New Age2.png
Reaching out to the youth Interview with Yershen Pillay Shaun Mpshe, The New Age, Johannesburg, 17 December 2014 With the conclusion of the four-day Young Communist League (YCL) national conference on Sunday, resolutions were agreed upon and the new leadership of the youth wing of the South African Communist Party (SACP) emerged. Its theme was Intensifying Youth Mobilisation for Socialism. Hundreds of young communists from all levels of the organisation descended on the University of Western Cape to examine progress made since its 2010, third national conference held at Mafikeng, and to map the way forward. However, the question that has been making the rounds is whether socialism is still relevant in the contemporary global political economy, particularly since the decline of the system in Central and Eastern Europe and elsewhere, as well as the demise of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s and the resultant "victory" of capitalism. The key questions also included the elusive link between SACP and YLC policies with those of the ANC, which has been accused by leftists of protecting "white monopoly capital"; the struggle for unity within COSATU, with the expulsion of NUMSA still contested; the threat of the EFF and the recently formed United Front, and the YCL recruitment strategies going forward. With such questions occupying everyone's minds, I posed them in an interview with the newly elected YCL national chairperson and also chair of the National Youth Development Agency, Yershen Pillay. The pursuit of socialism is "more relevant than ever before," Pillay said. "The global capitalist system is in crisis as the commodity super cycles come to an end and countries such as the US implement quantitative easing policies by printing 'virtual' or hot money, leading to massive disinvestment out of emerging economies and into more developed capitalist economies." he said. "The world is experiencing the worst global capitalist crisis since the great depression in the US and is the primary cause for rising inequality, deepening poverty and structural unemployment." The present system, according to Pillay, is inherently unsustainable because "basic needs cannot be met as profits take precedence over people and the planet". Pillay maintains that this forms the basis of their alliance with the ruling party. "The role of the SACP and its young wing, the YCLSA, has always been to influence the broad church, that is the ANC, towards adopting leftist-leaning laws and policies that would benefit the working class masses who are in the majority," he said. The policies and programmes of the YCL are in accordance with the ANC's continued drive to address the social issues facing the majority of citizens. One such policy is the National Health Insurance Fund, which the youth wing has persistently supported, according to the chairperson. "We have always called for free, quality and relevant health and education. "The ANC itself is working towards the implementation of free, quality, relevant education up to the undergraduate level," he said. He said the ANC planned on further developing "the cooperative economy which the YCLSA has prioritised in its own policies". These, among others, are testament to the overall importance of the alliance between the SACP, the ANC and COSATU in addressing the socioeconomic needs of the citizens across the country, according to Pillay. With the recent expulsion of the largest union in COSATU, NUMSA, Pillay said in fostering unity within the federation unity must not be aimed at protecting "the private wealth and privilege of a few. It must be unity for a just cause". "We can only be united if the aim is to achieve a truly nonracial, nonsexist, democratic and prosperous society for all. "We are going to be mobilising young workers, young metal workers in particular, to join the YCLSA. We believe there are still some good people in NUMSA. "We are not looking for a compromise with monopoly capital or to substitute white monopoly capital with black monopoly capital. Ours is to fight against white and black monopoly capital." For the young wing this means the transfer of ownership and control of the key productive sectors of the economy into the hands of the working class. Over the next four years the new programme of action of the YCLSA will focus on targeting the transfer of ownership and control in land, finance, mining and the energy sectors for radical and swift transformation. One only needs simple observation and logic to comprehend the similarities between the ideals of the SACP and the YCL around socialism - with those of the EFF and the recently establish United Front. All these organisations, or movements for that matter, claim to pursue the radical transformation of the economy. So, naturally, the next question to Pillay was the threat of such increased ideological competition in the fight to recruit young people. However, he said there was no threat from the EFF or the United Front. He reminded that "the SACP was formed in 1921 and the YCLSA in 1922. We have a long history of struggle and a theory that has always guided our practice. All that we do is informed by an ideology, not by hate." The chairperson went on to confirm the legitimacy of the SACP by remembering some of its prominent leaders. "We have developed a deeply entrenched trust relationship with our people and a legitimacy among the working class masses claimed by former leaders such as Moses Kotane, Yusuf Dadoo and Chris Hani," Pillay said. Without mentioning the EFF and the United Front or any other movement, he said: "Legitimacy among the people is not something that can be achieved overnight." Going forward and as a means of attracting young people, Pillay said the YCL "will be launching the second phase of Operation Khula, our campaign to recruit more members and train more young communists in applying Marxist-Leninist theory". He said this would be a means to "canvass for an overwhelming victory for the ANC in the 2016 local government elections". He said the weekend conference was the "most united and powerful of the YCLSA ever". "We are more united now than ever before to lead the struggle for a socialist South Africa and ultimately towards a classless society," he said. [email protected] Yershen Pillay graduated with a social sciences degree from the University of Cape Town with majors in politics and economics. He is experienced in research and the management of student affairs, having worked at UCT as student development practitioner. He held various leadership positions as a student leader at the UCT, serving as general secretary of the SRC at UCT and a member of the university senate committee. In 2005, he was the recipient of the UCT deputy vice-chancellor's Leadership Award. He is a former national executive committee member of the South African Union of Students. He served as the deputy executive chairperson of the National Youth Development Agency established by President Jacob Zuma in 2009. He was the provincial treasurer of the Young Communist League of South Africa in the Western Cape and was elected as the national treasurer of the YCLSA in 2007. Yershen presently serves as the national chairperson of the YCL. He was appointed by former deputy president Kgalema Mothlanthe to serve on the Human Resource Development Council of South Africa in 2010. In 2013, President Jacob Zuma appointed him to serve on the broad based black economic empowerment council of South Africa. Yershen also serves on the Board of the National Student Financial Aid Scheme, appointed by Higher Education Minister Blade Nzimande. From: http://tnaepaper.co.za/ -- -- 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. All you have to do is to send an e-mail to this address (repeat): [email protected] . --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "YCLSA Discussion Forum" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
