*YCLSA Oupa Phasha District * * *
April 8, 2013 * * *YCLSA Oupa Pasha DEC Statement* * * The Young Communist League of South Africa [uFasimba] in Oupa Phasha District, Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality, Gauteng Province convened a District Executive Committee meeting yesterday. The meeting receive political input from the PEC and a political report from the district. It is a common practice in the YCLSA to analyze developments in the both internally and internationally. * * *The socio-economic character of our district * * * We come from an industrial district of our province and country, which has now been consolidated as Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality. The district is populated by unskilled and semi-skilled sections of our people, majority of who are Blacks and Africans in particular, as well as highly skilled artisans, technicians, engineers and other professions, the composition of who reflect the legacy of colonial and apartheid eras. Whites constitute the top layer and occupy the positions like technicians and professional categories in the pyramid structure of the workplace, and are dominant in management positions. Economic ownership rests largely with them. The high rates of unemployment, poverty and inequality are therefore a specific, racialised and gendered, in the context of patriarchy, facing in particular Blacks. These economic realities are reflected in the many informal settlements in our district, populated mainly by Blacks, and the ivory tower suburbs, populated by whites and a small component of the Blacks. Whatever individuals like Trevor Manuel can say, who suggests we must not blame apartheid for our today’s challenges, reality on the ground is that the legacy of the centuries of wars of conquest and dispossession, colonialism and apartheid remains one of the central determinants of the landscape of our country and the challenges we face. Added to this problem is the dominance of imperialism, through which other countries exert enormous economic influence over our country’s policy direction. The huge economic stakes that these countries have in our economy, with our district as a manufacturing hub, their multinational corporations that are dominant, are non-inconsiderable factors behind our capacity to determine policy in line with our aspirations. *Is Trevor Manuel a lost canon?* Judge for yourself! Through statements such as those made by Manuel, it is interesting to observe that the right-wing and liberal forces such as the Democratic Alliance are coalescing with ultra-left, workerist and populist elements in calling on our people to ignore concrete and objective conditions. The latter are fond of emphasising the instant achievement of the greater goal and vision underpinned by subjective and fraudulent analysis at the ignorance of objective conditions. The former would like us to forget about the past in analysing the present and developing a way forward. The poverty of philosophy is thriving concerning these tendencies. As scientific scholars, we will focus our eyes on the ball. We are convinced that the Communist Party of SA is properly playing its role. It is our view that its detractors will not be happy, including the agent of foreign ideas, the enemy “within”, the one who masquerades as a Party member “in good standing” but moonlights between different organisations, using platforms in those organisations to advance such other activities that are characteristic of a renegade. *Aetropolis* Our municipality has developed or is currently implementing a concept or business idea called Aetropolis in line with other “international norms” and “developments” in so-called developed countries. Considering that our municipality has a history of being a manufacturing sector which was and is still the strength of the district, but has been on the decline over some years now, we believe that in advancing development in the municipality, programmes and economic strategies must respond to de-industrialisation. This Aetropolis is nothing else but a programme to benefit the elite at the expense of the poor and unemployed. This Aetropolis, as it stands, will not in any way address the social and economic challenges faced by the unskilled and semi-skilled, young people who form part of the majority in the district, who are poor and employable but cannot find work because we are wasting the public purse on concepts that smell of a prelude to looting. *The need for leadership stability* Over the years we have seen a phenomenon of reshuffling political heads, i.e. members of the mayoral committee (MMCs), leading to instability and affecting service delivery. We are calling on our movement to take a decisive action in sustaining leadership and building capacity within the municipality. It is our view that if certain leaders are not performing in their deployments, that means, a greater failure is within the broader movement. Issued by YCLSA Oupa Pasha DEC For more information contact: Mandla Matsane YCLSA Oupa Pasha District Secretary Cell: 078 444 6845 -- -- You are subscribed. This footer can help you. Please POST your comments to [email protected] or reply to this message. You can visit the group WEB SITE at http://groups.google.com/group/yclsa-eom-forum for different delivery options, pages, files and membership. To UNSUBSCRIBE, please email [email protected] . You don't have to put anything in the "Subject:" field. You don't have to put anything in the message part. 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