South African Communist Party
10 December 2021 The South African Communist Party (SACP) in the Western Cape held its last virtual Augmented Provincial Working Committee (A-PWC) meeting for this year on 9 December 2021. The A-PWC met shortly after the Central Committee meeting that sat over the past weekend and drew strength from the rich analytical perspectives derived from that organ of our Party. The A-PWC noted the country is in the midst of the 16 Days of No Violence Against Women and Children and appeals to men in particular to be on the frontline in the fight against patriarchy and abusive practices. As we enter the festive season, we also appeal to young men to act responsibly to raise awareness against abuse of women instead of perpetuating gender based violence. Further, the A-PWC expressed concern about the emergence of the new Covid-19 variant, Omicron, which is said to be more prevalent amongst the youth. We wish to urge the youth to exercise extreme caution and continue to practice the non-pharmaceutical interventions to prevent the spread of Covid-19 as they will be enjoying the festivities during the holidays. The risks associated with the spread of the virus and impending fourth wave are too ghastly to contemplate in terms of the health system and the economy. Therefore, we must all be vigilant and be on the frontline in protecting life and livelihoods. Accordingly, the A-PWC wishes all citizens of the Western Cape province safe travels to their respective destinations for holidays and further a restful festive season. NUM march against privatisation of Eskom and strengthening of labour inspectorate The A-PWC had the privilege to engage with the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) regarding the essence of the planned march to Eskom and the Department of Employment and Labour. The A-PWC engaged with the NUM on substantive strategic questions regarding just transition in the energy space as well as demands against privatisation of Eskom. Another strategic imperative of the march is the challenge of inaccessibility of the offices of the Department of Labour and Employment in the rural parts of the province, and the ineffective health and safety inspectorate. Therefore, the SACP fully supports the genuine NUM demands to fight against privatisation of Eskom as well as capacitation and improvement of the inspectorate to protect vulnerable workers. The SACP in the Western Cape commits to march side by side with this giant militant industrial union on Saturday, 11 December 2021 from NUM Offices to Eskom Offices, Bellville. The SACP approaches the complex concerns about energy on the understanding that energy security is a precondition for accelerated socio-economic development underpinned by prescripts of COP 26 in particular reduction of carbon emissions to mitigate dangers posed by global warming. Therefore, South Africa must safeguard the entity, pursue its energy mix policy and develop an approach suitable to our realities rather than capitulate to private interests or bullying by Western powers. Decisive action must be taken to rescue the movement The priority focus of the A-PWC was primarily to conduct an analysis of the aftermath of the local government elections and its implications for the working class in the Western Cape. The elections outcome paints a bleak picture confronting the working class as we have to contend with debilitating service delivery and perpetuation of racialised service delivery patterns. The A-PWC expressed grave concern at the increasing levels of apathy amongst the youth strata, in particular, as reflected on the voter turn-out. The consequence of low voter turn-out manifests in the emergence of many hung municipalities and therefore minority coalitions. Contrary to opinions of some analysts that claim that minority…
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SACP Western Cape Post Augmented Provincial Working Committee Statement