Each One Must Teach One

Transcription

1 Vol 3 No September 2007 Each One Must Teach One In assuming our respective positions in the broader scheme of things, we must espouse an attitude steeped in collectivism and responsible behaviour that adds rather than subtract from our efforts. We should consistently be conscious of the obligations placed upon us as custodians of youth policy in the country. AS WE CONTINUE ON OUR MARCH towards a truly emancipated society, we remain conscious of our collective obligation to build sustainable foundations for future generations. Indeed, we have made significant progress in building a South African nation premised on the values of the Freedom Charter during our first decade of freedom. Not to acknowledge these would be foolish and hypocritical. Notwithstanding, much still needs to be done. We have often called for robust and honest engagement by South Africans on all issues affecting them. This is the value system the ANC fought for, and which we must defend with everything we have. The policy debates currently unfolding within the ANC which will culminate in resolutions at the National Conference in Limpopo presents us with the necessary space to engage robustly and craft our own future. For South Africa s youth, the twin challenges that must be tackled at all costs are the HIV/AIDS pandemic and education. We have yet to reach a stage where we can confidently declare that we are making headway on both fronts, but that day is yet to come. At our last congress, we resolved to find innovative solutions that will enable behaviour change amongst our youth so we can achieve a zero percentum new infection rate by This may seem daunting at face value, but is not impossible to achieve if we act in concert and mobilise our collective will towards this reality. It is equally true that the state does not have all the answers, neither can it singlehandedly make dramatic advances in the fight against this pandemic without intimate collaboration with civil society at large. Without this collaboration, no matter how wonderful government policy on HIV/AIDS is, its impact will remain insignificant. This is the gospel truth we must all internalise and an approach we must embrace in the implementation of public policy. The ANCYL remains committed to working with all organs of state, organs of civil society and the citizenry at large to secure a lasting legacy for future generations. Our education system remains the most pervasive challenge yet. We have watched with serious concern at the quality of what our schooling system produces. Not only should the schooling system produce learners with knowledge and skill to tackle the world, but patriotic citizens who are well schooled in the nation s history and its diverse cultural heritage, who believe in their country. Is our education system in its current form poised to deliver this calibre of a citizen? We think not. While it is important to advance initiatives such as the Joint Initiative on Priority Skills

2 for South Africa (JIPSA), its sustainability is dependent on the ability of the education system to churn out the requisite skills at a rapid rate. For as long as the education system fails to respond to the demands of the economy in producing the requisite skills, we will remain trapped in the twilight zone lamenting scarce skills. It is time we broke away from routine and looked at innovative solutions. We will not be doing justice if we failed to acknowledge the tremendous strides that have been made in the skills development arena. However, such strides are not enough to place us on a sustainable path towards the resolution of the skills challenge. Our intentions have always been noble in our approaches as a nation, but they have not always yielded the required results at the required pace. In assuming our respective positions in the broader scheme of things, we must espouse an attitude steeped in collectivism and responsible behaviour that adds rather than subtract from our efforts. We should consistently be conscious of the obligations placed upon us as custodians of youth policy in the country. We similarly expect of organisations like SASCO and COSAS not only to become champions in the transformation of our education system such that it is fully responsive to our national imperatives and ideals, but also to act in a manner that advances this struggle in a progressive way. The interdict against COSAS granted by the Johannesburg High Court is instructive and raises a serious issue regarding the tactics we employ in ensuring that the learners do not become unwitting victims of political developments. Whether such developments characterise themselves through industrial action or political turmoil as we have witnessed in Khutsong, is a moot point. We therefore throw the challenge both at SASCO and COSAS to join us at mapping out a strategy that will have a lasting impact on our struggle towards a free, quality education. We must re-examine our tactical approaches and ensure that our education system empowers both the learner and the teacher. If we fail to make sufficient investment in our educators, everything else we do is doomed to fail. The COSAS slogan, each one teach one, must consistently inspire us to grasp beyond our reach and build a proud, literate and patriotic nation. Fikile Mbalula PRESIDENT: ANCYL 2

3 VIEWPOINT *VUYO MHAGA Black Burgeoisie No Enemy of The NDR THIS ARTICLE IS A RESPONSE TO THE VIEWPOINT ARTICLE BY DAVID MASONDO The author fails to appreciate that the terrain of struggle has shifted therefore new tactics are required, merely attaching a label to the enemy is not enough, but how do you engage it to achieve what you want. This is and this must be the area of our intellectual and political focus rather than throwing stones of insult to white monopoly capital in the hope that it will disappear. PERHAPS WE SHOULD START FROM THE BEGINNING by asking what is the strategic objective of the NDR? The strategy and tactics as amended at the 50 th National Conference of the ANC in December 1997 says the strategic objective of the NDR is the creation of a united, non-racial, non-sexist and democratic South Africa. the creation of a new society will not eliminate the basic antagonism between capital and labor. Neither will it eradicate the disparate and sometimes contradictory interests that some of the motive forces of the NDR pursue. These secondary contradictions among the motive forces are inherent to the NDR, and properly managed, they can serve as a source of its advancement. Our task as the ANC, the task of the NDR, is to eliminate the basic causes of the national grievance wherever and in whatever form they manifest themselves, and to manage the multitude of contradictions within society in the interest of this objective. Indeed, as we succeed in doing so, new social dynamics will play themselves out, redefining the challenges of the given moment as well as the political permutations that are consonant with these new challenges. Socialism and Nationalization of the basic wealth of a country are not synonymous terms. The charter does not advocate the abolition of private enterprise, nor is it suggested that all industries be nationalized or all trade be controlled by the state. All people shall have the right to trade where they choose, to manufacture and to enter all trades, crafts and professions says the charter. Taken from the article published in Sechaba on 17 November1957. The ANC clearly aware of these contradictions, never attempted to resolve them, neither in 1955 in Kliptown nor in 1997 in Mafikeng. The briefing notes on the outcome of December 2002 national conference resolved about economic transformation objectives and strategies. The ANC has set the following objectives for economic policy: Promoting equity in the ownership of productive assets, as well as access to skills and infrastructure in order to empower Africans in particular, black people in general and women, youth and the poor. Support for small businesses, including through land reform and providing them with basic infrastructure. The organization of the people made these promises amongst others. Job creation and increased investment, broad-based Black Economic Empowerment and skills development Vision 2014 in our Manifesto goes like this Reduce unemployment by half through new jobs, skills development, and assistance to small business, opportunities for selfemployment and sustainable community livelihoods. I mention all these important gatherings that took these resolutions not because I do not believe the author is aware of them, rather to draw his attention so that he can assist us at what point were these resolutions wrong, or what necessitate their review. 3

4 Maybe I must start engaging the author on the issues he is raising but I must first clarify that I do not disagree entirely of what he is saying but have different views about some issues he raises or his failure to substantiate issues he raises. I get confused when the author says Black Bourgeoisie in South Africa is interested in fighting oppression and is also interested in the exploitation. It will fight national and gender oppression against white monopoly capital but defend capitalism. The new junior lumpen-bourgeoisie cannot be part of the motive forces against white monopoly capital. They cannot fight their masters. This is one of my dilemmas that I would like the author to clarify me. One hand he say Black Bourgeoisie will fight national and gender oppression against white monopoly capital but at the same time he says these black bourgeoisie cannot fight their masters. I will appreciate if the author can tell us SIZOSA EYIPHI KOMKHULU (Which version must we believe). The author farther tells us that The Freedom Charter's conception of the negation of white monopoly is not about restoration of competitive capitalism of Adam Smith's era I pulled one of the clauses of the freedom charter as written and analyzed in our movements publication and it says All people shall have the right to trade where they choose, to manufacture and to enter all trades, crafts and professions says the charter. Taken from the article published in Sechaba on 17 November1957. If I have a right to trade to manufacture and to enter all trades will competition disappear because I will have the sole right to trade, maybe the author might care to tell us what he means when he says the conception of the charter is not about the restoration of competitive capitalism of Adam Smith. The author does not tell us how we must fight white monopoly capital which I agree is the enemy of the people, he is silent on the tools that we must employ to fight this people s enemy, instead he just jumps and contradict himself by being emotional around the issue of Black bourgeoisie. In the last decade of our democracy, there has been more unity, than a struggle of the opposite between the state and white monopoly capital. This unity has significantly benefited white monopoly. The author does not tell us if this unity is it a tactic to achieve unemployment or is a permanent unity. He fails to appreciate that the terrain of struggle has shifted therefore new tactics are required, merely attaching a label to the enemy is not enough, but how do you engage it to achieve what you want. This is and this must be the area of our intellectual and political focus rather than throwing stones of insult to white monopoly capital in a hope that they will disappear. We must all of us invest great deal of intellectualism in finding solutions to this enemy of the people. Emotional engagement is not going to assist us. Black bourgeoisie cannot be just labeled as against the enemy but at the same time be labeled to be with the enemy as the author confuses us. The ANC in Mafikeng has this to say about Black Capitalist The achievement of democracy in 1994 has seen the dramatic, if still exceedingly limited, emergence of the black capitalist group. This group is in most respects a product of democratic change, a direct creation of the NDR. The continued advancement of the revolution, particularly the necessary de-racialisation of ownership and control of wealth and income, is in their objective interest. In this sense they are part of the motive forces, with great potential to play a critical role in changing the structure of the South African economy: developing national forces of production in line with the character of the national democratic society including an extensive manufacturing base, research and development, local economic development, jobcreation, skills development as well as national and continental economic integration. What ANC tells us is black lumpen-bourgeoisie cannot be the enemies of the NDR, finish and klaar as suggested by our author. Unfortunately in our country we have the national question, gender question as well as class question. As we engage with this discussion we must not be short-sighted we are required by the nation to analyze the phase we are in, in terms of our Revolution. Instead of finish and Klaar we need to ask how do we relate or subject the Black Capitalist to be under the broader objective of our movement. Or are we going to carry on like the author when he suggest as he says that, as the NDR tries to deal with the national question black capitalist will be created and as soon as we create them we must declare a war against them, be short sighted on the fact that it is also in their interest to see white monopoly capital being destroyed. The fact of the matter is that currently the NDR is producing the Black Capitalist how we engage with them is the finish and Klaar conclusion we want not insinuation that the Charter or at some point we pointed that Black Capitalist was the enemy at least from an ANC perspective. I wish to rehash that the strategic objective of the NDR is the creation of a united, non-racial, non-sexist and democratic South Africa. The ANC has not forgotten to further say classless society. As the President of the ANC 4

5 correctly reminded us when he opened the policy conference in Midrand that the ANC does not seek to have a classless society that is the terrain of the Party. So we cannot characterize black capitalist as the enemy of the NDR at least from an ANC perspective. ANC espouses African Nationalism, NDISATSHAYA *Vuyo Mhaga is a member of the Mahlambandlopfu Branch of the ANC Youth League This newsletter is also available in PDF from the ANCYL web site at: 5