SEIZE THE TIM EI. >

Power is in Your FistRe sistance and defiance are spreading. Thewhole army is now acting like a police forceas we saw in Sebokeng. The people are in­spired by the example and leadership of ourliberation front and its armed wing , Umkhontowe Sizwe. The mass movement grows instrength. Our youth continue to hit out.November's stayaway strike showed whatenormous power there lies in the fist of theworker. The workers in factory, mine andfarm can undoubtedly b ring the ruling classto its knees.

The economic and political c risis and thegrowing strength of the revolutionary forceshave opene d the way, as never be fore , topeople' s advance. Capitalism and apartheidequal oppre ssion and misery; both must besmashed.Botha is in nOuble!Let lIS IntaMify the orreM ive on all fronts!Forward to People'. Power!

FORWARD W ITHUMSEBENZII

Organisation is everything! To meetthe enemy we have to be organised.And the spread of understanding is thevery beginning of organisation. That iswhy we look upon our newspaper asan organise r.

Without a revolutionary theory thestruggle is like a ship without a cern­pass. But political theory is of little useunless it leads to revolutionary prac­uco. Our job as revolutionari es is notjust to explain the world ; we have tochange it!

An understanding of Marxist-Leninistthinking and the way our Party appliesit to South African conditions will helpusorganise the path toward s the future .We aim through Umseberu:l to createa bond between all revolutionary unitsand cadres and guide those still seer­ching for a way of struggle. We aim,above all , to stimulate revolutionaryunderstanding and commitmentleading to organisation and action.

The libe rating ideas which we SouthAfrican Communists are spreading aretruly hated by the racist e nemy. Theywill do all in the ir power to s top ourpeople from reading and c irculatingour message. You must there fore becareful. W ork out safe ways to spreadUmseberu:i. Use it as a weapon in thestruggle for libe ration and socialism.

The enemy is in deep trouble . It is swaying with economic an d political pro­blems. The time is ripe to d eliver some stunning blows. Let usseize the time!The economy is in its worst mess fol' fifty years. Prices are out ofcontrol. TheRandis tumbling. Gold keeps going down. Unemployme nt is over four million.The wage packet b uys less and less each week. Rents and fares keep rising.Bolha's political crisis grows. Divisions a t the lop are widening. All attempts to b uycollaboration with so-called reform have struck the rock of pe ople 's resistance . Botha's bagof tricks to keep up white domination looks more soiled than ever.

* The bantustans have remained comicbook countries.

* The attempts to create a good·boy tradeunion movement has failed.

* The new minority constitution has fallenflat on its face .

... The constellation of states remains astill-born id ea.

* Nkomati fever has not spread - theAfrican states have seen that a kissfrom Botha is a kiss of death.

The AliianceBorn in StruggleANC SACP

We print short extractsfrom the speeches of

Oliver TamboPresident 01 the ANCand Moses MabhidaGeneral secretary 01

the SACPon the occasion of

our 63rd snniversery

I ,.."

OLIVER TAMBOP...uJolen' o f the African National '-9"'"II I, a matter of record that lor much of itshistory, the South Abican Communis: Partyhas been an integral~ d lM str'U991eof theAfrican people alp.insl: oppression and eJ:'

plo itation in South Amc-. We can all bearwitness thaI in~ context of :he struQ'Q'leilQ'i.inst colonial strue:turet. acism and thestruO'iJ1e for powe r by the people. the SACPhas been fightin9 with the oppressed andexploited.

NOhrill\standing that it hu had to ccncee­mne on thwarting the ellons to dlllrtroy ii ,cadres orthe SACP MV. &Iways been readyto face the enemy in the field. Because Iheyhave stood and fouQ'ht in the front ranks, theyhave be en amongst those who have sufforedthe worst brutalities of the enemy, and ecmeoflhe best cadres have sacn rlced their lives.

And so, your achier.nents ere the achieve­ments orme liberation BINgo-Ie. Your heroesare ours. Your victories, those of all the op­pressed. The relationship between the ANCand the SACP is nol an eccdem o! history, noris it a natural and inevi tible development.Ours is nO( merely a pilper alliance, createdat conference tables and fonnalised throughthe signing of d ocuments and repeesenneaonly an agreement of leade~. Our alliance isa living organism lhiat hulJIOWn out of SlrUQ­9\e. We have buill it out of our sepa.rate andcommon espen ences.

Today the ANC and SACP have commonobjectives in the elilclication of the oppres­sive and exploitative system that prevails inour country: the seizure of power and the ex­ercise of their riqht to self-determination byallthe pee-de of South A frica,

We share the stIateqic perspective of thetuk that lies ahead.

MOSES MABHIDAGenereol s.c,..tory

Sovtfl Afrlcon Communist PortyOur Party's stand as Iar as national liberatior:9oesinSouth Africa is quite c1eiill. JI fuDysup­pottIthe same plOIpaIJUne of liberaoo:t as theAfrican National ConlpeSS. for the seizure ofpower and majority role. The National Libera­tion Movemenl, to quO(e Lenin, 'is a neces­BUY ally of the proletarian revolution'.

OwParty'srelationshipwith the African Na­tional Con91ess is based on mutual trust,reciprocity, comradeship in battle and a com·mon struggle fornational libeliltion. Our uni­ty of aims and me thods of $IruqO'le are a rueinstance of p ositive alignment between theforces of c lass struggle and nationalliberation.

We are clear about the priorities of ourstruggle, nret national liberation and then anadvance towards soclalisrn.

The Freedom Charter, our people's d ocu­ment and proqramme of the ANC, sets out ascheme forthe desired democratic liberatedSouth Africa. We know fuIl..-eU that the racistregime in 1956 shouted 'Treason' when theprO<;l'lilmme was declared and it imprisoned156 leaders of the liberation mevemeat,

This document is now widely accepted asthe people's visicn of a fr~ South Africansociety. The Chmer emphasises People'sPower, it is againsl all forms of discrimination,it ou arantees equal ri9htll, freedom of move­ment, reside nce, occupation and reliqiousaffiliation.

The struggle of our ~ople and our Partyis lhus a Slruggle against ractsm, colonialism,imperialist exploitation and oppression, rcrlib eralion, human diQtlity and peace.

STRENGTHEN THE ALI.IANCEI,

The Congress took place over a period ofseveral days. The following are some of itsdecisions:* Congress was of the opinion that the moodamong the oppressed people in South Africais one of revolt. A state of incipient civil warexists in the country. The urgent task of theliberation movement is to raise the all-roundpolitical and military offensive against theapartheid regime. The country must be madeungovernable, paving the way for the viCioryof the national democratic: revolution.* Congress called for the strengthening ofthe revolutionary alliance of the ANC, SACPand SACTU to achieve this goal.* Con>lI"Elss called for the strengtheninQ ofthe Party internally so as Jo enable It to leadthe working class more effectively to carryout its historic mission.* Congress condemned the militaristicadventurism of the imperialists, headed bythe US administration. Congress also calledfor the convening of a conference of the in­ternational communist movement tostrengthen the world forces working forpeace and social proQless.* Congress called for the unconditionalrelease of all political prisoners.* Congress adopted a constitution toregulate the work and functioning of theSACP. This is the fiIst constitution adopted bythe Party since its reconstitution in 1953.* Congress unanimously re-elected ecm­rade Moses Mabhida as general secretary,and also unanimously elected a national chair­man of the Party in seccessrca 10 the late com­rade YusufDadoo.ln a future issue the nameof the new National Chairman will be an­nounced. The Congress elecredanewcennalcommittee and laid down guidelines for itswork during the coming period.

SOUTH AFRICAN,,;M1S'1' p,un

",#.t~

COMMUNISTS MEET iNOTES OF A SIXTH CONGRESS DELEGATE: sTowards the end of 1984 1 was a delegate tothe Sixth Congress ofthe South African Com­munist Party. The years between the FifthandSixth Congresses had been full of hardshipsand trials for our Party. Many of our leadingcomrades had been jailed or exiled. Somehad been executed or killed in action againstthe enemy. Leading comrades like JB Marks,Moses Kotane, Yusuf Dadoo and others haddied of natural causes.

We are a pan of the liberation movementof South Africa headed by the African Na­tional Congress. The racist regime knows thatour Party, founded in 1921, is one oUts mostdedicated and committed opponents. OurParty was the fiIst to be banned by the reigme- in 1950. But the enemy did not kill us off.as it hoped. The Sixth Congress of thereconstituted South African Communist Par­ty demonstrated that the ideas of Marxism­Leninism and proletarian internationalism en­joy more widespread support among ourpeople than ever before.

I have attended previous Congresses of ourParty, but never have I been so confident ofthe future of our Party and the eventualtriumph of socialism in South Africa. Thedelegates to the Sixth Congress, chosen bya combination of election and selection to en­sure a proper balance, were a blend of youthand experience. The proceedings weredominated by the fire and enthusiasmespecially of the young. And these youngmilitants were not mere armchair radicals oradventurers. Most of them were, despite theiryouth, battle-hardened and tested in action.Their ideas were the fruit not just of book­learning hut of political and military struggleswith the enemy. Our cadres are tried andtested, committed and dedicated, disciplin­ed and determined.

The composition of the delegates showsthat our Party has become finnly rooted in thepeople. The bulk of the delegates, 64%, wereAfrican, 18% Indian, 6% Coloured and 12%White. The discussion was dominated by therealistic optimism of young people of work­ing class origin. They have seen action andknow what danger means, and are ready tosacrifice everything for the advancement ofour cause.

FIGHTINGYEARS

DEDICATION, DISCIPliNE AND DRIVEl

THE NEW CONSTITUTIONThe pew constitution adopted by our Sixth Congress is anoUler milestone in the history

of the Soufh Af;i can Communist Party. The aims of the Party which are set out inSeclJon Two of the consti tution should be studied b.I' all revolutionaries.

AIMS OF THESOUTH AFRICAN COMMUNIST PARTYThe Communist Party is the leading political force of the South African work­ing class and is the vang-uard in the struggle for nationalliberatior.. socialismand peac e in our time. The ultimate aim of the Party is the building of a com­munist society. towards which it is guided by the principles of Manrism­Leninism. The establishment of a socialist republic in South Africa requiresthat political and economic powe r be firmly placed in the hands of the work­ing class in alliance with the rural masses.To this e nd . the Communist party aims;A) To end the system of capitalist exp'ottauon and establish a socialist

republic based on the c ommon ownership of the means of production;B) To organise, educate and lead the vlorking class in pursuit of this strategic

aim and the more immediate aim of winning the objectives of the nationaldemocratic revolution which is Inseparably linked to it. The main cementof the national democratic revolution is the national liberation of the Africanpeople in particular, and the black people in general, the de struction ofthe e conomic and politicdl power of the racist ruling class, and theestablishment of one united state of People's Power in which the work­ing c lass will be the dominant force and which 'MIl move uninterruptedlytOWilI W social emancipation and the total abolition of the exploitation ofrnan by man;

C) To pemcipate in and strengthen the liberation alliance of all classes andstrata whose interests are served by the immediate aims of the nationaldemocratic revotuncn. nusallianc e is expre ssed through the liberation[rant headed. by the Jl.frican National Congress;

D) To sp read the widest possible understanding of the ideology of Marxism­Leninism and its application to South AfriC2II c onditions;

E) To combat racism, tribalism, sex discrimination, regionalism, chauvinismand all forms of narrow nationalism;

F) To promote the Ideas of p roletarian internationalis m and the ~'.nity of theworkers of South Africa and the world ar.d to participate in and strengthenthe World Communist Movement.

JUNE 26Our People's Freedom DayMobilise to mark the 30th Anniversary of

the Freedom Charter!

--1 ••- .__.. ~

MAY 1st WORKERS DAY

PEN PICTURESOFSOUTHAFRICANCOMMUNISTS

On May 1st 1896 over 340 000 Americanworkers went all strike in support of a de­mand lor an 8-hour working day. The policekilled eleven workers. Four workers werefalsely charged with killin9' a policeman andhanged. Workers throughout the worlddemonstrated support fer their Americanbrothers. From that time workers everywherebegan to celebrate May 1st as their day.

In the capitalist countries May Dayis a com­memmoration of past victories which workerswon in militant struggles. It is also a rededica­tion to defend those gains and to continue thestruggle for socialism. In the socialist coun­tries May Day is a celebration of the progresspossible when the working class seizes statepower, takes over the means of productionand ends all oppression and exploitation. Itis also a day of support and solidarity with allthose fighting for peace, freedom andsocialism.

* * * •

YUSUF MOHAMED DADOODr Yusuf Mohamed Dadoo was born inKruqersdcrp in 1909 and, after attending schoolinSouth Africa and India, qualified as a doctor inEdinburgh. RetumingloSouthAfricain 1936,hewas one of the founders of the Non-EuropeanUnited Front in 1938 and joined the CommunistParty in 1939. He was elected President of theTransvaal Indian Congressin 1945and Presidentof the South African Indian Congress in 1950. In1941he was a cCHlignatory of the Dadoo-Xuma­Naicker Pact pledging co-operation of Africansand Indians in the stnlggle against discriminatoryandoppressiveIawsanddemandingfuU franchiserights tor an. He was jailed for taking part in thepassive resistance campaign of 1946, defiancecanlpaignof1952and onseveral cthercccaaicns.After the 1960state of emergency was declared,Dadoo was sent abroad toorgamse tile externalapparatus olthe CP and SAle. Elected NationalChainnanoClheSACPin 1912, he died in 1983.He was awarded IsUwalandwe-Seaparankoe in1955 and received many other internationalorders.

For us May Day is a day on which we demon­strate against the inhuman apartheid systemand the super-exploitation of the black work­ing class; aqa.inst the millions of unemployed,starvation wages, increases in the genercilsales tax, the uprooting and dumping ofmillions into the Bantustans, and malnutritionand infant mortality which wipes out ourchildren, the denial of skilled jobs and thesystem 01 inferior education for blacks.

On May Day 1985 we must intensify thestruggle for freedom. With a long and proudrecord of struggle OUI working class is todaymore organised, united and militant thanever. The use of troops, the murder of over110 people, the injuring of thousands, thesackings, victimisations and arrests have fail­ed to curb the militancy of the people. It isthe working class which must show the wayto all the oppressed and democratic forcesin our fight to destroy the racist system. MayDay is a day of struggle.

JOHN 'BEAVER' MARKS ('J B')John 'Beaver' Marks - J B - was born inVentersdorp. Western Transvaal, in 1903. Hestartedworkasateacherbutwassackedaflerap­pearingontheplatformsoftheICU,theANCandtile Communist Party, whichhe joinedin 1929.Heplayed a big part in reviving the Transvaal ANCin the thirties andwaselectedTransvaal Presidentoftile ANC in 1950. In 1942 he was elected Presi­dent of the African Mineworkers Union and ledthe strike of 100 000 workerswhichparalysedthemines in 1946. A member ofthe executive oftheANCandelectedchairmanoftheCommunistPar­ty at its 5th Congress in 1962,J BMarks was sentabroad in 1963 to join the external mission of theANC. He died in 1912.

.3n AND PRACTICE • KNOWLIDGE IS STRENGTH • THEORY AND PRACTlCI • KNOWLEDGE IS ST1l:ENe,

ThU NCtioa of V_beDZi be9imI the flnt prt of a ..ri.. Oft toplc:ll ofgreat I.mportance to every nvoludo!lU'J. Umlted space rcm:- 1111 to be- ry short. But we hope that ruclees will be stbnvJ;ated. to think IlIOn

aboat the questions 1'1liNcI, 10~ them with their eomnd_and. to IbuI _ ys of atIlctyiDgI further.

HOW TO MASTER~~ SECRET WORK

<.f ~ 1. INTRODUCTION

This is a series about the role of HQ'ecyin solvincJ lhe tasks of the Revolution.Saaeq In work helps us overcome the diJ.ficuJties created by tl:.e enemy. Secrecygi:"es us protection by starving the enemyof information about us. SaCIeq' helps usbuild a strong revolutionary movement tooverthrow the ene my.

There is nothing sinister about usingMCret methocb: 10 help win freedom.Through the ages the ruling c lasses havemade It as d ifficult as possible for the op­pressed people to gain freedom. The op­pressers use lbe most c ruel and sinistermethods to stay in power. They use unjustlaws to ban, banish, imprison and executetheir oppone Rls. They use secret police,soldiers. spies and informers a.O~ Ihepeople's movements. But the people knowhow to fight back and how to use M<:nI!tmethocb of work.

The early hislory of struggle in our ccun­trY is full of good examples. Makanda. Cat·shwayo. Sekhukhuni, Bambatha made useof MO'et aethods to organise resistance .Bambatha, for instance. prepared hisrebellion ag~ colonialism in greatsecrecy from the Nkandla forest..

Se<NC)' hoi Helped us Outwit the lnemylThe enemy tries to gife the impressiOll thaiit is impossible to carry out illegal ...ork.The rule rs boast about all our people theyhave killed or eapeured. They point to thefreedom fighters locked up in the prisons.But a 101 of this talk Is sheer bluff. Of courseIt Is Impossible to 1'1ilge a struggle withoutlosses. The very fact, however. that theSACP and ANC have survived years of iI·leqality is proof that the regima cennot SlOpour noble work. It is because we havebeen mastering aecret work thai we havebeen able, more and more, to outwit lhee nemy.

DIKlpline. ViSliiance and Self.contrDhSecret methods are based on commonsense and experience. But they m ust bemastered like an art. Discipline , vigilanceand self-control is required . A re sistanceorganiser in Nazl-occupled France whowas never captured said this was becausehe 'never used the tele phone and neverwent to public places like bani, restaurantsand post offices'. He was living a totaUyunderground life . But even those membersof a secret movement who have a legal ex­istence must display the qualities we havereferred to.

Study and Apply the Rule. of SecrecyzMost people know from films and booksthai secret work involves the use of codes.passwords, safe houses and hiding places.Activists must study the raJes of S I c:ncyand apply them seriously. This enables us10 build up secret organi&iltions linked tothe people. This MCret Detwork becomesa vilal force in helping to lead the peoplein the struggle for power.

In OIUseries we wi1l cJiJ:cuu such topics IIS.:

I . How to set up a Mcaet belWotk;2. The Rules of SIOecyi3. How to overcome nneiJlabce

(Le. obselVation);4. Secret forms of l:OmJDUDic:.UObj5. TechDlcat Methods - such as secret

writing, hiding places etc .6. How to behave under lbtenegaUOD

(i.e. when being questionedby !he enemy)

These are arROlIg the main elements ofsecret work. To organise in secret Is noteasy, but remember: The R\OIIt difBcaJ.twork is the most Doblel

Next "we: Sefflng up the Sec~t Network

OUTWIT THE ENEMY!5 STlENGTH .. tHEOIY AHD PRAena • KNOWUDGEISsnENGTH • THEOIY ANDptACTla .. II

* 1JlEORY AND PRACTICE,. KNOWUDGE IS stRENGTH * THEORT AND PRACTICE,.. KNOWLEDGEISSTf

M POLITICAL ECONOMY• al I. WHAT IS EXPLOITATION?I suppose everyone at some time oranother has met the man - usually ahawker or small shopkeeper - who thinkshe has discovered the secret of this world.'Buy cheap and sell dear! Those who dogel rich. Those who don't slay pcce'.

It sounds obvious. But is it? Let us lookat the majority of the people, who areworkers or one kind or another - in rae­lories, farms, mines and offices. They allbuy thir:gs. it is true. But net to resell themat a profit but to use them, eat them, wearthem. So the ' sec re t of the world' cannotapply to them.

But what about others - the bosses andowners althe [anna, factories and mines?They buy many things 10 put together intothe products they sell - raw materiels,machines. buildings and so on. And someno doubt buy these commodities cheaply- below their leal value and some buythem above their real value. But they buythese things en me time com one another- not from those of us who work.

So if all those buying cheap are gettingrich, and all those seDing cheap gettingpoor, half the bosses and the owners would.be growing richer - and the other halfpoorer.

But our eyes tell us this isn't so. All ofthem are getting richer, or Slaying rich.Very few of them are growing poor. Sohere is a puzde! Howcan almost all of themget rich when they am aU buying and sell­ing to each other? Where does the profitcome from?

This is not a new puzzle. Over 150yearsago Karl Marx spent hIs life trying to solvethis puzzle and so get to really understandthe secret of our world. And his solulion,when he reached'it, was both very import­ant and very simple.

He looked away from the goods thebosses sell to one another, and towards theone thin(J they buy from the working pel>pia - labour! And suddenly the pU%Z1ebegan 10 come clear. Labour, work was theclue! Work is the secret ingredient Ihat isburied in every product brought 10 themarket. Labour - burled deep in the prl>

duet - is what changes sand into bricks,and sticks mrc furniture!

Mane: was the first to see that when a bossbuys your power to IabO\:l for a fixednumber of hours each day, he pays Y0l,; theminimum he possibly can to make sure thatyou can continue working and that you willproduce future generations of workers. Bu:when you have finished a day's work, thewage whieh you get is alwayslessthar. thevalue you have added 10 the product wi1ichthe boss sells on the market.

Marx saw our world clearly divided intotwo great classes - the bosses who ownall of what he called the 'means otproduc­tion' (mines, factories, machines etc) andthe workers who have nothing to sell buttheir ability to work. This is the society call­ed 'capitalism'. In it, he saw, the workerswill forever be poor and the. bosses willforever be stealing fortherr.selves that partohhe workers' labour for which they havenot paid.

Here Js the real solution to the puzzle. Itis one we will return to in future issues ofthia paper.

It is as if a man buys a cow at a marketand pays its full value . But overnight, in hisbarn, it goes into labour and in the morn­ing he finds he has a cow and a new-borncalf - mere value than he had bought andpaid for. So too Labour Power - boughtand paid lor at its full value, producescreater value when converted into pro­ducts for the market in which labour isburied.

Marx called this greater value suzp1u.nIue. And the puzzle was solved! Suplu.value is created out of the toil of theworkers. But it is taken by the employersfor themselves, because they own the land,the machines, and thus also the productsbrought to market. Workers therefore, arealwav- being robbed of that part of theirday's work which creates these 'surplusvaluos' . This is what we mean when we saythat the workers are exploited, and that therich of this wend make their profits fromthe sweat er the workin9 people.

)WLEDGEISSTRENGTH.., THEORTANDPRACTlCE,.. KNOWUDGIISSTRENGTH ,.. THEOtI.YANDPRACTICE ,..

THEORY AND PRACTICE. kNOWLlDGE ISStRENGTH • THEORY AND PRAOICE • kNOWLlDGE IS 5

MARXISM ANDVIOLENCE

I. Different Kinds of ViolenceOur enemies try hard 10~t communistsas violenl people. They spread the lie thatcommunists prefer to use the IJUn ratherthan peaceful means 10 achieve their aims.But hiSlory has shown us that, o fall politicaltheories, tt is Marzism which has thedeepest respect for human life , its p rote c­tion and Its liberation from violence,exploitation and oppression.

It would be complelely un-Marxist 10follow theories w hich glorify violence forits own sake. Yet, c ommunists are notpacifists. There are examples where com­munists have s upported or led armedstruggles for national and social liberation.What then is the real altitud e of com­munists 10 violence? When and underwbatconditions d o communists support thestraTegy of armed struggle or viole ntrevolution? Before we can answer thesequestions we must take a brief look at thevariety offonns in which violence appears.

The school-teacher who relies en thestick to make his students pass their eums~ not solving a problem. The drunken bul·Iy who, dagger in hand, terrorises ordinarypeople is rightly regarded as a criminalwho deserves p unishme nt . If a policemanwere 10 us e violence to stop this bully, hewould certainl.y be applaud e d by the peo­ple. But if the same policeman shoots aworker who is on strike fo r higher wages,the a ction of the policeman is completelyclifl'erenl. And ifthe people who are on thescene hit back by stoning the policeman,their violence is understandable.

These are just a few e xamples to showthat viole nce comes in dilferem fonns. It isof course viole nce in every care, bul someacts of violence are unjust and some arejust. Re volutionaries support the just formsof violence more especially in situationswhere the ruling clasI relies on brute forceto conque r a people ana to remain inpower. There are other situations in whichIhe political system makes it impossible forthe people 10 b ring aboul social c hangewithout armed struggle and violent revolu­tion. It is for the revolutionary move me nt

in each country to decide what !trateqy isbHt for its own struwle.

Just and Unjust WarsEuropean capitalism has been responsiblefor the most murderous Wilr3 in the historyof humanity. In 1914 the imperialists wentto war with one another, like a group ofrobbers who fig ht over their stolen goods.Led by Lenin, true rovolutionaries theworld over refused to suppcrt this unjustimperialist war and called upon theworkers in both camps 10 ove rthrow theircapilalisl rulers.

Africa has also e:qMIrienced the brute(orce of capitalism and imperialism. Everyinc h of our Continent 's soil was colonisedby foreign military ezped.itions which seiz­ed the land and forcibly aubjugated thepeople.

In South Africa il be9an with the arrivalof Jan van Riebeeck.. Our cap italis1 rulingclass conquered us by terce and relies onforce 10 remain in power. Whatever thepeople have tried to d o in Ihe past in orderto bring about real changoe has been melb y the naked te rror of the reg'ime's policeand army. And at this very momenl the kill­ingo goes on in almosl every area whereblack people live.

It is clear that in a case such as ours thepeople have every moral and political rigohtto I<lke up annsa gainst those who know on­ly force as an inslrumenl of rule. It is in thiskind of situation that we communists arec ommitted to revolutionary WlUS 9fagoedby• majority in the interell:t of the majority.That is why in 1961 our Party helped 10brino' Umkhonto we Si%we inlo existence.Our racisl: enemy is e ngaged in an unjustwu on the peopl.e. And the people musl:be prepared to wagoe a just war to win backtheir birthrigoht. There is no other way for­ward at the moment.

It has been said that war is a continuationof politics by other means. In our next issuewe will deal with the way we communistssee the connection between political andmilitary struggole .

DEFEAT RACIST TERROR!UDGfISSTRIHGTH • 1lflOl:YAND"-ACnCI .. KNOWUDGEISS1tfNGTH • rH£Ol1'ANDNACna

THI08.YANDPltACllCE * KNOWUDGEISSlRINGTH * IHEORYANDPIlAChCE * KNOWUDGEISSTRlNOTH

TRADE UNIONISM1. Trade Unions and the Party

Inaahort book called WhIt Is To Be Done?wriner. in 1902. Lenin explained his id ea ofa party o( a new type - one able 10 leadthe revolution focfreftdom and the buildinQof socialism.

Lenin divided working cls.s:s politics in­10 trade union politics and revolutionarypolitics. On their own Ihtl workers wo uldfight for better pay and conditions . ButLenin wanted not just better pay for theworkers. but an end. to the whole systemin which a few capita1isls own all thewealth. while the workers must sell theirlabour to live.

For such a soM-a., revoh:.tion., a 1'8voJu­1i0lliUT theory is necetary. This theory cano:.\ly be P"JVided by tbote who have madeI scientific study o(how capitalism works.who understand the icl.... of Mar:r. andEngels and the nature o( a communisl:society. This revolution can only be led bya party o( proCession&! revolutionaries _people who deVOle their lives to makingn1volution. The revol.utionary party - thepart of a new type - haa to be secret.highly disc:p1ined and. centralised.

The trade union movement, on the otherhand, has to be as big". as broad and asopen as possible. Trade unions arose outor the conditions which workers facedwhen factories were first built. They werecreated by the worken lhemselves. as aweapon to be used in their slruggles, 10make it possible for wo:ken to proIec1.themselveeOi~.sIlhe unifed power of thebtl lllll8S, the g overnment and the courts.

The sI1'8ngth of the worlrers lies in thehlct that workers arc m£rIy and the 00 nnand theiraDies are few. Wcd:ers found thaton tl'.eir own, as individuals, lheycould POIllIlCCeed 0:Uy by coming' IOgether wtth theother workers in the faClory, could theywin bener waoes and. other Improvements.

The unity of workel1l does not corneabout on its own. Workers all over theworld have found. thai trade unions are

n8C1 "'y 10 unite MOl,",", in 1ttU99le. Theslogan Dllity Is Stnllgt!l is the basis onwhich trade unions ve formed.

"TRde unions', wrote Lenin, 'uo an in­dispensible school 01 communWn' - aschool that traiPlJ workers to OrlJanise andPJ"f1pan:!s them for the role they must playin bringing about Ihe socialist revolutionand in the b uilding of a socialist sociely.

There are many orglUllalions which C&1lthemselves trade UniON: yet they have dif­ferent WOiys of working, they do differentthings and. haw different poljcies. Are tl'.eyall trade unions? How must a trade unionwor): and what must it d o? Which tradeunion policies are coned and. which arewrong? What are the tub of trade unionsin 1he strugqle for Mtlon&!libel'lition?

In this series we will be looking at thesequestions to IlndeI'Sland the role tradewtions must play to incTease the strengthofthe working class movement; a llttengthwhich 'lies e:ltirely in ttl political con­sciousness and it:I rna.. charaClCr' .

WE SALUTE THIRTY YEARS OF SACTU!THEOn AND PIlAC1lCl .. KNOWUDGIIS SlRENGTM .. ,"lOllY AND P1lACTtCl .. •KNOWUDGEISmlNGn

lESSONS Of THESTAYAWAY

For two days last November the wheelsof industry and commerce in theTransvaal came to a total stop. We sawone of the most successful politicalgeneral strikes in our country's history.

Actions of this sort shake the rulingclass. They also help to teach and toorganise the people for even greaterstruggles. In this way they become pav­ing stones on the path to final victory.What are the lessons of this mightyworkers demonstration? What does itteach?

The stayaway experience has giventhe hundreds of thousands who went onstrike a feeling of great confidence intheir collective strength. It has sent amessage to all our working people thatpolitical and economic demands cannotbe separated. It has exposed those med­dlers who have been trying to stop thetrade union movement from playir.g apart in the national liberation struggle.

The role of the organised youth is en­couraging. Organisations like Casas andAzaso helped to organise the stayawayand to make it a success. Schoolchildrenjoined with factory workers to distributeleaflets at work places.

The unity in action between the tradeunion movement, the youth, communityorganisations and the UDF points the wayto future advances in mass struggle.Headed by our working class , thestrengthening of this type of patrioticalliance is a major task for allrevolutionaries.

Those honest people who are still ac­tive in organisations like Azapo and In­katha can now see where their leadersare taking them. Instead of supportingthe workers, the political backwardnessand careerism of these leaders pushedthem into the enemy camp during thestayaway. Those who believe in libera­tion must start to move away from suchso-called leaders.

Like all mighty weapons, the politicalgeneral strike must be used with greatcare and skill. When the situation is ripethe national withdrawal of labour cancombine with other mass actions, in­cluding the use of revolutionaryviolence, to destroy the racist regime.We should, however, not be tempted toplay about with strike actions. If we usethe political general strike unwisely or asa routine fonn of demonstration, we willbe reducing its potential when the rightmoment comes.

Those who organised the Neil Aggetprotest and the November stayaway readthe mood of the people correctly and ortime. This shows that the leadershipcadres inside the country are growing ifmaturity. It is more urgent than ever fOJmore and more experienced leaders 0

our liberation movement to be where theaction is - inside the country.

The November protest has shown thathe people, and especially our workersare ready to make big sacrifices in thecause of freedom. If properly handlecthe strike weapon can become one athe key factors in the struggle IcPeople's Power.

WORKERS UNITE TO SMASH RACISMI

dirty work by acting as policemen against theANC , just as Matanzima and gebe do. The}want to go back to the times when the Por­tuguese and Ian Smith guard ed South Africa'tborders.Second.: The gove rnme n! is terrified that llIEpeoples of Southem Africa will build sociali5societies in the region which will be a stron,rear-base of the ANC and an e xample of theber.efits of socialism. That is why Angola andMozambique were first on the ir hit·list .Third:The South African cap italist class is notonly the ally and handJanger of imperialism.worldwide, but also an imperialist force in itsown righl. South African big business wantsto extend its economic control over the restof Africa . Today its influe nce stretches as faras Zaire and Malawi - but this is not e nough.

South Africa's capitalists want to bring allthe Southern African countries fmnly undertheir control. This is the real meaning ofBotha's 'conste llation of states' .

Pretoria wants Mozambique to join the RandArea and the Southern African C ustomsUnion. That will give South Africa control overMozambique's trade with the world. The n itwants Mapulo to join the Southern AfricanDevelopment Bank so it can c ontrol Moza m­bique 's internal ecnomic policie s. After that,the next target will be Zimbabwe.

South Africa is carrying out these ag­greSSIve policies with the encouragementand help of the Unned Stares. Pretoria correct­ly understands that President Re agan's ' ca n­stIUetive engagement policy' really means'licensed to kill' .

The United States and South Africa arepowerful enemies for OUI people. Whatweapons d o we have 10 fight back with?Fint: We must strike where the e nemy isweakest - right inside South Amca itself. On­ly the comple te ovenhrow of the Pretoriaregime and the white colonial state will bringpeace and security 10 Southern Africa .second: The peoples and. leaders of theregion must keep up their brave resistanceto the Pretoria bullies. It is now perfectly clear

, that c oming to terms with the militarists inI Pretoria is the road to disaste r. They will on-

ilY d e mand one conc ession after another.But in the long run the only solution is to

break out of the world c apitalist system, ofwhich South Africa is a pan, and begin thelong process of building socialism. Howe verdifficult, this is the only sure way to economicprcqress and political freedo m.

JuIiU$ NyeTeleChairman,Fronl Line $tal('$

--Why is Pretoria d oing these things? Thereare three main re asons:FirBt: The racists want to drive the ANC outof the neighbouring states. They want to makethe governments of those states do Pretoria's

The Pretoria regime continues to artack :neighbouring states, to support ~ds o!murderers in Southern A frican countnes andto sabotage economic p rogress and indepen­dence all over the region.

In Angola the South African Defence Forceis still occupying parts a l tha south and g ive smassive military help and air supportto Unita.But with the he lp of the Soviet Union. Cubaand otherSocialist countries the AnQ'olan pee-ple are bravely resistinq. .

In Mozambique , despite the Nkomati Ac­cord which was supposed to end Pretoria'shelp to the armed bandits ol d.e MNR.the actsof terror and d e struction go on.

In Lesotho and gctswana massive p: essureis being used to force these two brave coun­tries to knuckle under. Direct military attacksare sup ple mented by economic blackmail.~far, however, Pretoria has not succeeded Inforc ing these countries to sig n non-aggression pacts. . ..

In Swaziland they did succeed in getungsuch a pact . b UI it has not brought peace tothe Swazi nation. On the c ontrary, ever sinc ethe death of King Sobhuza, a friend of theANC the Swazi people have known nothingbut 'politic al dog-fights and increasingpove:ty. . .

And in Zimbabwe the forces of destabilisa.­tion and chaos are being ste adily prepared.According to Africa Magazine, Pretoria isbuilding up a destabilisation force of formerMuzorewa men and other dissidents in campsat Mand imbo Gumbo, Spencer and Palurialong the lampcpo.

SOUTHERN AFRICANROUNDUP

DEATH TO BOTHA'S BANDITSI

"

THE VICTORY .THAT SAVED MANKIND

It is Iorty years since the Second World Warended. That historic event will be c elebratedin many lands. The most significant celebra­tions will take place in Moscow on May 9th.This is the day when Hitler Germay surren­dered unconditionally to the Sovie t anny. Theanti-communist West tries to belittle theSoviet Union's wartime role and talks aboutits own efforts. They try to hide the fact thatit was mainly the Soviet Union that saved theworld from fascist domination.

The Forces Behind HitlerThe imperialists tty to hide the true causes ofthe war and the fact that Hitler owe d his riseto power to the assistance given by interna­tional capital. For it was oapnaliam's aim tosee a militarised Germany crush the SocialistSoviet Union. Hitler at first enjoyed the sup­port of the Western rulers. But late r sharp dif­ferences between them led to Britain andFrance declaring war on Germany in Septem­ber 1939. No serious fighting followed ,however, until Hitler's massive invasion of theSoviet Union on June 22, 1941.

On the Soviet-German FrontIt was now that the real battles began. TheSoviet Union fought almost single handedagainst Nazi Germany and its fascist allies.The main events ofthe war were taking placeon the Soviet-German front . It was here thatHitler concentrated 250 divisions, millions oftroops, thousands of tanks, planes, artillery.Until June 1944,95% olthe German army wason the Soviet front . Hitler's armies had easilyoverrun Poland, France and most of Europe.The world now saw the fascist armies grindto a halt and then saw them being thrownback. The myth that Hitler could not bebeaten was smashed. Throl:gh four grimyears the Soviet forces fought the giganticmilitary machine of the fascist bloc and bledit white. The invader was expelled fromSoviet land. A dozen countries enslaved byfascism were liberated and the Red Annywent on to capture Berlin and crush Hitler'sGermany. No-one living through those timescould forget the major battles at Moscow,Leningrad, Stalingrad, Kursk, etc. whereHitler's armies were destroyed. Yet those bat­tles are deliberately minimised in today'scapitalist history books.

The Source of VictoryWhat was the source ofSoviet strengt.'t? It wasthe Soviet people - organised, inspired andled by their communist party - that were thecreators of that victory. They fought a just war,

May 8th, 1945A Soviet soldier

raises thered flag

on Hitler'sReichstagin Berlin

in defence of their own Soviet power andsocialist system. The SOviet people wereunited under their great party, determinedand ready to sacrifice. By contrast theirenemy was fighting for false promises and un­just aims.

The cost of the war was tremendous. Of 50million that died, 20 million were Soviet.Thousands of cities, towns and villages in theSoviet Union were destroyed. The cost of thewar 10 the Soviet economy was calculated at2.&trillion rubles. The USA gained $52-billionprofit and lost 340 000 soldiers.

In Defence of Peace and FreedomAll this explains why the Soviet people workso hard for peace.The victory over Hitler Ger­many is the victory of all progressive forces.The Soviet victory helped Socialism tobecome a world system. It also meant that thenational liberation movements werestrengthened and colonialism collapsed. Thishad dramatic results in Africa and Asia andin South Africa too.

It is useful to remind our people that theVerwoerds and vcrsters supported theNaris. Botha's party idolised Hitler and triedto sabotage South Africa's opposition to him.Communists and ANe members such asSlovo, Bunting, Hodgson and David Mashigo,who this government attacks as unpatriotic,were in the South African army fighting forfreedom.

Communists today remain in the forefrontI of the fight to crush Botha's fascist racism.