PHATSE JUSTICE PIITSO
My conversation with you is not the last but the first of a series, it is also not the titan of them all, but a continuation of the battle of ideas, which you and I, and many of our comrades and friends across our country, have over the years cultivated into a tradition.
The gratitude of this conversation is all about who we are and what we want to be. It is about our determination to be true apostles of our revered culture and traditions, and of achieving the objectives of our revolutionary struggle.
I refer to the gratitude of the robust moments of our times, as we continue to share our common aspirations, for the fulfilment of this noble objective.
What is really inspiring to me is how we have chosen to embrace the strength of our differences on a wide range of fundamental issues, and therefore to build on a solid foundation of a tradition of debate, to find solutions for the prevailing material conditions of our time.
I am writing this letter, deeply worried about the unfolding political and socio-economic manifestations in our country. My insight is that our national democratic revolution is on the brink of catastrophe.
The sorry state of affairs within the ranks of our movement and the difficult socio-economic conditions facing our people bear testimony. Our revolution is going through very turbulent waters, and it is a litmus test.
Our beloved liberation movement is steadily becoming unable to demonstrate its resilience to adapt to the new realities of our transition to democracy. I will say it is true that empires and civilisations contain the seeds of their own destruction.
For over a century, the people of our country entrusted the leadership of our movement with the political responsibility to steer forward our struggle. They were confident that we are the only movement, capable of carrying their interests and aspirations to their logical conclusion.
Our forebears have distinguished themselves in shaping up to the high demands of this task. They were unwavering in their determination to free our people from the yoke of imperialism and apartheid’s colonial subjugation. They did so with great resolve and a strong sense of purpose.
The principal question becomes what is to be done in order to salvage the current situation. For that, we need a greater understanding of the complex nature of the tasks at hand.
Philosophers have written thousands of manuscripts and fascinating episodes about the important question of the evolution of human society, its past and present. They have also written volumes of untold episodes about how mother earth has been turned into a graveyard of great empires and civilizations, as they rise and fall.
Generations have gathered knowledge and wisdom about how empires and civilisations began. What remains before our eyes is how history judges their legacy, as many are no more there.
The imperialist empire continues to wage a savage war against the majority of the people of the world. Obliterating millions of people to the dungeons of poverty and inequality.
The question we must all ask ourselves is whether we are on the same page. Whether we appreciate its necessity to contribute towards the revolutionary task of society.
I refer to the revolutionary pathways of our people to transform the socio-economic relations of our society based on the values of peace and solidarity, of a non-racial, non-sexist, democratic and prosperous world of humanity.
Great empires and civilisations are not conquered from without until they have destroyed themselves from within. This was also the insight of the longest serving President of the ANC, comrade OR Tambo when he said that no one will be able to destroy the ANC, but the ANC itself.
Monopoly capitalism and the sections of the petty bourgeoisie have unleashed the lumpenproletariat, to undermine the fabric of our revolution – the hustlers who have elected to sell the soul of our movement to the highest bidder.
Vladimir Lenin refers to such a category of people as social chauvinists within the ranks of the working class – a section of the working class, bribed to assist the bourgeoisie to plunder and oppress the weak.
Many have joined the chorus calling for unity and renewal of the African National Congress. This has become a catchword of the movement across the spectrum.
We cannot achieve this task of unity and renewal of the ANC, if we cannot at the same time, renew the other Alliance partners. This is the only way to follow if we are indeed serious about rejuvenating our national democratic revolution.
We need the renewal of the ANC, SACP, Cosatu, Sanco and the mass democratic movement in order to confront our challenges. But do we have the capacity to renew themselves?
Where is the vanguard party of the working class, led by the most advanced elements in society?
Our revolution has lost the trust of its main bedrock, the industrial proletariat. This has a far-reaching reflection on the weakness of our democratic movement.
The organised trade union formations are gradually losing the strength and glory of their former selves. We need a robust debate about the growing phenomenon of elevating public sector unions at the expense of industrial trade unions.
We need to build a stronger mass-based civic movement capable of taking on the immediate challenges facing our people.
This is important because the principal question still remains to be the resolution of the primary contradiction between the interests of the overwhelming majority of the people and the interests of the forces of imperialism and neo-colonialism. This is the context in which to understand the difficult task of unity and the renewal of our liberation movement.
This is a sacred revolutionary task arising out of our political consciousnes. It is about the culture and traditions of our revolution, party building and discipline, democratic centralism, criticism and self-criticism, fighting corruption in all its manifestations, and building a true cadre of our revolution.
We can learn from the great leader of the struggle of the people of the world, the founding father of the great Vietnamese nation, Comrade President Ho Chi Minh, from his exemplary pioneering virtues of revolutionary morality, party building and discipline?
Ho Chi Minh says that making a revolution to transform the old society into a new one is a glorious career, but is also a very heavy task, a complex and arduous long struggle.
He says if you have revolutionary morality, you will face difficulties when you encounter problems, hardships and failure, but you will not have fear and timidity, and you will not retreat. Revolutionaries still maintain the spirit of understanding hardship and living with simplicity and humility.
He defines revolutionary morality to be like a river which must have a source, without which, the river will run dry; a tree which must have its roots, and if not, will wither.
His understanding is that a revolution is a career of serving the people and not a career of any individual or hero. Without the people, regardless of how easy and small the task is, it can not be completed, and with the people, regardless of how difficult the task is, it will be completed.
According to his teachings, individualism is the ally of the empire, a very poisonous germ, posing hundreds of dangerous diseases such as factions, subjectivity, bureaucratic orders, corruption, greed for fame, profiteers, status loving and power and collective contempt.
He advised the youth of his country not to be greedy for positions and money, but to be greedy for happiness. He taught them that luminosity is righteous and it never corrupts.
He emphasised the need for a rigorous political education for his people.
This is obviously a difficult task which needs difficult decisions. All that we have to do is to ensure that the destiny of our civilisation does not become the same as those before us.
I have a growing sense that our revolution is in the hands of the enemy. That is the reason why it is gravitating toward becoming moribund.
The renewal of the ANC is about the renewal of the entire democratic movement, it is about the renewal of our revolutionary project for transformation, it is about the renewal of our National Democratic Revolution, and our society.
Ambassador Phatse Justice Piitso is a member of the ANC writing this open letter in his personal capacity
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