What ails movements in South Africa

Socialism is such a big word it should belong to the people. It should be part of their living politics. But often it belongs to those who want to define themselves as the masters of everything. This is a serious problem because in socialism you can’t think that everything belongs to you. All the people need to be given space. Socialism is not supposed to be like any other political movement. It needs more participation. It does not need those who think that they can decide for the people. Socialism has no racial discrimination, no sexism and no inequality. Everybody is equal.

Socialism and its progress can’t stop merely because someone who thinks he is the master is not there. The people are there all the time to support one another, so socialism must belong to them. Socialism is not about how ‘big’ and good English words one uses. It’s about sharing views irrespective of race. The problems that we all face bond people together as brothers and sisters. Socialism does not need those who are big headed. There can be no kings or queens in the struggle for equality. Everyone has to humble themselves.

Some people have decided to talk two languages, the language of capitalism and the language of socialism. Why are these people begging others to come back to socialism when they are busy enjoying the fruits of capitalism? Why are they talking about socialism when they have spent their time getting rich rather than associating with the struggles of the poor? People sometimes use the shortest way to climb trees. When people want to get somewhere, in parliament or wherever, they use the language of the poor. They know that sometimes the poor trust too much, in such a way that they don’t see the difference between a socialist and a capitalist.

All those who use the poor to define themselves talk a different language once they achieve their aim. There should be no need to ask them to come back to the struggles of those whom they have betrayed. We should only trust those who have never left the struggles of the poor; only those who are constantly with us in our struggles. Let me stop it there, or it might look like I am fighting some big political leaders.

There is a slogan that says: ‘socialism is the future, build it now’. How can the people understand this slogan as a reality? Those who use the slogan are not in the struggles of the poor. In fact, they condemn the struggles of the poor from above. All that this slogan really means is that we should trust the politicians even though things are getting worse and not better.

And how can socialism grow if all the socialist movements decide to stand away from one another instead of coming together to form one strong voice? What I notice is that, if all the socialist movements don't swallow their pride and come into an agreement on how they can work together they won’t pass. If they are continuously reacting, then capitalism will dominate our lives for ever.

Capitalism is such a big giant and the entire capitalist class is together irrespective of political differences. If one tried to fight capitalist thinking, the entire capitalist class would unite to resist. It does not matter if those capitalists came during the apartheid era or afterwards, but they are neoliberals now and their wishes will be the same.

I’m so concerned about the naive thinking of every socialist movement in South Africa, without even choosing one. How can they stop capitalism while they define themselves separately whereas they have the same purpose? The main problem with the social movements is that people are too busy protecting their individual positions rather than seriously looking to find ways to join together to eradicate capitalism. I’m not fighting with the social movements but I have to use harsh words to show my dissatisfaction with their reaction to capitalism.

However, I must appreciate the fact that over the weekend of 13 and 14 August 2011, the Abahlali Mjondolo Movement SA (of KwaZulu-Natal and the Western Cape), the Anti-Privatization Forum, the Landless Peoples Movement in Gauteng and the Rural Network in KwaZulu-Natal met, along with the telephonic participation of the Unemployed Peoples Movement in the Eastern Cape, to discuss my criticism of the divisions amongst socialists in South Africa. Our meeting discussed various strategic ways in which we can build living solidarity and real unity.

Working together as opposed to competing with one another was the dominant theme of the two-day meeting. One of the conclusions was the commitment of the movements to identify one national program in which all of them will participate and to join hands to build a united front against all forms of injustice. If we can unite all the social movements without interference from the NGOs that have always tried to control and divide the movements, it will be a big step forward.

But I think without the support from the working class socialist thinking will never go any further towards becoming a reality. The workers are the ones who can push the ideas of socialism without fearing anything because the wealth of the country belongs to them. The capitalists depend on the workers. It is therefore very disappointing to find that the workers support capitalist thinking. It looks like they are betraying the poor people. Whenever there is a major strike COSATU asks us for support. But when we are facing repression or campaigning on important issues they are nowhere to be found. This is a very sad reality of life in South Africa.

During the time of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) socialism succeeded in making a revolution in Russia because the working class supported the struggles against the Tsarist regime. We all know that that victory soon turned sour because those who wanted to be the masters seized that struggle from the people. The workers and other poor people should have kept control of their struggle after the revolution and insisted that the soviets, not the Communist Party, remain in charge of Russia.

Here in South Africa the workers are aligning themselves with capitalist thinking. So it means there is a need for a strong working class federation which really will support all the struggles of the poor irrespective of their political affiliation. We need trade unions that will support social movements even when they organise outside of the ANC. Some choose to organise outside of the ANC and some are forced by repression to organise outside of the ANC. But either way unions should support the struggles of the poor.

In South Africa there are strong social movements which can drive this country to a better future but their problem is the way that they are handling their problems. Good thinkers decided to join socialist thinking because they know that is where one can express themselves without fear. Can all the social movements find ways to promote the spirit of togetherness and forget about plotting against other comrades? Yes, I know that out there there are some social movements which pretend to work for the people whereas they only need popularity. Some people expose themselves to the public in an attempt to be recognized as the peoples' martyrs.

I really don’t know what we can do because in some instances the true leaders of the struggles of the poor find that, once the political parties notice their capability, they woo them to join the parties. Once they join, they are sternly warned that this is a well known organization with its polices and that one can't just go and express their feelings in the media without the authority of the party. That means the activists who were very strong now have very limited powers. This is one reason why the socialist movements are not growing. There is also another tendency where political parties notice even people like me who are always busy writing articles. They can ask such people to join them but once you are in the party, they are going to control you to ensure you only write articles that favour them.

Also most of the social movements depend a lot on NGOs and those NGOs sometimes make sure that their views are implemented by the movements. This separates movements from their members because direction comes from above and not from below. The movements are weakened. But some NGOs also get their power and money from relations with movements. This is one reason why they try by all means to retain control over movements and to divide them. They try to ban 'their' movements from working with others that are guided from below.

Sometimes if you are in the struggle there may be a need for hasher decisions and some of those decisions will never be accepted by some of the NGOs. But if you want to set yourself free you need to call a stone a stone. It is understandable that some NGOs do not behave like others. Some support the struggles of the people and do not try to control them. But such NGOs are the exception. I know that there are people who will interpret my views badly. But no: comrades, let us face the reality. Let us stop what we are doing. And if you notice that my views are not the same as yours, please let’s find ways to agree to disagree.

Let us stop silly plots and petty betrayals based on race. Let us fight together because the capitalist system does not care about our racial differences. They care about profit, which is why they all support one another to continue exploiting the people. I am aware that some people are really desperate and engage in corruption. I am sorry comrades, but I know the truth is bitter. Now is the time to speak the truth. There is no other way besides facing reality as bitter as it is.

Please let us be wise and think more about the enemy we facing. Let us make sure we all understand that each plot we make against each other will weaken our ability to advance the struggle for socialism.

I also want to warn all those who think that they have a right to make decisions for the people that we are poor but not stupid. We will not allow these people to continue to divide our movements, weaken our struggles and even criminalise them when we try to remain democratic and take direction from our members. Anyone who wants to join the struggle for socialism is welcome but they must accept that power in our movements must remain with the members of our movements and that the movements will take their own decisions. We want comrades, not masters.

If you have some popularity in a struggle, that does not give you the right to become the master of that struggle or even that town. If you are elected to a position, that position is not for life. If you have some education and a job in an NGO, that does not give you the right to become the master of any struggle. Those NGOs that want to control the struggles of the people must learn from the middle class comrades that have joined the struggles of the people,, debating freely in our meetings and not as masters giving instructions from outside. All people must be equal in every step of the way in the struggle for socialism, otherwise even if we defeated capitalism, we would end up with new oppressors.

I would like to encourage meaningful talks among the social movements. I don’t say that people must change the names that they call their movements, but there is a need to understand and to form a real alliance of the poor. Yes, I know that already such alliance exists but the question is how we can make it work for all the people and ensure that all social movements are involved. We really need to put the idea of socialism in the hands of the people. We can't do it if we are not united.

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* Lindela S. Figlan (Jama kaS’jadu) is a former Abahlali baseMjondolo vice-president.
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