New socialist group in South Africa WOSA will fight against apartheid and capitalism

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"WOSA's aim is to seek regroupment. We expect it to involve socialists from all currents. We believe it will be around a socialist program."

SOCIALIST ACTION MARCH 1991 7 In mid-February, Socialist Action interviewed three leaders of the Workers Organization for Socialist Action (WOSA) of South Africa during the 13th World Congress of the Fourth International, an international socialist organization. Robert, Joseph, and Jackson (not their actual names) discussed the origins of WOSA and the political situation in South Africa today.

WOSA was founded in Cape Town, South Africa, on April 14-15, 1990. It brought together socialists from the Cape Action League, Action Youth, Students of Young Azania, and many individuals from across South Africa. Accompanying this article is an interview with the leadership of the organization, and an editorial reprinted from Workers' Voice, WOSA's magazine.

Robert explained that WOSA "was established to press the socialist perspective against the stagist view of the South African Communist Party." This view of the SACP, he explained, advocates a strategy of negotiations with the Nationalist Party white government to bring about a "national democratic state" in South Africa.

"After the national democratic state is created, according to the SACP, the struggle against capitalism would begin," Robert added. "But South Africa is a capitalist state built by the labor of Blacks. The struggle to root out apartheid is a combined one against racial capitalism."

The stagist conception of the Southi African revolution lies behind the strategic alliance of the African National Congress (ANC) with the SACP. The ANC, according to the SACP, will lead the first phase of the struggle which will not necessarily lead to the smashing of the apartheid-capitalist state. The current strategy of the ANC thus is more and more one of a fight for a peaceful transfer of governmental power to the Black majority while the white economic monopoly is not seriously challenged.

Politics of negotiations

"The politics of negotiations practiced by the ANC," Joseph explained, "has the aim of strengthening the ANC among the South African people as they seek their goal of a national democratic state. This state they see coming into existence peacefully if possible."

Nelson Mandela, the central leader of the ANC, in fact stated the main purpose of the armed struggle launched by the ANC until its suspension last year was to bring the South African government to the negotiating table. The ANC, from its formation nearly 80 years ago, attempted a peaceful transformation of South Africa. Its Freedom Charter adopted in 1955 had the same aim. But it was the massive repression of the whiteruled government that led to the picking up of arms in the 1960s.

As the mass movement developed in the 1970s and 1980s, when the ANC was still in decline and primarily organized as an exiled organization, it shifted its rhetoric. In the 1984-86 period it even talked about insurrection, making the country ungovernable.

Once Mandela was released from prison, however, the possibility of direct talks with the white government led to a shift by the ANC. Many of the youth are upset by the change. They don't see freedom coming from concessions won through talks with the white government.

Combined revolution

WOSA, on the other hand, rejects the idea that the Black majority can win true freedom Paul Weinberg under any form of capitalism. Both apartheid and capitalism—which in South Africa are intimately connected-must be replaced by socialism.

"To win national liberation," Robert said, "our fight must be against national oppression and capitalism. The national movement must be led by the Black working class. It will not only fight racism but class exploitation. It will be a permanent revolution."

WOSA puts forward a Program of Action to advance its perspectives in the liberation movement. WOSA does not reject negotiations in principle. The issue is: negotiations for what purpose?

"We are for the establishment of a Constituent Assembly based on one person, one vote with no special rights for the white minority," said Joseph. "We are for a gathering of the oppressed. We say all liberation forces must join together and no one group can proclaim itself speaking for all the iest."

WOSA, Robert added, advocates building a broad-based socialist working-class rovement to fight for an end to apartheid-capitalism and for the establishment of a workers state.

Robert referred to a resolution adopted by their founding conference on WOSA's response to the ANC's strategy of negotiations. Two of the non-negotiable demands raised by WOSA are: "agrarian reform that allows distribution and the nationalization of the big landholdings," and "the nationalization of the banks and mines."

Joseph pointed out that the question of nationalization is now a thorn in the ANC's side. "While we consider the Freedom Charter inadequate, we support its plank on nationalization. We raise it. Many of them don't like it anymore." he added.

In fact, many of the ANC top leaders, including Nelson Mandela, have publicly questioned the Freedom Charter's plank that states: "The mineral wealth beneath the soil, the banks and the monopoly industry shall be transferred to the ownership of the people as a whole." During his tour of the Unitud States last year, Mandela talked of a "mixed economy" and said a modification of the Freedom Charter demand on nationalization is possible.

Recently the Center for Development Studies, a think tank sympathetic to the ANC at the mixed-race University of the Western Cape, prepared a position paper that even went further. The paper raised that nationalization was "not a simple, clear-cut issue." There are positive and negative features to nationalization, the paper said. It said nationalization could increase the national debt without creating jobs.

Moreover, the paper stated, nationalization could drive away many of the skilled professionals and foreign investors and thus end up benefiting few people. Since most of the skilled people currently in South Africa are whites, and foreign investors are from the big imperialist corporations, the appeal is obvious: a "free" South Africa should not rock the capitalist economy.

While the ANC has not yet formally dropped its call for nationalization, such a position paper is being floated to begin preparing the rank and file for a radical change in line.

Robert noted that the ANC already faces a growing problem with many of its young supporters and those in trade unions. Many are pro-socialist and want no compromises with the white government. "Divisions in the ANC are real," he said. "Most of the youth opposed suspension of the armed struggle. They understand well that the South African army is the strongest on the continent. It will not give up power peacefully."

WOSA's aim

"WOSA's aim," he continued, "is to seek regroupment. We expect it to involve socialists from all currents. We believe it will be around a socialist program. Our policy is one of united front against violence and to take advantage of the democratic openings as a result of the current situation."

"WOSA," Joseph added, "is only a beginning. It is a revolutionary socialist organization, not Trotskyist. But we do stand on the program of Permanent Revolution.

"Over 90 percent of our 500 members are Black. We stand on the Workers Charter which we see as not counterposed to the Freedom Charter. But as an advance; it is our transitional program.

"Our influence is greater than our size," he continued. "We work in all the major trade unions and have a united front approach toward the other liberation organizations including the ANC and SACP, who have be(continued on page 10)

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AKE DONE, SOCIALIST ACTION The following is an interview with the central leadership of the Workers Organization for Socialist Action (WOSA). It is reprinted from the August 1990 issue of Workers' Voice, WOSA's quarterly magazine.

Why was WOSA formed at this point in the struggle?

WOSA was formed to take forward working class politics. The revival of the mass movement after it was crushed in the wake of the Sharpeville massacre; the 1973 workers revolts in Durban which ushered in the modern workers movement; all of this has put independent working class politics firmly on the agenda of our struggle.

Tremendous gains have been made over the struggle itself. WOSA hopes that it can gain influence in the workers movement not by substituting for the working class.

We do not proclaim that we have all the answers and denounce those we disagree with. We will patiently but resolutely argue our politics before the workers, defend their struggles and attempt to lead them in a direction that strengthens them. It is inevitable that WOSA and the SACP will compete for the allegiance of the working class to their different policies and programs.

The SACP has, as a result of its alliance with ANC, its support (material as well as moral) for the armed struggle, and its relationship with the heirs of the great Russian Revolution, won tremendous popular support. As such the SACP plays an important role in our struggle: WOSA the trade unions, civics and youth organizations are influenced by these mass political organizations.

We believe that by taking our politics into the mass organizations, by arguing for a socialist perspective while urging mass struggles forward, we will be able to win many workers to revolutionary socialism.

However, to do that we obviously need to have a clear perspective or program, as well as an independent banner to rally the workers to. We do not wish to end up confusing the workers and sowing illusions by hiding behind the banners of the nationalist organizations who don't have a socialist program.

What's meant by independence?

Workers play a very special role in capitallivering the central demand of our struggle; i.e., full and equal democratic rights for all. This will amount to a handing over of the power to the majority which the government is dead against.

For the government, the strategy of negotiations represents a decisive initiative to win the time and space to extract itself from the economic, social and political crisis that the system of apartheid is in.

Although the regime faces a deep economic crisis which makes it vulnerable to international pressure, power is firmly entrenched in their hands. State institutions rest on the military, police, and the electoral support of the majority of the whites. This the government is still able to rely on.

While the government is prepared to get rid of most of the racial laws on the statute books, such as the Group Areas Act and even the Populations Registration Act, they are not ready to hand over power to the majority.

The government could reintegrate the bantustans into South Atrica and may even formally introduce some form of universal franchise. However the government will not grant majority rule. They will insist on some form of minority rights or veto [power] for the whites. This is necessary to ensure not only that the economic wealth remains in the hands of the small minority of whites, but also that material privileges are maintained for whites as a whole.

If the NP [Nationalist Party] is not going to break its pact with the white electorate, it follows that negotiations between the ANC and the government will not deliver a unitary, non-racial democratic South Africa in the current period.

WOSA absolutely rejects any settlement which offers "universal franchise" (as proposed by de Klerk) whilst still maintaining white privilege in any form. We support unconditionally the demand for one person one vote in a unitary non-racial South Africa/Azania.

Further than that, only when ownership and democratic control of the wealth of our society is in the hands of the majority, can we tackle the fundamental problems of poverty and social inequality for all.

But historical experience shows that the owners and controllers of wealth do not "negotiate" away their ruling position. The majority must seize back the wealth they have created. We stand a long way from this situation and therefore believe in maximum discussion and debate and a democratic process of decision-making on all items negotiated in the name of the people of

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See Interview with WOSA leadership on page 8.