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A leader who got attracted to a beautiful woman at the airport at his own behest blames everyone except himself Justice Piitso, Umsebenzi Online, Johannesburg, 1 April 2015 Our message to the South African working class is one! You are the heirs and therefore the lifeblood of our revolution. When our revolution is under siege our task is to swell the ranks and defend it. A leader gets attracted to a beautiful woman at the airport at his own behest; flaunted procedures to employ the woman at COSATU head office at his own behest; indulge in a sexual intercourse with the woman at the same office during working hours at his own behest; apologises to COSATU and the nation at his own behest; compels COSATU to accept his apology unconditionally at his own behest; and then blames the leadership of COSATU for the conspiracy of his immoral acts. It is unprecedented that a leader of his calibre can turn around and attribute his personal mistakes to the leadership of COSATU and our party. I wonder how such an outstanding leader can go all out on rampage accusing our leadership of conspiracy to his scandalous acts of irresponsibility. The message of a personality cult is loud and clear! "I am incorrigible, I am a law unto myself, accept my apology or otherwise I am selling the South African working class and our National Democratic Revolution (NDR) to the highest bidder". Without fear of any contradiction, the events of the recent past confirmed that Mr Zwelinzima Vavi is suffering from an exaggeration of self-worth. He has exaggerated his individual role in the Federation to be more important than the collective leadership of our revolution. His slanderous attacks and salvo of propaganda against the leadership of our revolutionary movement and our democratic government cannot go unnoticed. The records of our history may as well prove that he has insulted our democratic government more than the racist Apartheid regime. Revolutionaries are the most humbled leaders of the people. Vulgar is a foreign tendency in the culture and the traditions of our movement, and on this score he has to prove if our insinuations are wrong. Our most outstanding revolutionary genius of our epoch and the leader of the world Communist movement, Vladimir Lenin says: "It is not he who makes no mistakes that is intelligent. There are no such men, nor can there be. It is he whose errors are not very grave and who is able to rectify them easily and quickly that is intelligent". He further says: "There are some compromises forced on the masses against their will due to the balance of power at a particular time, and then there are some that are not really forced on the masses but made by leaders for their own interests and personal or political advantages. A true Communist must be able to spot the difference and fight against the latter while explaining to the masses the necessity of the former. "However, anyone who is out to think up for the workers some kind of recipe that will provide them with cut-and dried solutions for all contingencies, or promises that the policy of the revolutionary proletariat will never come up against difficult or complex situations is simply a charlatan". Again Lenin says the following about revisionists and opportunists: "Certain individuals amongst the present social chauvinists leaders may return to the proletariat, but the social chauvinists or opportunists' trend can never disappear or return to the revolutionary proletariat. "Revisionists and opportunists factions, as agencies of the bourgeoisie become more and more hostile to Marxism Leninism with the sharpening class struggles and the development of the revolutionary movement of the proletariat and the toiling masses. "Revisionists and opportunists are sworn enemies of Marxism and yet they swear by the name of Marx. You cannot prevent them from doing so any more than a trading firm can be prevented from using any label, any sign, and any advertisement it pleases. "We must relentlessly tear off their masks, discredit them before the people and leave them no place to hide anywhere in the world. Winning the masses is the key to the struggles against revisionism and opportunism. "It is our duty, if we wish to remain socialists, to go down lower and deeper to the real masses. This is the whole meaning and the whole content of our struggle against revisionism and opportunism. "If we want to win the battle against social traitors and opportunism, this political line must be followed in all spheres of our struggles without exception, and then we shall win the masses. "Our battle with revisionism and opportunism is a protracted and tortuous one. As long as the capitalist class and imperialism exist, they will always try to train new ones as their agents in the communist movement". Lenin enriched the teachings of Karl Marx by developing a theoretical proposition on the national and colonial question. He mastered the strategy and tactics that the colonial and national question would inevitably arouse the struggle of the oppressed people. His strategy and tactics is to unite the working class of all countries to fight imperialism and build socialism as the future to humanity. To achieve this goal, the working class must resolutely oppose national oppression, fight for national equality, the right of self-determination of the oppressed nations of the colonial and semi-colonial countries and fully support the national liberation movement against imperialism. Imperialism means that capital has outgrown the framework of a nation state, it means extension and sharpening of national oppression on a new historical basis. In other words under imperialism, capitalism has outgrown the boundaries of a nation state and therefore assumed an international character. It is this understanding of the national and colonial question that intensified the struggle for the emancipation of the oppressed people in the colonial and semi-colonial countries, from the yoke of imperialism. Hence the slogan imperialism the highest stage of capitalism. Opportunists of our modern times do not appreciate the inherent contradictions arising between our struggle for the resolution of the national and colonial question and imperialism. They do not appreciate the essence that the contradictions of imperialism are between the oppressed and the oppressor nations. Lenin appreciated well that the struggle for the liberation of the oppressed nations will intensify the crisis of the capitalist world. In other words he understood well that the struggle to resolve the national and colonial questions are part of the whole question of our struggle for socialism. He says the following about this important theoretical formulation: "Small nations, powerless as an independent factor in the struggle against imperialism, play a part as part of the ferments, one of the bacilli, which help the real power against imperialism to come to the scene, namely, the socialist revolution". The truth is that in our country and many of the former colonies and semi-colonies, imperialism and neo-colonial forces are at an offensive to undermine the achievements of the struggle of our people. In many instances we have witnessed the working class splitting at the face of the onslaught by counter-revolution. The trade union movement has always been an easy target by the forces of imperialism. We have seen sections of the leadership of trade union movement undermining the victories of the struggle of our people against colonial oppression and subjugation. We have seen Chiluba in Zambia, Morgan Tsvangirai in Zimbabwe, the same trend is all over in all countries which are led by former liberation movements. How it comes, counter-revolution will always bring about confusion within our movement as if we are faced by the greatest crisis ever in history, and which in an unparalleled manner heaped disgrace upon our NDR. In most cases the point of departure is to undermine the leadership role and character of our revolutionary vanguard party. This is primarily because its foremost principal task is to negate the bourgeois society and replace it with its anti-thesis, socialism. Trade union movement is elevated to the political role of a vanguard party. In our instance this is manifested by the creation of the so-called "United Front" and a "Movement for Socialism". The trade union consciousness which is about fighting for better wages and improved working conditions is translated into assuming the political leadership role of the vanguard party. A revolution rather requires the highest form of political consciousness and organisation. In our country the decaying system of Colonialism of a Special Type (CST) could not relinquish power on its own accord. The reason why the forces of imperialism and the remnants of CST are at an offensive to liquidate our NDR. To achieve this they must weaken us from within. They must undermine the unity and cohesion of our revolutionary Alliance led by the ANC. The South African working class should not allow itself to split in the face of the onslaught by a counter-revolution. We therefore have to close ranks and defend our revolution against its enemies. Historical and dialectical materialism teaches us that leadership could either lead a revolution to its logical conclusion or betray it. It also teaches us that revolutionary formations of the working class have been able on their own to carry the revolution, in the absence of its leadership, to its final conclusion. Over the decades of our struggle for national liberation, our revolutionary movement has been able to forge ahead with our struggle in the absence of its leadership. Most of them were in prison, others in exile and many more under stringent restrictions by the Apartheid racist laws. Our own federation COSATU, which represents the interests of the working class and the people of our country in general, has been able to forge ahead with our struggle in the absence of its own founding President Elijah Barayi and many other countless leaders, who had on their own, left an indomitable foot print in the struggles of the working class. Our struggle has taught us that leadership is an opportunity to learn. Our people elect us to leadership positions to afford the opportunity to learn. Leaders come and go but the revolutionary formations of the working class always remain. In other words, with or without Zwelinzima Vavi COSATU and our revolutionary Alliance led by the ANC will remain. Without any fear of any contradiction, in the absence of Vavi, COSATU has the golden opportunity to rebuild a truly unified federation, free from any syndrome of personality cult and tendencies which suggest that our ranks are swelled by foot soldiers of imperialism. We will be able to build a strong militant COSATU which recognises the rich history of the struggle of our people, a history without the imposition of an individual who sort to behave to be everything that the federation represents. . Cde Justice Piitso is former Provincial Secretary of the SACP in Limpopo, former Ambassador to Cuba, and writes in personal capacity -- -- You are subscribed. This footer can help you. Please POST your comments to [email protected] or reply to this message. 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