As South African regime is rocked by scandal: Which way forward for the ANC?

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South African officials have denied charges that a "third force" within the government was aiding the conservative Inkatha movement in its armed clashes with supporters of the African National Congress (ANC).

Last month, evdence came to light that government ministers-with access to a $132 million secret slush fund-had supplied money and arms to Inkatha goon squads. President de Klerk himself authorized some of scandal, already dubbed "Inkathagate," talks between the government and Black What will be the effect on the policies of article below gives essential background 16 SOCIALIST ACTION AUGUST 1991 the funding.

The growing has torpedoed organizations. the ANC? The to answer that question.

The recent conference of the African National Congress (ANC), held in Durban July 2-7, was its first in South Africa since being banned over 30 years ago. The meeting, attended by 2244 delegates, marked the organization's passage from an outlawed liberation movement to a recognized "player" in negotiations with the South African govemment.

A large majority of the delegates voted in favor of the negotiations—as a step toward their goal of a democratic, non-racial South Africa.

They also approved a more "flexible" policy toward worldwide anti-apartheid sanctions. Their decision would allow a phased rollback of sanctions as long as the South African regime takes significant steps— such as freeing all political prisoners and ending the violence it has abetted in the Black townships.

Following the conference, South African President F.W. de Klerk said that he welcomed the ANC's new flexibility. He added, "We are in a hurry to get a multiparty conference together to start serious negotiations." This was barely a week, however, before the news of government support to Inkatha, the ANC's conservative rival, broke like a tidal wave over De Klerk's regime. Now the entire project of negotiations has been put on hold.

The international big business media and chiefs of state were also quick to laud the ANC's "new realism." The New York Times, for example, chose to headline the fact that "moderates," led by Nelson Manthe African National Congress (ANC) rally dela, were elected to lead the organization. And President Bush affirmed that he intended to "consult" with Mandela every step of the way—as the U.S. government acts to end its sanctions.

Mandela, however, rejected Bush's overtures. Speaking in Spain on July 23, he said that the efforts of the United States and the European Community to lift their sanctions "have betrayed the cause of the majority of the South African people."

A militant opposition Over 700,000 new members have flooded into the ranks of the ANC since it was legalized a year and a half ago. The new recruits have come from a variety of backgrounds-some from the guerrilla movement in exile, others from the mass organizations and trade unions.

Strong divisions came to the surface during the conference, especially on the questions of sanctions and negotiations. In addition, a number of younger and more militant members spoke out against the "elitist" style and the go-slow policies of the old leadership.

In order to placate the opposition, the ANC's new president, Nelson Mandela, had to choose his words very carefully. "Negotiations do not win our freedom," he said during the closing session, "but represent the recognition of victories we win on the ground."

The congress voted to undertake a campaign of demonstrations, strikes, and boycotts. It also agreed to support the formation of community-controlled Lavet August 1990.

defense groups in the Black townships to counter attacks by police and the conservative Inkatha group.

The response to redbaiting In the last few months (before the "Inkathagate" disclosures), President de Klerk did his best to entice the ANC with prospects of a "closer relationship" with his National Party. He emphasized, however, that the major impediment to a warming of relations was the fact that a majority of the ANC's National Executive Council-both before and after the conference-are members of the South African Communist Party (SACP).

De Klerk knows full well that the Communist Party is no more "revolutionary" than its Stalinist cousins in the bureaucracy of the Soviet Union. But he realizes that the SACP-because of the lack of a mass revolutionary party in South Africa-represents the perspective of "socialism" for many Black working people who are fighting for a better life.

Not long ago, a whole layer of socialistleaning trade-union leaders joined the SACP. They included people with an anti-Stalinist background (such as Moses Mayekiso of the metalworkers), as well as top officers of the COSATU union federation. De Klerk is thirsting to isolate these workers' leaders, while encouraging more "reasonable" people in the ANC leadership to shun the goal of socialism.

Some liberals in the anti-apartheid movement-such as the Rev. Allan Boesak, who was recently accepted into membership in the ANChave also taken part in the red-baiting campaign.

Now it appears that these divide-and-conquer tactics might have had some success. Some ANC leaders, for example, stated that the movement's close relationship with the SACP had helped to retard the ANC's ability to recruit among whites, Indians, and mixed-race people (who are generally more privileged economically than Black Africans).

Finally, in an interview printed in the July 18 edition of the Johannesburg Star, Nelson Mandela said: "The SACP has declared that their cooperation with us is only up to the point of the overthrow of the apartheid state. After that they take their own line," which "we will not follow."

"We won't follow socialism," Mandela concluded. "We've got our own program.' The ANC's "new realism," which has been cheered on by the capitalist media, is hardly new.

In the 1980s, for example, a section of the trade union movement (including Moses Mayekiso in his younger days) emphasized the need for a full program of struggle that—unlike the ANC's founding document, the Freedom Charter-could represent the needs of workers. Also, many trade unionists spoke about the need for. a labor party.

But the ANC refused to make common cause with these militants, viewing the fledgling Black trade unions as its rivals. Instead, it took another road—which was pitted with contradictions.

On the one hand, the ANC has tried to respond to (and give leadership to) the mobilizations of Black people fighting for freedom. On the other hand, it has tried to reach an accommodation with the demands placed upon it by the "liberal" wing of the South African capitalist class and their middle-class apologists.

But this contradictory course is doomed to failure, since the demands of the Black masses—for jobs and a living wage, schools, land, and democracy-and those of the "liberal" capitalists are necessarily counterposed.

It is still too early to gauge the full effects of the "Inkathagate" scandal on the course set by the ANC. But it is clear that the Black freedom movement cannot pursue negotiations with the government in its discredited state, and the ANC has said as much.

Mass actions-such as demonstrations in the streets and stay-aways from workplaces and schools—have come more to the order of the day.

Demands for the government to resign— including De Klerk himself-are" certainly in order. The demand for a constituent assembly (elected according to the principle of one person, one vote) is likewise apropos; one should be convened in order to ensure that future governments will never again be able to resort to such murderous behavior as the De Klerk regime.

It is time now for the ANC to put aside its "new realism" and to act decisively. It must join with the trade unions and other Black organizations to build a new mass movement for freedom.

S. African socialists meet The following is from International Viewpoint, published by the United Secretariat of the Fourth International.

The Workers Organization for Socialist Action (WOSA) held its first national conference May 31-June 2. Attended by over 200 delegates, it marked a significant step forward in the building of an independent socialist organization in South Africa.

Delegates discussed a number of vital issues affecting the broad liberation movement-including the call for a constituent assembly and the violence tearing the townships apart.

Delegates noted that the state, by employing a strategy of reform from above while directing a low-intensity war on the Black population, had forced the mass movement onto the detensive, and the De Klerk regime was thereby seizing the political initiative. The easing of international pressure on the government had also widened its room for manuever.

A resolution was passed calling for a mass united campaign for a constituent assembly.

The conference noted that only the united response of working-class communities can counter this attack; this means building independent, nonsectarian self-defense committees, building peace from below, and avoiding undisciplined and undemocratic actions which could further drive hostel workers into the arms of the Inkatha leadership and other reactionaries.

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