsvangwa, reiterated that the land reform process was irreversible. President Emmerson Mnangagwa has been involved in efforts to improve relations with all of the country’s adversaries since he took office in November 2017. Negotiations with some displaced European farmers have resulted in the resumption of agricultural production by a small number of these business interests.

However, the U.S. maintains its hostile position towards the ZANU-PF government. In late July, Chinamasa described the Washington ambassador to Zimbabwe, Brian Nichols, as a “thug.” Nichols was accused of funding the opposition to deliberately destabilize the country and place Zimbabwe at greater risk of a wider spread of COVID-19.

MDC-A leaders were seeking to hold an anti-government demonstration on July 31 which would have contravened the public health policies enacted by President Mnangagwa. Chinamasa said on July 27 that: “He (Nichols) continues to engage in acts of undermining this republic and if he does so, if he continues engaging in acts of mobilizing and funding disturbances, coordinating violence and training insurgents, our leadership will not hesitate to give him marching orders. Diplomats should not behave like thugs, and Brian Nichols is a thug.”

U.S. Has Horrendous Human Rights Record

Since the beginning of 2020, Washington has been further exposed for its failure in the public health sphere. The U.S. has over 6 million COVID-19 cases resulting in excess of 190,000 deaths since February. The economic impact of the pandemic triggered a 32% decline in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the second quarter, the sum total of goods and services produced in a given country. Millions are still unemployed while being imperiled by the threat of evictions, foreclosures and hunger.

After a series of police and vigilante killings of African Americans and other people of color, the law-enforcement execution of George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25 sparked a nationwide upsurge in anti-racist demonstrations and urban rebellions. Calls for the defunding and dismantling of police have taken on a mass character.

Consequently, the Trump administration’s destabilization program against Zimbabwe and the entire SADC region has been rejected by progressive forces throughout the sub-continent and beyond. The country and region needs humanitarian assistance, not unwarranted interference in their internal affairs.

Run! Run! Antifa is Coming! Antifa is Coming!

September 19, 2020

By David Sole

Reprinted from Fighting Words

https://fighting-words.net/2020/09/19/run-run-antifa-is-coming-antifa-is-coming/

Probably every culture has a mythical terrifying figure that parents use to threaten children with, if the kids don’t behave well. In the U.S. it was often “the bogeyman will get you!” After all, children not knowing any better believed in his existence and might alter their behavior for the better.

Now here comes Trump (who, come to think of it might someday be used as a bogeyman figure).  The president, along with his right-wing cohorts, is telling the people of the U.S. that their property and lives are being threatened because “Antifa is coming.” What the heck is Antifa?

It most certainly is not an organization, open or secret. Antifa is short for anti-fascist. Since the 1920’s, when the dictator Benito Mussolini took over Italy along with his National Fascist Party, those who opposed him and his dictatorship proudly called themselves anti-fascist. In 1933 Hitler and his fascist crew seized power in Germany and proceeded to systematically slaughter millions upon millions of Jewish people, Romani people (“Gypsies”), LGBTQ+ people, socialists, communists, trade unionists and others they deemed “inferior.” Spain and Portugal soon had their own fascist dictators (not without a fight, however). A world war from 1939 to 1945 was fought that ended in the defeat of the fascist powers (Spain and Portugal’s dictators held on long afterward). The term anti-fascist was a good thing for a long time, even a badge of honor.

Trump, in his drive to win and hold onto the presidency, has promoted blatant white supremacy. He has gathered under his wing a wide range of Nazis, KKKers, Proud Boys, skin-heads and other right-wing dregs. In particular Trump has repeated over and over that he is the only one who can protect people from Antifa – a name he has applied to any and every real or imagined left-leaning protest.

The widespread and massive Uprising that broke out after the May 25, 2020 brutal and televised police murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis, has drawn in people of all ages and races for over one hundred days. In some locations anger at police terror and white supremacy has boiled over into violence against property. More often, however, it has been the police and Trump’s federal agents who have launched violent attacks on peaceful protesters. But for Trump’s purposes it is “Antifa” at fault. The right-wing media has even accused “Antifa” of starting the massive forest fires raging across Oregon and California.

Anyone familiar with the protest movements around the country knows that there is no organization called Antifa. The term is used by some demonstrators to identify as being militantly anti-fascist in sentiment. Antifa has no headquarters, no newspaper, no membership and holds no meetings. But that doesn’t matter to Trump or his allies. Antifa serves their goal of scaring people into voting for the only one who can “save” them from the Antifa bogeyman.

Of course actual fascists do exist and present a very real terrorist threat to people across the United States. Trump, Fox News and that crowd are working hard to defend them, excuse their actions and encourage further attacks. Local and federal police agencies are tolerant of fascist minded groups, actively collaborate with them and often count them among their members.

A few examples should suffice. On August 31, 2020 USAToday.com reported  “President Donald Trump defended the 17-year-old who fatally shot two protesters in Wisconsin last week, embracing an attorney’s account that Kyle Rittenhouse acted in self-defense.”  Don’t forget that Rittenhouse calmly walked through police lines in Kenosha carrying his AR-15 style rifle after he shot dead two demonstrators and seriously injured a third.

Following the march of fascists in Charlottesville, Virginia on August 13, 2017 Trump commended the alt-right crowd as “very fine people” even though one of these “good folks” drove his car into the counter-protest killing Heather Heyer and injuring dozens.

Trump also urged his supporters on when they drove a caravan of vehicles into Portland, Oregon where they attacked Black Lives Matter protesters on August 29. In what was described as an act of self-defense the demonstrator, Michael Reinoehl, allegedly shot and killed Aaron Danielson, a member of the Patriot Prayer right-wing group.

On September 3 a federal task force tracked down Reinoehl and killed him. He had previously told reporters and friends that he was “being hunted.”  Trump celebrated the U.S. Marshals’ execution of Reinoehl for “taking care of” the suspect “in 15 minutes.” Trump added, “I will tell you something, that’s the way it has to be. There has to be retribution when you have crime like this.” The NAACP Legal Defense Fund president, Sherrilyn Ifill, warned “We are on our way to normalizing the execution of criminal suspects before arrest, trial or conviction.” (new.yahoo.com).

Last spring, law enforcement officers and politicians were casting blame on Black Lives Matter demonstrators for killing a number of police in California. One of those was a Santa Cruz County Sheriff Sgt. Damon Gutzwiller killed in an ambush on June 6, 2020. Another was the murder of a federal officer, Patrick David Underwood, who was in Oakland, CA guarding a federal courthouse during a big George Floyd protest on May 29. It turns out that Steven Carillo, who was a sergeant in the United States Air Force where he received training in weapons and explosives, was arrested on June 6, charged with both of those murders. He is apparently a member of the right-wing Boogaloo Bois, whose adherents say they are preparing for, or seek to incite, a second American Civil War, which they call the “boogaloo”.

Trump and much of the media are determined to sow fear and division with the phony specter of the big, bad Antifa bogeyman. It remains to be seen if this can successfully shift attention away from the very real dangers of COVID-19 pandemic, racist police terror, unemployment, global warming and the other very real threats to the working class population of the U.S.

Any youth of today should be proud to identify as Antifa. They will join a long line of anti-fascist resistance heroes throughout history.

The Left, the Right and the Capitalist State

September 8, 2020 

By David Sole

Reprinted from Fighting Words

https://fighting-words.net/2020/09/08/the-left-the-right-and-the-capitalist-state/

The state, when talking about political entities, might be defined as “the supreme public power within a sovereign political entity” (The Free Dictionary by Farlex).  V.I. Lenin, leader of the Russian Revolution of 1917, wrote his important work “The State and Revolution” in the days leading up to the seizure of power by the working class and poor peasants of that nation. He distilled the idea that the “state” was, at heart, “bodies of armed men” including the military, police, the courts and prisons that maintained the rule of one class over other classes. These repressive forces were necessary because the state existed for the exploitation of one class for the benefit of another. All the rest of the departments of government were not fundamental.

Slaveholders needed a state to keep slaves from revolting. Feudal barons and kings needed a state to maintain their extravagant lifestyles off the backs of the peasant masses. The capitalist bankers and bosses, representing only a tiny percentage of the population, needed a host of armed agents and a coercive judicial system so that the other “99%” could be controlled if and when they decided to throw off the oppressive yoke either at home or abroad.

The United States today is experiencing a profound crisis that is worrisome to the billionaire capitalist class. An essential element in ruling over some 330 million people, when you are really not even “1%,” is to keep those masses divided and confused. Heaven forbid that the working class and even the middle class (the peasantry is long gone as a numerical force) recognize their common interests, unite and turn against the super rich.

White supremacy is the premier tool, or weapon, used to keep people in the U.S. divided. The ruling class arsenal also employs sexism, anti-LGBTQ+ bigotry, ableism, and more in their attempt to fragment and thus weaken the working class and oppressed nations inside the borders.

But it is inevitable for oppressed and exploited people to rebel. The racist murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police was the straw that broke the proverbial camel’s back. Years, decades of police violence and murder against African Americans and other people of color erupted into a massive uprising that began on May 25 and has continued, remarkably, up to today. The protests are not just in a few cities, but across the country in large metropolises and small towns alike.

The uprising is also characterized everywhere by its youthfulness and the unity of African Americans, Latinx people, Arabs, Native people and whites. This is what most worries the ruling class. Also noteworthy is that the uprising started and continues in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Who knows how large the movement would grow to if tens of millions of people weren’t cautiously staying home for fear of contracting the disease?

No less disturbing to the billionaires and their agents is the economic dislocation caused by the pandemic. What happens when a mass movement against white supremacy and police terror coincides with an economic collapse of the capitalist system. Tens of millions of workers are out of work with no clear path to return to work as the coronavirus proves unmanageable. Unable to pay their rent or mortgages millions face eviction or foreclosure.

The emergency stimulus package known as the CARES Act staved off disaster for a while. The pitiful $1200 the government gave to many people was bolstered by several months of extra unemployment benefits to those laid off due to the pandemic. But those band aids ran out a while ago and the two capitalist political parties – Democrats and Republicans – have proven unable to pass a second package. The Trump administration did get the CDC to order a halt to evictions nationwide, but it isn’t clear if the ruling will survive court challenges or local sabotage.

Unseen by most people is how the stock market is staying high. Unemployed workers and closed factories and offices don’t produce profits for the capitalist class. The Federal Reserve has been holding interest rates to zero as well as buying corporate bonds to maintain the illusion that all is well. This cannot go on forever. Maybe they will keep it up until the election. But, sooner or later, a crash is feared by many economists and political insiders.

The coinciding of the three crises – COVID-19, anti-white supremacy uprising and economic collapse – haunt the ruling class. President Trump has been going full blast to support the police against demonstrators. He sent Federal agents from many departments in full riot gear to assault the Portland protesters. That backfired and the demonstrations grew greatly. In Detroit U.S. Attorney General William Barr came to town and met with top police officials on August 18. Four days later the Detroit police launched an unprovoked, violent attack on a peaceful gathering. No one believes that was a coincidence. But the protests in Detroit continue nightly. Democratic nominee for the presidency, Joe Biden, has also chimed in to condemn protests that have expressed themselves commensurate with the rage of the people. Of course, unlike Trump, Biden tries to show a little bit of sympathy for “peaceful” demonstrations.

In situations where the organs of state power, the “bodies of armed men” in Lenin’s words, prove unable to do the job of suppressing the masses, the capitalist class has historically turned to extra-legal bodies of far-rightwingers who are not bound to respect law or constitutional niceties. These groups going by the name of Nazis, KKK or some “patriotic” title have always existed on the outskirts of society. Sometimes the ruling class may put them down and at other times they are encouraged, financed and given support by the police themselves.

Hitler’s Nazis played the role of a fringe group in Germany for 10 years before the German ruling class, fearing the power of the Socialist and Communists, unleashed him and allowed him to take power in 1933. In the South in the U.S. after the Civil War and onwards the Ku Klux Klan, hand in glove with the local police and the ruling rich, carried out murder and terror against African Americans as well as any white sympathizers for equal rights.

It should not surprise anyone that fascists in Kenosha came to that Wisconsin city on August 25 to confront anti-police terror protesters. The demonstration there followed the police pumping 7 bullets into the back of Jacob Blake with no provocation. Kyle Rittenhouse armed with an AR-15 style rifle opened fire killing Anthony Huber and Joseph Rosenbaum and seriously wounding a third person.

Days later far-right Trump supporters caravanned into Portland, intent on confronting Black Lives Matter protesters. Fights broke out on many streets. A man identified as a member of a right-wing extremist group was shot in the chest and died. Police, led by Federal agents, tracked down the alleged anti-fascist shooter and gunned him down during the arrest.

Right wing groups are being whipped up to assault and murder progressive people who have taken to the streets to demand change. Not surprisingly FOX News has been promoting, praising and pushing them on. The President of the United States has also made it clear repeatedly that he supports them and what they are doing.

The right wingers only exist with the forbearance or encouragement of at least part of the ruling class. It Is clear that the fascists are getting special treatment from the police forces around the nation. During the early days of the pandemic armed militias showed up at the Capitol Building in Lansing, Michigan, pushing their way into the building when the legislature was in session. They claimed their constitutional right to bear arms and the police gave them full access. Over the years these same police refused to allow protesters to even carry protest signs into that same building.

On June 9, 2019 a small group of swastika wearing members of the National Socialist Movement marched through Detroit carrying guns. They went to confront the annual LGBTQ festival in downtown’s Hart Plaza. This small group of Nazis weren’t bravely facing the crowd. No, they were surrounded and escorted by a phalanx of Detroit cops who made sure no one ran them out of town.

The Portland fascist caravan had no interference from the Portland or state police. But in Kenosha the cops stopped trucks carrying water and food that had arrived to support the demonstrators. And you can see for yourself that Kyle Rittenhouse was allowed to walk through police lines after he had murdered two men and wounded another, still carrying his rifle.

The progressive, radical and revolutionary “left” is in the streets and, of necessity, will only grow. The labels “left” and “right” come from the year 1789 when the French Revolution convened the National Assembly in Paris. On the left side of the hall sat the delegates who were against King Louis XVI and his oppressive nobility. On the right side sat those who were conservative supporters of the King and the feudal system he headed. That struggle, between the left and right continued for years until the complete overthrow of the “old order” of the French feudal ruling class.

Today’s left wing encompasses those who are against police terror and white supremacy. Also included are those who want action against climate change. The left also covers supporters of women’s and LGBTQ rights. Those who demand economic justice and oppose oppression of minorities also belong to the left. Those on the left may disagree over many things, such as demands, tactics and methods. Not everyone believes that voting for Democratic Party candidates is a solution or even worthwhile.

Under current conditions the left will grow if a program can unite the different factions that emerge and correct tactics can be put forward. Mistakes will, no doubt, be made and difficulties and setbacks are inevitable. But the ruling class, their loyal politicians from both big parties, the armies and police as well as the fascist militias can be confronted and defeated by a serious and determined mass movement that understands that it is the capitalist system that needs to be overthrown and replaced by a system that values human needs not capitalist greed. That system is socialism.

Harry Themba Gwala (1920 - 1995): The Order of Mendi for Bravery in Gold

Harry Themba Gwala (1920 - 1995) Awarded for: Displaying enormous courage and bravery during the struggle against apartheid..

Profile of Harry Themba Gwala

Harry Themba Gwala was born in 1920 in New-Hanover (Kwa Swayimane), near Pietermaritzburg in KwaZulu-Natal. In his later life, he was popularly known as “Munt’omdala” (The Elder) or “The Lion of the Midlands”. After completing his Teacher’s Diploma at Adams College, Amanzimtoti, he taught at Slangspruit, across the Imbali township of Pietermaritzburg.

A son of a Lutheran preacher, he grew up in an environment of poverty. During his time at Adams College, he encountered students who were discussing important political issues of the time, impacting on his political consciousness.

Gwala started teaching in 1941. Some of his students included Moses "Mncane" Mabhida and Agrippa Ngcobo, whom he later recruited to the Communist Party of South Africa (CPSA). Gwala joined the CPSA in 1942 and the African National Congress (ANC) and the ANC Youth League in 1944. In 1948, he was elected to the position of ANC Youth League vice-president in Natal, deputising for Jordaan Ngubane.

In 1943, Gwala attended his first Political Party School organised by the CPSA. The following year, Gwala was asked by the CPSA to quit his profession in teaching to pursue a career in trade unionism. He subsequently resigned from teaching in 1944 to dedicate his life to organising workers into trade unions. He was instrumental in organising workers in the chemical and building industries and founded the Rubber and Cable Workers’ Union in and around Howick.

In 1950, Gwala was one of the organisers of the national stay-away of workers. He was consequently listed under the Suppression of Communism Act in 1952 and was served with a two-year banning order, which limited his movements to the Pietermaritzburg area.

In 1954, Gwala was employed at the Edendale Hospital as a typist in a laboratory, but was dismissed after four years for recruiting hospital workers to become members of the South African Congress of Trade Unions (Sactu). During that period, he organised doctors to strike and was involved in "pound a day" strikes.

After the banning of the ANC in 1960, Gwala became active in the party’s underground activities until his arrest and sentence in 1964 for sabotage and for recruiting members for Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK), the military wing of the ANC. He served eight years on Robben Island and was released in June 1972. After his release, he was restricted to Pietermaritzburg and as a result could not pursue his trade union activities. Gwala started a laundry-collection business as a cover for ongoing ANC underground activities and also to revive Sactu.

Gwala was re-arrested on 13 November 1975. He was sentenced to life imprisonment with nine others and in May 1976 was sent to Robben Island to serve his sentence under the Terrorism Act. In prison, he was known for his tireless political and educational work. Dozens of young political prisoners benefited from his clear and effective thinking skills. He was also an ardent and strident philosopher who believed that everything could be explained in theoretical terms. He read voraciously although he had no academic background. While on Robben Island, he famously used the Bible – the only book provided – to teach communism.

His wife, Elda, passed away in 1984 and he was not allowed to attend her funeral. While in prison, he suffered from a rare neuron disease that left both his arms paralysed and was subsequently released in 1988 due to his poor health. Despite the terrible debilitating effects of the disease, his spirit and commitment were not diminished. He was an electrifying speaker who inspired millions of people, especially the young lions, to join the fight for the liberation of their country.

In 1990, Gwala was elected as the first chairperson of the then unbanned ANC in the Natal Midlands. He became a member of the Internal Leadership Core and in 1991, he was elected to the National Executive Committee of the ANC, in which capacity he served until 1994. In recognition of his outstanding role in the struggle, he was awarded the ANC‘s highest honour, the Isithwalandwe-Seaparankoe Award on 8 January 1992. He was nominated to the South African Communist Party (SACP) Central Committee in 1994, but was suspended in the same year. He nonetheless remained a loyal member of the SACP until his death. After the first democratic election in 1994, Gwala became a member of the KwaZulu-Natal Legislature, where he served as the ANC Chief Whip. He passed away on 20 July 1995. At his funeral, the first president of a democratic South Africa, Nelson Mandela, said of Gwala: "The fact of his disability, as a result of the motor neuron disease he contracted later, did not deter Mphephethwa. Instead, his fortitude increased with each day. To him, the mission of liberation knew no obstacles. When he was released, he again threw himself into the thick of things. It was precisely because of the recognition of Mphephethwa’s tenacity that the African National Congress awarded him its highest honour, Isithwalandwe-Seaparankoe".

Harry Themba Gwala: Lion of the Midlands

Synopsis: Teacher, member of SACTU, SACP and ANC.

Date of Birth: 30 July 1920

Location of Birth: Pietermaritzburg, Natal (now Kwazulu-Natal), South Africa

Date of Death: 20 June 1995

Location of Death: Pietermaritzburg, Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa

Harry (Mphephethwa) Themba Gwala was born on 30 July in 1920 near Piettermarizburg.He was a politician and teacher, Gwala known as Munt'omdala or The Lion of the Midlands, grew up in the Pietermaritzburg area. After completing his teacher's diploma at Adams Colege, Amanzimtoti in 1941, he taught at Slangspruit, in the Pietermaritzburg area. Among his students was Moses Mabhida secretary, who later became a prominent figure among SACP members in exile. Gwala joined the South African Communist Party (SACP) in 1942 and the African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) two years later in Natal. It was during this time that he began organising workers in the chemical and building industries and established the Rubber and Cable Workers” Union in Howick. However, as many of the workers were migrant labourers, it was difficult to maintain permanent structures. In 1950 he was one of the organisers of the national stay-away of workers. He was consequently listed under the Suppression of Communism Act in 1952 and was served a two-year banning order. 

He found employment at the Edendale Hospital, but was dismissed for recruiting hospital workers to become members of the South African Council of Trade Unions (SACTU). After the banning of the ANC in 1960 and again 1963, Gwala became active underground until his arrest in 1964 for sabotage and for recruiting members for Umkontho We Sizwe. He was sent to Robben Island for eight years. He was released in 1972, but was restricted to Pietermaritzburg. As a result he could not pursue his teaching or trade union activities. He then ran a laundry collection business in the area. Despite the restrictions he was subjected to, he remained at the forefront of attempts to revive SACTU, which at the time was dormant, owing to the many detentions and bannings. He was detained again in 1975 and towards the end of 1976 Gwala and a number of other ANC stalwarts were arrested as a result of their involvement in a workers” strike that took place in August of that year. In 1977 he was sentenced to life imprisonment at Robben Island. Gwala became known for his Marxist-Leninist teachings, particularly among the youth while at Robben Island. While he was in prison his wife, Elda, passed away, but he was not allowed to attend the funeral. In the 1980s a motor neuron disease robbed him of the use of his arms, leading to his release from prison in November 1988. 

This disability did not deter him from working for the cause and despite all these hardships he continued to inspire many people in the struggle for democracy, peace and justice. Gwala was elected the first Chairperson of the ANC in the Natal Midlands after the unbanning of the movement in 1990. He became a member of the Internal Leadership Core and in 1991 he was elected to the ANC National Executive, in which capacity he served until 1994. He was nominated to the SACP Central Committee in 1994, but was suspended in the same year. He nonetheless remained a loyal member of the SACP until his death. Gwala was sometimes described as too blunt and too emotional about issues. He was also regarded as a harsh warlord because he was unremittent about when it came to the need to defend people. These negative aspects could, perhaps, be attributed to his single-minded dedication to the struggle. He was a great political teacher who taught generation after generation.

He became known for his teachings at Robben Island, which was often referred to as ”our university”. He introduced members of the younger generation to Marxist theory and communism. 

Among others, he mentored Terror Lekota and William Khanyile of SACTU. He was also an ardent and strident theorist who believed that everything could be explained in theoretical terms. He read voraciously although he had no academic background. At Robben Island he used the Bible - the only book provided - to teach communism. He loved history, both local and international, and hardly ever answered any questions without referring to history. On the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the ANC on 8 January 1992, Gwala was awarded the Isitwalandwe, the highest honour bestowed by the ANC on members for dedication, service and selfless commitment. President Nelson Mandela said in his address at Gwala's funeral that it was ”precisely because of the recognition of Mphephethwa”s tenacity that the ANC awarded him this honour”². After the April 1994 General Election Gwala was nominated as a provincial member of the KwaZulu-Natal legislature, where he also served as Chief ANC Whip. Gwala and his wife had three daughters, Mfana, Linda and Lindiwe.

References

Mseleku, T. 1999. The new dictionary of South Africa biography Volume 2. Vista University, Pretoria.|Gail M. Gerhart, Teresa Barnes, Antony Bugg-Levine, Thomas Karis, Nimrod Mkele .From Protest to Challenge 4-Political Profiles (1882-1990) http://www.jacana.co.za/component/virtuemart/?keyword=from+protest+to+ch... (last accessed 08 January 2019)

You Can`t Win at the Table What You Can`t Win on the Ground - Saluting Centenarian Cde Harry Gwala

30 July 2020

Jenny Schreiner

100 years ago, on 30 July 1920, Thembayakhe Harry Gwala was born in rural KwaSwayimane, south-east of the town of Wartburg. It was in this impoverished community near Pietermaritzburg where he grew up, the son of a lay preacher in the African Congregational Church.  The Great Depression of 1929 had a devastating impact on the price of wattle which had been a source of income for many local families. His father, Philemon, who had been a prosperous peasant, lost his fortune, resulting in his mother Bella having to find employment in New Hanover as a domestic worker.

For the first time, his family had little food and faced poverty. His grandmother, as did many women, used to get up before dawn, walk to the neighbouring white farms with old rags on her feet to protect them, returning after dark, to do what was commonly known as togt labour for the measly wage of about 9 cents a day.

There were no schools in KwaSwayimane, resulting in Cde Gwala attending a Presbyterian Mission School in Mpolweni, 20 kilometres away until standard seven, today’s grade 9. Cde Gwala wanted to become a medical doctor, but when his father died, economic circumstances forced him to leave high school. At the age of 20, characteristically determined, he enrolled at the Adams College, in Amanzimtoti to complete his secondary education and train as a teacher, receiving his teacher’s diploma in 1941. It was here, at a College with a proud history of producing many political leaders, that he encountered the political discussion amongst students that laid the foundation of his political consciousness.

Cde Gwala started his teaching career at Slangspruit, near Edendale in the Pietermaritzburg area, with Moses Mabhida (minus his famous moustache) amongst his students. In 1942, Cde Gwala joined the Communist Party of South Africa (CPSA), and attended his first Party School in 1943. In 1944, the CPSA asked Cde Gwala to quit teaching to dedicate himself to organising workers into trade unions.

In that same year, he joined the African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) and began organising workers in the chemical and building industries and established the Rubber and Cable Workers’ Union in Howick. Many of the workers in Howick were migrant workers, so it was difficult to maintain permanent structures, but he persevered.

In March 1950, the ANC (Transvaal), the CPSA, the Indian Congress and the African People Organisation organised a "Freedom of Speech Convention" in Johannesburg to protest against the Suppression of Communism Bill and a ban imposed on Dr. Yusuf Dadoo and Sam Khan that prohibited them from public speaking. 500 Convention delegates decided on protest marches and meetings to be held across the country, culminating in a national "stay at home" on the 1st May 1950. 

About 10 000 people attended the rally to endorse the Convention’s outcomes. Cde Gwala was one of the organisers of the national stay-away protests on 1 May 1950, in which the police opened fire on the protesters killing 18 and wounding 30 people. Cde Gwala’s commitment and determination to mobilise, educate and organise led to him being listed under the Suppression of Communism Act in 1952 when he was served with a two-year banning order.

By 1954, Cde Gwala was employed as a typist in a laboratory at the Edendale Hospital. True to his unionist background, he recruited hospital workers to become members of unions under the umbrella of the South African Congress of Trade Unions (Sactu) formed in 1955. He organised a doctors’ strike and was involved in the "Pound a Day" strikes. In 1957 Sactu demanded that workers earn one pound a day and launched the “Pound a Day” campaign with pamphlets, mass meetings and demonstrations.

Workers created songs and painted slogans 'We want to have a pound a day' and 'Asinamali - sifunimali' on walls. How relevant as we monitor the implementation of the national minimum wage today, to salute the contribution of Cde Gwala and others a full 63 years ago in the demand for decent wages for workers. In reaction to this organising work, Cde Gwala was dismissed from the hospital in 1958.

Cde Gwala played a leading role, along with Comrades A. S. Chetty, Archie Gumede, Dr C. Motala and D. C. O. Matiwane, in organising the Midlands delegation to Kliptown in 1955 to attend the Congress of the People where delegates from across the country adopted the Freedom Charter.

Cde Gwala was aware of the resuscitation of the Communist Party as early as 1954. But he was only  given direction to start a Marxist discussion group. He was offended by being excluded from the Communist Party. Cde Gwala was suspicious of the influence and the role of Bruno Mtolo and Solomon Mbanjwa who had been recruited to the Communist Party in the 1950s. It was not until 1962 that Gwala re-joined the Communist Party.

Cde Gwala was part of the organising of the All-in Africa Conference in 1962, in a hall which still stands in what is now Imbali, in Pietermaritzburg. This conference was the occasion of the last public speech of “The Black Pimpernel”, Cde Nelson Mandela, before his arrest outside Howick in August 1962.

With the changed form of organising and of political activity after the bannings, Cde Gwala joined the ANC and Umkhonto we Sizwe underground. In 1964, he was arrested, charged and sentenced to 8 years in prison for sabotage and for recruiting members for Umkhonto We Sizwe and imprisoned on Robben Island.

On his release at the end of his sentence in 1972, Cde Gwala was restricted to Pietermaritzburg and prevented from teaching and trade union activities. Cde Gwala’s response was to start a laundry-collection business as a cover for ongoing ANC underground activities and for organising work to revive Sactu which had been badly hit by repression and bannings of its leaders.

Cde Gwala was arrested again on the morning of 30 November 1975, when members of the Special Branch arrested him at his house together with his wife, Elda, for contravention of the Terrorism Act of 1967. They were taken to Loop Street Special Branch section, separated, severely tortured, and kept in solitary confinement.  There were 40 others detained in connection with this case. Cde Gwala and 9 comrades were charged in what became known as the trial of the “Pietermaritzburg Ten”.

In this trial in May 1976, horrendous reports of torture in detention were made. One of the detainees, Cde Joseph Mdluli, an MK operative, died in detention on 19 March 1976 just a day after he was arrested, from injuries sustained during torture at the Security Branch head office in Fischer Street, Durban. Cde Mdluli had been detained on suspicion of recruiting youths for military training outside South Africa. Members of the Security Branch were charged with culpable homicide, but found not guilty. Six of the accused in this case filed a summons against the Minister of Police for not responding to claims for damage as a result of torture.

Cde Gwala alleged that, during a break in his interrogation, Lieutenant Coetzee “walked around like a dog wanting to bite someone’s testicles. The Lieutenant said he would catch hold of my testicles and make me pass faeces.” Colonel Dreyer admitted in court that it was possible that Cde Gwala could have been interrogated for two days without sleep, and Captain Fourie defended interrogating Cde Gwala for a forty-three-hour stretch because of the crisis in the country.

In 1977 Cde Gwala was sentenced to life imprisonment to be served on Robben Island. His wife, Cde Elda, during the trial and thereafter, organised the wives of other prisoners and detainees into support groups, through which the International Defence and Aid Fund (IDAF) and the Dependents Conference were able to support the families of these political prisoners

Undaunted by being back in prison, Cde Gwala put his teaching skills to work and became known for his tireless political and educational work. Dozens of young political prisoners benefited from his clear and effective thinking skills. He was also an ardent and strident philosopher who believed that everything could be explained in theoretical terms. He read voraciously and famously used the Bible – the only book provided to political prisoners on Robben Island in this period – to teach communism and Marxist-Leninism, particularly among the young political prisoners.

In 1984, after a visit to Cde Gwala on Robben Island Cde Elda, died from an asthma attack while still in Gugulethu with her family. Cde Gwala was not allowed to attend the funeral. Cde Gwala was at pains to guide and strengthen his 3 daughters in the period after their mother’s death to make the adjustment and ensure the coherence of the family under the leadership of his daughter Lulu Gwala.

From late 1984, a motor neuron disease started to affect his health, gradually robbing him of the use of his arms, and eventually losing control of his neck muscles. During this time, while attending medical appointments at Groote Schuur, Cde Gwala enrolled with Unisa and pursued further studies. As his condition deteriorated, he applied for permission to have a typewriter, unable to hold a pen. His daughter Lulu initiated a process and campaign to get Cde Gwala released from prison in 1986. 

In 1987, he was transferred from Robben Island to Pietermaritzburg prison and at the end of 1987 given his typewriter. His declining health resulted in him being transferred in May 1988 to Westville prison, which had a prison hospital facility. The Release Mandela Campaign through its Natal machinery campaigned hard and successfully and Cde Gwala was finally released from prison in November 1988.  

Cde Gwala’s disability did not deter him from political activism.

As soon as the ANC and the SACP were unbanned, the raging apartheid-sponsored violence in KZN was intensified even more. Under pretext that buses to IFP areas in Edendale were being stoned, the IFP marauding amabutho supported by police and soldiers unleashed the Seven Day War, from 25 to 31 March 1990. About 200 people died and about 20 000 were displaced in just these 7 days. This IFP state sponsored violence spread to Gauteng and other areas, with amongst others, 21 people killed in the Katlehong massacre in April 992, and 42 Boipatong residents massacred by IFP hostel dwellers under the protection of the police in June 1992. 

Cde Gwala’s analysis of what was portrayed by the apartheid state as “black on black violence” correctly characterised this as the apartheid state’s initiative to dislodge the ANC and the liberation movement as a whole, and to therefore weaken the movement’s ability to engage in negotiations. Cde Gwala argued that “you can’t win at the table what you can’t win on the ground”.

His strong activism in defence of the community, which was manifest both in the Natal Midlands and in his mobilising of communities on the East Rand to stand firm, and his belief that one must meet war with war, earned him the titles of Munt'omdala and “The Lion of the Midlands”. He mobilised for comrades to train self-defence units (SDUs) in those communities under threat of state-sponsored violence. Cde Gwala described how in 1992, they were burying comrades every weekend, reinforcing his scepticism about the negotiation process that had begun in 1990.

Activists in the Natal Midlands, and those who engaged with Cde Gwala in national campaigns, knew him to be an outstanding orator, particularly in isiZulu where his imagery had enormous depth and the quality of his language was extraordinarily excellent. Comrades have described how even in his last years, with his arms disabled, his neck encased in a brace, when Cde Gwala stood up in a meeting, instant silence would descend. Irrespective of whether this was a closed doors ANC meeting, or a mass rally, comrades knew they were going to hear fireworks, passion and incisive analysis.

When the ANC was unbanned, Cde Gwala was appointed interim ANC Chair for the Natal Midlands, and was officially elected to the position in December 1990. In 1991, he was elected to the ANC NEC, having very unsuccessfully contested the position of Deputy President against Cde Walter Sisulu. It was on these platforms that he warned against rapprochement with the IFP. His uncompromising stance and firebrand oratory particularly in the context of the Midlands War, made him popular with the movement's foot soldiers. In recognition of his outstanding role in the struggle, he was awarded the ANC‘s highest honour, the Isithwalandwe-Seaparankoe Award on 8 January 1992. The 1994 election outcome resulted in Cde Gwala taking his seat in the KwaZulu-Natal Legislature where was appointed ANC Chief Whip.

Comrades who served with Cde Gwala on that first Midlands REC, reflect how despite his tendency towards militarism in practice, he emphasised that cadres must be armed to defend the community not just with arms, but with politics. As chair of the REC he held weekly meetings, and not one was without a political education session. One of his favourite texts was Engels on The Origin of the Family Private Property and the State, and over a number of months they would read 10 pages and hold a discussion.

At the 1993 SACP Congress held at Shaft 17 in Soweto, Cde Gwala was elected to the Central Committee. In June 1994, his SACP membership was suspended for six months for "breaching SACP internal party discipline" in his repeated criticisms of Party comrades, and for refusing to submit himself to an internal investigation into his alleged involvement in violence against fellow Party members.

He came to understand that he had been misled by agents who had infiltrated the ANC and had planted information against key comrades in the region. To his credit, he took the steps to meet with the comrades whose lives had been in jeopardy, to apologise and to be reconciled with them. He remained in the SACP until his death from a heart attack in Midlands Medical Centre on 20 June 1995. He was survived by his daughters and grandchildren.

Worth quoting in full given recent statements that portrayed this period differently, the SACP General Secretary, Cde Charles Nqakula said this at the time of Cde Gwala’s death: “I like to believe that the SACP, in this respect, made a very important contribution to the negotiated transition in our country. If we did make such a contribution, it was only because we had comrades of the calibre of Joe Slovo and Harry Gwala who, as communists and loyal ANC members, were prepared to go toe-to-toe against each other in public debate. Neither of them settled into backroom manoeuvres against the other.

“At the beginning of 1994, and with great reluctance, the SACP Central Committee suspended comrade Harry's membership of the Party for six months. There had been serious allegations of sectarian behaviour in the Midlands region, and we had failed to secure comrade Gwala's co-operation in trying to get to the bottom of the allegations.

“Some of the white liberal controlled media presented the suspension as a battle between "doves" and "hawks", "reformers" and "Stalinists" in the SACP. It was nothing of the sort. Our move was not related in the least to comrade Harry's political views.

“A life-time Communist, comrade Harry was deeply hurt by the suspension. But he was also a very proud individual, and so we were pleased, and relieved, when he began to co-operate with us in the latter part of last year. In December 1994, the suspension was lifted, although he did not stand for re-election to the CC in April this year.

“He, like us, had become convinced that, in the war-zone conditions of the Midlands, he had been manipulated by certain individuals with dubious motives. The truth of all of this will, sooner or later, emerge more fully.

“For our part, we are proud that Gwala died a Communist. Hamba kahle, comrade Harry - teacher, tribune of the people, man of steel.”

At Cde Gwala’s funeral, Cde Nelson Mandela, said: "The fact of his disability, as a result of the motor neuron disease he contracted later, did not deter Mphephethwa. Instead, his fortitude increased with each day. To him, the mission of liberation knew no obstacles. When he was released, he again threw himself into the thick of things. It was precisely because of the recognition of Mphephethwa’s tenacity that the African National Congress awarded him its highest honour, Isithwalandwe-Seaparankoe". Madiba also had this to say about Cde Gwala: "Mphephethwa was a great 'political teacher' who taught generation after generation of struggle. Many of today's leaders drank from the deep well of Mphephethwa's political wisdom. But such was the nature of his teaching that the products of his education would themselves develop into political giants in their own right, using the tools he gave them to develop independent thought and analysis."

The grave of Gwala is located at Swayimane, the same rural area where he started his life’s journey 100 years ago. There is a project to have the grave declared a heritage site. Edendale hospital as well as the stadium where professional football is played have been named after him. There are moves to name a park in the middle of Pietermaritzburg after him as recognition in his home area. 

So today, 100 years later, we salute a great political teacher who taught generation after generation, in the classroom, in factories and organisations, in prison and in the undergound, in times of war and times of peace.

Cde Schreiner is an SACP Central Committee and Politburo member and a former MP, Director General, MK combatant and political prisoner 

Tuesday, September 29, 2020

J.R. Johnson (aka, CLR James): On The Negro Question, 6 January 1940

From Socialist Appeal, Vol. IV No. 1, 6 January 1940, p. 3.

Transcribed & marked up by Einde O’Callaghan for the Marxists’ Internet Archive.

The sharecropper was one of the particular darlings of Roosevelt’s fireside chats. He was really the forgotten man. He was at the bottom of the one-third of a nation. How has he fared under the benevolent (in words) rule of the defunct New Deal? Let us hear again from the man on the spot:

“I am afraid it is getting monotonous to write of the nauseating poverty of the cotton sharecroppers, tenants and day laborers. So much has been written about it that it seems that everyone should know all the details. Yet it has to be seen and lived to really understand to what degradation human beings have fallen under the system of landlordism and capitalist exploitation. I found one family of nine with one fork for the whole family. I leave the scene at mealtime to your imagination. For a solid week I did not once get a chance to sit down comfortably simply because the few chairs the croppers posses are generally of the cane seat variety with the seat missing.

“To understand the bitter wrath under the surface of their feelings you must realize that grievances are piling, up because of little economic advantages which croppers used to enjoy are one by one being eliminated. It used to be, for instance, that wood for cooking and heating was free. But the rapid clearing of the land has finally resulted in the cropper having to buy coal. Hunting and fishing used to be counted on to supplement their scanty fare. But fish and game laws and license requirements have stopped a practically free source of food. The landlord seems unconcerned about these things. He stops his croppers from having pigs and chickens for fear that croppers will steal his com for feed. The cropper would be quite willing to grow his own corn but that is not permitted because it would take time away from the cotton crop. The same thing goes for a vegetable garden. And so an accumulation of grievances builds up and makes the cropper eager for the message of unionism as a partial answer to his economic problems ...

“I wonder how those people survive the winter. Pneumonia is bound to get them. Tuberculosis has gotten two of them in the ’Lost Colony’ camp in the last six weeks. The tuberculosis was not contracted in ‘Lost Colony’ camp. It was contracted in their work as sharecroppers, living in houses unfit for habitation and eating food unfit for consumption.”

“No Bosses After Awhile”

Although their state has been getting worse with the general decline of the capitalist system, it is nothing new. What is new is a united attempt among the croppers to fight for something approaching human living standards. The croppers are organizing. Into two unions, the, STFU and the UCAPAWA (the Southern Tenant Farmers Union and the United Cannery, Agricultural, Packing and Allied Workers of America), they are organizing. Black and white, they are organizing.

And in spite of all repressions, they are organizing. When they meet at a cropper’s cabin, there are defense guards posted up and down the road. But the morale is good, whether at a local meeting in a cabin or a district meeting. They begin ordinarily by singing Freedom, their own song, two of the many stanzas of which go as follows:

Oh Freedom, Oh Freedom,

There’ll be freedom after a while,

’Cause before I’ll be a slave

I’ll be buried in my grave,

So there’ll be some freedom after a while.

Boss’ll miss me, Bossl’ll miss me,

Boss’ll miss me after a while,

’Cause before I’ll be a slave

I’ll be buried in my grave,

So there’ll be no bosses after a while.

Watch January 10th

Our correspondent attended the meeting of the leaders of the southeast Missouri locals of the UCAPAWA.

“108 leaders arrived in time for the meeting. Several dozen more didn’t get there because of breakdowns in their dilapidated cars. The camp is from 60 to 140 miles from the cotton district, as a meeting in the cotton district cannot take place in our free country.

“The meeting was for the purpose of instructing leaders as to the correct steps to take in the imminent crisis. Evictees are already being notified to vacate their land by January 1st, which, with ten days’ grace, will mean January 10th. Usually the planters do not give this notice until after Christmas ... They are that kind-hearted. But this year they just can’t wait. Their greed for the government payment, in which the cropper won’t share if the landowner switches to day labor, is so strong that they won’t take a chance on a last minute ruling by the AAA which may upset their plans of getting their mitts on that government check. It is known by now that if the landowner gets the entire AAA check his labor cost for making a cotton crop is entirely absorbed by the government, so that his cotton crop costs the landowner nothing, neither effort nor money. The situation is comparable to the government meeting a factory payroll and permitting the owner of the factory to have the product …”

“This Ain’t Our Government”

“A social explosion may take place on January 10th ... There is no place for these landless, homeless people to go except their 93 acre camp near Poplar Bluff. We are looking for thousands of families to start marching towards the camp. The Chamber of Commerce of Poplar Bluff has already passed a motion refusing them access to their own land, in order to keep them out of ‘their county’.”

Croppers are not yet strong. They are in two unions instead of one. They are opposed by the united strength of reaction. But they are gaining one advantage that must eventually sweep everything before it – the realization of their own strength, the knowledge that they must fight, black and white, together. As one cropper put it:

“This ain’t our government. The sheriff ain’t our sheriff, the governor ain’t our governor, the president ain’t our president. Some day we’ll change that.”