JUST an hour before the clock struck midnight to mark Nelson Mandela’s 93rd birthday, a group of men went around defacing direction boards bearing the former president’s name.

The six whites went around Nelson Mandela Drive in Pretoria at about 11pm replacing the Nobel peace prize winner’s name with that of convicted murderer Clive Derby-Lewis.

Derby-Lewis is one of the two men who were convicted of killing former South African Communist Party leader Chris Hani.

Gauteng police spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Tshisikhawe Ndou said police spotted the men through Tshwane Metro Police CCTV cameras, followed and arrested them.

Ndou said the men, aged between 25 and 38 years, were charged with malicious damage to property and would appear in the Pretoria magistrate’s court today.

City of Tshwane spokesperson Console Tleane said the city “views this in a serious light. Surely, their actions were out of line with the sentiments shared by billions in the world”, Tleane said.

- The Sowetan, 19 July 2011

by Dan Roodt

On July 18 2008, Rolihlahla Mandela, otherwise known as Nelson, celebrated his ninetieth birthday with great pomp. Like so many times before, the media in South Africa, Britain and elsewhere reminded us that Mandela was a kind of Christ or Mohammed of our time.

In fact, the Johannesburg daily Beeld published a leading article on 19 July in which it stated that “we may believe that God provides us with role models such as Nelson Mandela”. According to the paper Nelson Mandela is “the most popular model of being human today”.

The Catholic church with its relatively conservative German pope, would probably hesitate to declare the man from Qunu, a rural Xhosa settlement with traditional mud huts, as a saint. However, it would not take much to persuade a current generation of politically correct Afrikaners to dismiss the New Testament in favour of Mandela’s autobiographical Long Walk to Freedom and to unabashedly start worshiping Madiba.

Most daily newspapers on 18 July contained supplements in which His Majesty Nelson I was eulogised. Also on the main Afrikaans-language radio station RSG, liberal politicians Van Zyl Slabbert and Koos van der Merwe, as well as a Mr. Owen Dean, a lawyer from Pretoria, entertained us on the major role that Mandela had played in history. According to Mr. Dean the brand “Nelson Mandela” was on a par with those of Coca Cola, McDonald’s or Sony.

In a way profit, publicity and political correctness crossed each other to create the Nelson Mandela brand. A few years ago in a more philosophical moment I spoke of contemporary brands as being drenched in a kind of pagan and divine enthusiasm. The same goes for the brand of Mandela, the Coca Cola man of international black politics.

In Johannnesburg’s posh business district known as Sandton, a bronze colossus in social-realist Soviet style was erected for him in the middle of a shopping centre called Nelson Mandela Square. In the press and on TV, he is referred to as Madiba, a term borrowed from his clan. Mandela is in fact a member of the Madiba clan that may be traced back to the Tembu chief from by that name who had governed the Transkei in the eighteenth century.

Under the apartheid system the Transkei had been an independent country reserved for the Xhosa tribe of which Mandela is a member. Despite having received more aid and government subsidies than any other province since the 1950s, the Transkei remains the poorest area in South Africa.

How on earth was someone whom we experience as an ordinary Xhosa from the backward Transkei ever deified in this way? A man who expresses himself with some difficulty in cliché-ridden English and whose only two distinctions have been his 27 years in prison and the borrowing of a Springbok rugby jersey from one of the team members during his clownish display in front of the World Cup crowd in 1995.

I can well imagine that the ordinary Afrikaner in South Africa, like his white counterpart in America, finds it hard to fathom the outburst of reverence for the colossus Mandela. In the eighties few people were aware of this existence and if foreign visitors had not embarked on the pilgrimage to Robben island now and again, the world would have forgotten him completely.

How then did the colossus Mandela come into being, out of thin air, as it were?

It is as if He – and I am sure Beeld, the London Guardian and other newspapers would love to honour or worship him further with capital letters – had floated down to earth from a cloud, wearing a halo. He is the black Moses, the father of the nation, the world president who might even have governed from the United Nations building in New York. In fact, not so long ago an international opinion poll found that if the world population had had to take part in a presidential election, Mandela would have been the most popular choice.

It is as if Mandela – or a sinister force of which he is the Mohammed or the Christ – has cast a spell on the world. Apparently Africans do possess magic powers, despite our laughing at this notion for so many years. How else did the modest prisoner who had suffered for so long in his apartheid prison attain a stature to which no leader of a major power, a George W. Bush, an Angela Merkel, a Sarkozy, a Gordon Brown, a Vladimir Putin, could aspire?

On closer analysis, the process is hardly so mysterious as it may appear to some. Mandela once said that some terrorists became heads of state. He and Fidel Castro have a lot in common, except that Castro is a man of action. Mandela, on the other hand, is mostly passive. Hy is a political monk who spent years in his jail cell after he had tried, at the behest of a few white communists such as Bram Fischer, to overthrow the then South African government under Verwoerd.

Verwoerd ruled during the quixotic sabotage plot of Mandela and his fellow accused at the Rivonia trial. He had seen our country as a Western power in Africa, in his time an efficient republic, so different to the delapidated and virtually failed Third World state that South Africa became after Mandela’s takeover. The idea that Mandela and a few boastful and swaggering Xhosas could have overthrown the state with its well-trained police force and army under white control in 1962 without the help of the Warsaw Pact countries, for example, was at the very least comical, if not downright absurd.

A few years ago Sam Nujoma of Namibia had boasted that he was able to conquer the reunified Germany militarily. More recently, Robert Mugabe described Britain as a “tiny speck” on the world map. African leaders, we know, do not shrink from making idle threats, building the occasional cathedral in the jungle or crowning themselves as the latest Napoleon, Caeser or Alexander the Great.

In this respect, the man from Qunu – an African village in the Transkei where he minded cattle as a boy – was no exception. He had been the first black lawyer in Johannesburg in the nineteen-fifties and therefore saw himself as an important man who deserved to rule the most powerful state in Africa. I can imagine that there are hordes of other minor chiefs in Africa who have already harboured similar megalomaniac thoughts.

Mandela has always reminded me of the hero of the Polish-American author Jerzy Kosinksi’s novella Being There. The book was also made into a film starring Peter Sellars in the main role. It deals with a gardener who is mentally retarded, cannot read or write, but must one day leave the garden where he has worked. Through a concatenation of circumstances, this simple, illiterate personage becomes one of the mightiest men in America and he is even considered for the post of president.

This is precisely what happened to Mandela. For years only a few left-wing Westerners displayed any sympathy for the megalomaniac who had sat, powerless, in his cell for 27 years. Mandela has never displayed the kind of strategic or intellectual acumen necessary to seize power in our country without British or American help.

He was merely the leaf in the wind, the simple gardener stumbling across the stage of history and winning the lottery. After the US civil-rights movement and especially the assassination of Martin Luther King there had existed a vacuum for some or other black leader that might be crowned by the liberal Western media as a kind of paramount chief of all Africans or blacks. If such a man had in addition been a prisoner and martyr for freedom, so much the better.

The lottery wheel spun and suddenly there was Nelson on Robben Island. From the moment that the British rockstars had taken up the cause of his liberation – which took place, incidentally, at the insistence of one man only, the Anglican priest Trevor Huddleston – Mandela underwent a metamorphosis from forgettable Xhosa megalomaniac to international superstar.

The only difference between Nelson Mandela and Brad Pitt, apart from Pitt being white, is that Mandela has never played a fictitious character in a movie. Nonetheless he is as much the darling of the Western liberal media – and then particularly the BBC and the rest of the British media who absolutely adore him – as any big name from Hollywood or the international pop music industry. Mandela does not sing, he does not play roles in films, he never says more than a few sentences, but is assured of an international audience. He is his own reality show. Thousands of journalists will analyse every nonsensical phrase or gesture from him for the hidden jewel of tolerance that might be buried within.

While Mandela went to prison because he had wanted to commit violence on a scale of which he and his cronies had been incapable, he is today honoured as a man of peace, wishing to “reconcile” black and white. His only enduring legacy is the crime pandemic that has given South Africa the highest incidence of rape in the world and the third highest murder rate (after Swaziland and Colombia). One of the first things he did as president was to release 9 000 hardened criminals from jail as part of a presidential amnesty. This tidal wave of criminals immediately started to destabilise the precarious system of law and order in South Africa.

Mandela has repeatedly launced the most vicious attacks on the West. Hy is an admirer of the retired Fidel Castro as well as colonel Muammar Ghadaffi. Yet all Europeans and Americans are besotted with him. Today over the radio some or other private corporation thought it a good idea to record children’s voices singing “Happy birthday, Madiba” in Afrikaans and broadcast it as part of an advertisment on the RSG radio station. Apparently there were complaints from some of the RSG listeners but the announcer told them that everybody was lionising Mandela on his birthday and “we were not going to escape it”.

Mandela can also be seen as a kind of “coconut” in the South African sense. Blacks call other blacks who act “too white” or who adopt white values coconuts, because they “are black on the outside, but white on the inside”. In a sense Mandela is a creation of the white imagination, particularly the white liberal imagination.

News out of Africa is usually bad. There are wars, famine, corruption, Aids, poverty and droughts in the Sahel. Most presidents and dictators of African countries live in the lap of luxury while their followers starve. The Westerner is confronted with the African reality that he cannot or does not want to understand. His conscience begs for some or other exception, a kind of proof that the converse might also be true, that there could be one good leader in Africa.

It may sound cruel, but the prison had protected Mandela in more ways than one. Not only had it protected him againste the Byzantine power struggles within the ANC, part terrorist group, part government-in-waiting financed for years by Sweden, but it had also saved him from himself. There is not a single ANC leader who is not corrupt in some way; it is simply part of the culture. In prison Mandela could not appropriate some of the much-discussed Swedish funds or embezzle Danish church money like his fellow traveler Allan Boesak.

Similarly to the main character Chance in Kosinski’s novella, he is characterised by his innocence in a morally ambiguous world. He left prison after 27 years as an innocent man. An innocent black man who had already become world famous. Could the world look such gift horse in the mouth? Of course not. Mandela’s age, too, counted in his favour. He could only serve one term as president en then he was succeeded by Thabo Mbeki who is about as popular these days in the local and international media as Robert Mugabe.

How would Mandela have handled the Zimbabwean crisis? Certainly no different to Thabo Mbeki, who has practised an indecisive policy of “silent diplomacy” for eight years. But Mandela was not president long enough to do anything, or even long enough to let people realise that he had done practically nothing at all. Ironically, Koos van der Merwe, South Africa’s longest serving member of parliament, stated in his eulogy of Mandela that “he had not tired himself with affairs of state much; he was rather a kind of father figure, the great reconciler”.

If Mandela had been younger, he would have been able to serve a second term as state president and ended up like his deputy, the discredited, unpopular and increasingly isolated Thabo Mbeki.

In launching 9 000 murderers, rapists and robbers at us, Mandela had taken a leaf out of Fidel Castro’s book. When Fidel had been criticised for the human rights situation in Cuba, he simply released all his common law prisoners from his prisons and sent them to Miami. Not only did he get rid of undesirables, but he also created an enormous problem for his biggest enemy on its home ground. The criminals amnistied by Mandela subsequently made a million whites leave South Africa, fearing crime.

Yet at a certain level Mandela is already above criticism. One may criticise almost anyone: politicians, of course, celebrities and ordinary people, even the Pope who is God’s representative on earth. The Danish cartoonists made fun of Mohammed and elicited an international furore. But to point a finger at Mandela is really sacrilege. I am probably the only columnist in South Africa and in the world not writing an obsequious hagiography on the Great Man’s ninetieth birthday.

There exist persistent rumours about Mandela’s foundations that are never properly audited. How can someone who only used to be president of South Africa for five years, earning about half the salary of a US senator during that time, have been able to maintain the life style of Tom Cruise or Tiger Woods ever since? He owns several residences in the most expensive suburbs of Johannesburg and maintains children and grandchildren, an extended family of 28. Where does his obvious wealth come from? Just to ask such a question  breaks the unwritten rule that no-one is supposed to question Mandela’s integrity.

However, the Mandela cult is an accident of world history and has nothing to do with the qualities of the man himself. Like the old Soviet Union gave us the re-education camp and proletarian science, the USA transmitted to us affirmative action and the ideology of black suffering. There was Jimmy Carter who appointed Andrew Young in 1977 as American ambassador to the UN. Young played a great role in ensuring that Robert Mugabe became president of Zimbabwe. He also said that Cuban troops in Angola provided stability to that country.

Within this international context Mandela became a myth, the selfless black leader who had been willing to risk his life in the struggle to free his people. The rise of black power from the fifties in the USA was something new in the world. So too was the independence of the African states. When Zambia was declared independent by the British, the country had something like seventeen graduates. African independence was a governmental experiment and it might still be one. The more the postcolonial African states failed, the bigger became the yearning for a black leader with just a touch of credibility.

Obama’s popularity in America can be ascribed to the same logic. We need examples of black success and integrity because we have to experience black failure and dishonesty every day, particularly in Africa. Obama and Mandela are the antitheses of Robert Mugabe, Charles Taylor and the other notorious examples of black leadership that have made of Africa the “hopeless continent” as the British “Economist” once referred to it.

However, there is also another way of understanding the deification of Madiba, or Mandela. Western culture simply does not dominate in the world anymore, contrary to what Americans and West Europeans may think. During their communist phase East Europeans also sometimes created a personality cult around their leader. Yet equality is so basic a norm in the West that whites are not able to accord divine status to one of their leaders.

Both ancient Greece and republican Rome practised a form of democracy. Any citizen of Athens could occupy political office. The Roman consul of republican Rome was referred to as the “first among equals”. During the time of Darius and Xerxes’s invasions of Greece in the fourth century B.C., both Persian leaders enjoyed divine status. Since then the excessive honours and divine status bestowed upon emperors in the Middle and Far East have been known as “Orientalism”.

One of the best examples in modern times of the contrast between Western and African leadership was recounted to me by a former employee of the South African embassy in The Hague. In the early nineties the then prime minister, Ruud Lubbers, had applied for a visa to visit South Africa. To the surprise of the embassy personnel, Lubbers came riding to the embassy on his bicycle to queue up with the ordinary people. After fetching his passport, Lubbers calmly got on his bicycle and rode off.

No African leader would ever be seen riding a humble bicycle. Whenever Robert Mugabe’s fleet of black Mercedeses with his bodyguards and cronies go anywhere, sirens whining, the rest of the road users must pull off in order to let the Great Man pass. Also in South Africa one regularly sees black politicians speeding along the highway between Pretoria and Johannesburg in a row of black Mercedeses or BMWs while the ordinary man has to make way for them.

Africa might be famished and militarily weak, but through figures like Mandela and Obama the continent is radically influencing the Western view of leadership. Mandela is the biggest paramount chief of all time who has taken the palaver from under the tree or around the campfire to extend it globally via televion – that camp fire in every living room like French philosopher Jean Baudrillard described it in his book on America. The Oriental deification of emperors was taken over by the decadent Western media and transformed into the adulation of the black chief. As heir to the Madiba clan, Mandela is the bearer of the tradition of the chief and holds his position thanks to the ancestors who protect him.

Those jubilant young people at the 46664 concert in honour of Mandela in London had only one message for us: we adore our divine chief.

The version of Nelson Mandela’s relationship to the Springbok rugby team and François Pienaar as portrayed in the Hollywood film Invictus is not accurate, according to Paul Ackford.

By Paul Ackford, Daily Telegraph, London
Published: 11:59PM GMT 12 Dec 2009

Directed by Clint Eastwood, with Morgan Freeman as Nelson Mandela and Matt Damon as Francois Pienaar, the movie purports to tell the story of how Mandela used the Springboks and the tournament as a mechanism to unite a divided nation.

The thesis of the film is that Mandela planned the campaign a year out from the World Cup to the extent that there are scenes of him in the film poring over the various qualifying groups, trying to work out who the Boks will face in the quarter-finals.

That much is poppycock. Those close to the Springbok camp at the time insist that Mandela’s involvement was much more spontaneous, though no one doubts the sincerity of his approach and the close bond he eventually formed with Pienaar which continues to this day.

Mandela’s first meeting with the South African squad came at a Bok training session in Cape Town before the opening game, which was when Hennie le Roux presented him with the Springbok cap Mandela would wear at the final.

Mandela’s other iconic item of clothing, Pienaar’s No 6 shirt, was almost an afterthought. It was the idea of Mandela’s bodyguard who called the Springbok camp on the morning of the final against New Zealand to request a shirt. The Boks were given two jerseys per game, one to wear and one to swap, and Pienaar gave his spare to Mandela.

Far from a regular presence, Mandela actually only called Pienaar on a couple of occasions throughout the tournament, once before the semi-final with France, but the two men went on to become good friends with Mandela becoming a godfather to Pienaar’s son.

Mandela was an anti-apartheid activist, and the leader of the African National Congress’s armed wing Umkhonto we Sizwe. The South African courts convicted him on charges of sabotage, as well as other crimes committed while he led the movement against apartheid.

In accordance with his conviction, Mandela served 27 years in prison, spending many of these years on Robben Island. Following his release from prison on 11 February 1990, Mandela supported reconciliation and negotiation, but instead lead the transition towards crime and violence in South Africa.

His leadership saw the start of rampant Aids, a staggering increase in rape and a dwindling life expectancy for all South Africans.

Farming has now become the most dangerous occupation in the country, with thousands of white farmers having lost their lives in a spree of hate crime since the ANC took power.

Since the end of apartheid, many have frequently praised Mandela, including former opponents. In South Africa he is often known as Madiba, an honorary title adopted by elders of Mandela’s clan. The title has come to be synonymous with Nelson Mandela.

Mandela has received more than 250 awards over four decades, most notably the 1993 Nobel Peace Prize. In November 2009, the United Nations General Assembly announced that Mandela’s birthday, 18 July, is to be known as ‘Mandela Day’ marking his contribution to world freedom.

On June 17, 1957, while Mandela had been planning the violent overthrow of the white government in South Africa, this passage was read into the US Congressional Record by Rep. Thomas G. Abernathy.

In the book A Racial Program for the Twentieth Century, published in 1913 by Israel Cohen of the Fabian Society (a follow-up to Zangwill’s Melting Pot), he wrote:

“We must realize that our Party’s most powerful weapon is racial tension. By propounding into the consciousness of the dark races, that for centuries have been oppressed by the whites, we can mold them to the program of the Communist Party … In America, we will aim for subtle victory.

While enflaming the Negro minority against the Whites, we will instill in the Whites a guilt complex for the exploitation of the Negroes. We will aid the Negroes to rise to prominence in every walk of life, in the professions, and in the world of sports and entertainment. With this prestige, the Negroes will be able to intermarry with the Whites, and begin a process which will deliver America to our cause.”

When confronted with his numerous anti-white remarks, Mandela denied his racial bigotry and qualified his various statements thus:

“We are not anti-white, we are against white supremacy …”
Nelson Mandela, defence statement during the Treason Trial, 1961.

“…the only [other] thing my father bestowed upon me at birth was a name, Rolihlahla. In Xhosa, Rolihlahla literally means ‘pulling the branch of a tree’, but its colloquial meaning more accurately would be ‘troublemaker’.”
Nelson Mandela, Long Walk To Freedom, 1994.

Text of the handwritten Manuscript:
HOW TO BE A GOOD COMMUNIST

by

Nelson Mandela

INTRODUCTION

A Communist is a member of the Communist Party who understands and accepts the theory and practice of Marxism-Leninism as explained by Marx, Engels, Lenin and Stalin , and who subjects himself to the discipline of the Party. (See notes 1, 2, 3 & 4)

The goal of Communism is a classless society based on the principle: from each according to his ability and to each according to his needs. The aim is to change the present world into a Communist world where there will be no exploiters and no exploited, no oppressor and oppressed, no rich and no poor. Communists fight for a world where there will be no unemployment, no poverty and starvation, disease and ignorance. In such a world there will be no capitalists, no imperialists, no fascists. There will be neither colonies nor wars.

In our own country, the struggles of the oppressed people are guided by the South African Communist Party and inspired by its policies. The aim of the S.A.C.P. is to defeat the Nationalist government and to free the people of South Africa from the evils of racial discrimination and exploitation and to build a classless or socialist society in which the land, the mines, the mills, our . . . . . . . (unreadable)

Under a Communist Party Government South Africa will become a land of milk and honey. Political, economic and social rights will cease to be enjoyed by Whites only. They will be shared equally by Whites and Non-Whites. There will be enough land and houses for all. There will be no unemployment, starvation and disease.

Workers will earn decent wages; transport will be cheap and education free. There will be no pass laws, no influx control, no Police raids for passes and poll tax, and Africans, Europeans, Coloureds and Indians will live in racial peace and perfect equality.

The victory of Socialism in the U.S.S.R., in the Peoples Republic of China, in Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Poland and Rumania, where the living conditions of the people were in many respects similar and even worse than ours, proves that we too can achieve this important goal.

Communists everywhere fight to destroy capitalist society and to replace it with Socialism, where the masses of the common people, irrespective of race or colour, will live in complete equality, freedom and happiness. They seek to revolutionise society and are thus called revolutionaries. Those who support capitalism with its class divisions and other evils and who oppose our just struggles to end oppression are called counter revolutionaries.

Comrade Liu Hao Schi, member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, says:

we Communist Party members are the most advanced revolutionaries in modern history and are the contemporary fighting and driving force in changing society and the world. Revolutionaries exist because counter-revolutionaries still exist. Therefore, to conduct a ceaseless struggle against the counter-revolutionaries constitutes an essential condition for the existence and development of revolutionaries. If they fail to carry on such a struggle, they cannot be called revolutionaries and still less can they advance and develop. It is in the course of this … [that] … members change society, change the world and at the same time change themselves.

To succeed in conducting a ceaseless struggle against the counter-revolutionaries, and to be able to play the vital role of being the most advanced revolutionary and driving force in changing society and the world, one must put all else aside and seriously and faithfully undertake self-cultivation.

THE PROCESS OF SELF-CULTIVATION

The process of self-cultivation involves two elements:

(a) One’s steeling in the practical struggle of the oppressed people, and

(b) the cultivation of one’s ideas.

(a) ONE’S STEELING IN THE PRACTICAL STRUGGLES OF THE OPPRESSED PEOPLE.

To become the most advanced communist revolutionary, it is not enough to understand and accept the theory of Marxism-Leninism. In addition, one must take part in the practical struggles of the people against oppression and exploitation. A person who is isolated from the people’s struggles, an arm-chair politician however deep his knowledge of Marxist theory might be, is not a communist revolutionary.

It is only in the course of such practical struggles that one’s advancement and development is stimulated, that one acquires the necessary experience to guide the masses of the people in their political battles and the art and skill of being a driving force in changing society and the world. It is precisely for this reason that SACP requires its members to participate fully and without reservations in such issues as the Anti-Pass Campaigns, the struggle against Bantu Authorities, against job reservation, the Group Areas Act and in all other mass campaigns.

By consistently taking part in such struggles, Party members who may ……… whatsoever, gain valuable knowledge and get hardened for the stern mass struggles that are part and parcel of the life of every Communist revolutionary.

(b) THE CULTIVATION OF ONE’S IDEAS

Participation (in) practical mass struggles does (not) in itself enable a Party member to raise his revolutionary qualities, nor does it help him to understand the (aims) of the development of society and the laws of the revolution. Progress in one’s revolutionary qualities and knowledge of the laws of social development and the laws of the revolution will be achieved by a thorough understanding of the meaning of Marxism.

It is thus absolutely imperative for all Party members to have to make a serious study of Marxist philosophy and to master it completely. Only in this way will Party members become the most advanced revolutionaries. Only in this way will they advance and develop.

The aim of studying Marxist philosophy is to enable us to direct more effectively revolutionary mass struggles. To put it in a nutshell, Marxism is a guide to action.

Communist Party members must undertake self-cultivation whether they are new members in the Party or old ones, whether they are workers, peasants, businessmen, professional men or intellectuals, and whether they are conducting difficult or easy revolutionary mass campaigns; in victory or defeat.

Finally, self-cultivation must be imaginative and practical, and must be used to eliminate from one’s outlook and conduct unhealthy tendencies which local conditions may give rise to.

South Africa is a country where the Whites dominate politically, economically and socially and where Africans, Coloureds and Indians are treated as inferiors. It is a country torn asunder by racial strife and where black and white chauvinism finds fertile soil in which it thrives and where efforts and appeals for working-class solidarity very often fall on deaf ears.

The pamphlet compiled by the S.A.C.P. to mark the fortieth anniversary of the Communist Party of South Africa which preceded the S.A.C.P. and which was declared illegal in 1950 correctly points out that, in spite of all the formidable difficulties that face it, the C.P.S.A. had in its existence brought about profound changes in the thinking and political outlook of the oppressed people of South Africa. These achievements are being expanded and further developed by the S.A.C.P.; the worthy successor of the C.P.S.A. In spite of these advances, however, there is still the danger that the historical problems and prejudices produced by capitalist society in our country may infiltrate into our Party and influence the political outlook of our Party members.

In cultivating their outlook, our members must consciously strive to remove these particular weaknesses and shortcomings as well.

This is what we mean when we say Party members must undertake self-cultivation

2. HOW TO BECOME THE BEST PUPILS OF MARX, ENGELS, LENIN AND STALIN.

At the beginning of these lectures, we defined a communist as a member of the Communist Party who understands and accepts the theory and practice of Marxism, Leninism as explained by Marx, Engels, Lenin and Stalin.

Any person may become a member of the Communist Party if he accepts the Programme and Constitution of the Party, pays Party membership fees and undertakes tasks given to him in one of the Party’s organisations. These are called the minimum qualifications that every Party member must possess, but every one of our members should not be content to be a member of minimum qualifications He must strive to become a member of maximum qualifications. Every Party member should raise his revolutionary qualities in every respect to the same level as those of Marx, Engels, Lenin and Stalin.

Some say that it is impossible to acquire the great qualities of revolutionary geniuses like Marx, Engels, Lenin and Stalin and that it is impossible to raise our own qualities to the same level as theirs. But as long as Party members work hard and earnestly, never allow themselves to be isolated for one single moment from the day to day struggle of the people, and make serious efforts to study Marxist literature, learn from the experiences of other comrades and the masses of the people, and constantly strive to steel and cultivate themselves, they will be perfectly able to raise their qualities to the same level as that of Marx, Engels, Lenin and Stalin.

There are two ways of studying Marxism. One is to learn it by heart and be able to repeat mechanically the information learnt without being able to use this information for the purpose of solving problems. The second is to try to master the essence, spirit and methods of Marxism. In this second category belongs those comrades who read over and over again Marxist literature, who pay special attention to the concrete conditions existing in the country where they live and draw their own conclusions, their …… activities, their attitude towards other comrades and the masses of the people, and the whole of their lives are guided by the principles of Marxism-Leninism and aimed at one thing – national liberation, the victory of the working class, the liberation of mankind, the success of Communism and nothing else.

To reach this goal calls for a supreme effort and an iron will. It means complete dedication to the struggle for the removal of oppression and exploitation and for lifelong dedication to the study of Marxism.

3. THE ASPECTS AND METHODS OF CULTIVATION

Cultivation must be carried out in all aspects in the course of the long and strenuous struggle to free the working class and the masses of the people from capitalist exploitation. Cultivation is needed in studying Marxism and in applying it to answer questions and to solve practical problems, in sharpening one’s class outlook and political thinking, in shaping one’s moral character and behaviour; in hard work and ability to withstand hardship, in preserving the unity of the Party and conducting inner party struggle; in loyalty to the Party and complete dedication to the cause of the Communist Revolution.

The life of a Communist revolutionary is no bed of roses. It consists of serious studies in Marxist literature, of hard work and of constant participation in numerous and endless mass struggles. He has no time for worldly pleasures and his whole life is devoted to one thing, and one thing only, the destruction of capitalist society, the removal of all forms of exploitation and the liberation of mankind.

A Communist revolutionary always combines thought with practice. He studies for the sole purpose of putting into practice what he has learnt. He regards Marxism, as ….. action and takes part fully and without reservation in mass struggles directed by the party or by other political organisation outside of the Party.

In South Africa, a Communist Party member must take part in mass struggles initiated by the S.A.C.P., the Congress movement or by other political bodies within the liberation movement.

4. RELATION BETWEEN THE STUDY OF MARXIST-LENINIST THEORY AND THE IDEOLOGICAL CULTIVATION OF PARTY MEMBERS.

It is commonly thought that one’s intelligence, ability and the study of Marxist text-books are in themselves enough to enable one to master the theory and method of Marxism-Leninism. Nothing could be further from the truth. Dealing with this point, Liu Shao Chu says: -

“Marxism-Leninism is the science of the proletarian revolution. It can be thoroughly understood and mastered only by those who fully take the proletarian standpoint and who adopt the ideals of the proletariat as their own. It is impossible for anyone to thoroughly understand and master the Marxist science of the proletariat only by means of his intellect and strenuous study if he lacks the firm standpoint and …. ideals of the proletariat. This is also an obvious truth. Therefore, in studying the theory and method of Marxism-Leninism today, it is necessary that our study proceeds simultaneously with our ideological cultivation and steeling because without the theory and method of Marxism-Leninism, we should have nothing to guide our thoughts and actions and our ideological cultivation would also be impossible. These two are closely related to each other, and are inseparable.”

We do need Communist Party members who are highly intelligent and who have ability and who make it their business to have a thorough understanding of Marxist theory. But a working class revolution will be carried out successfully by those Party members who, in addition to the characteristics mentioned above, adopt without reservation, the standpoint and ideals of the working class.

Although they may be unable to recite quotations from Marxist textbooks, experience shows that Party members of working class origin have a keener interest and deeper understanding of Marxism-Leninism than those Party members of student origin provided it is explained to them in words they understand. In loyalty to the Party, in discipline and in the handling of practical problems, they often prove more correct and more in conformity with the Principles of Marxism-Leninism than others.

This is so because Party members of working class origin have a firm and pure Communist standpoint and ideals, an objective attitude towards things, and in their minds they have no preconceived ideas whatsoever, and no worries about personal problems or about impure matters.

Party members who lack a firm working class outlook, who have the habits and ….. of other classes and who have personal interests and selfish ideas are not true Communists. As a matter of fact they very often find that Marxist-Leninism principles will clash with their interests, and they invariably try to distort these principles to suit their own personal interests and prejudices.

Every Communist revolutionary must therefore, firmly adopt the standpoint and ideology of the working class. Unless he does this, it is not possible for him to understand the universal truth of Marxism-Leninism.

5. THE CAUSE OF COMMUNISM IS THE GREATEST AND MOST ARDUOUS CAUSE IN THE HISTORY OF MANKIND.

On Page One of this section we found out that our aim is to change the present world into a Communist world where there will be no exploiters and exploited, no oppressor and oppressed, no rich and poor. We also make the point that the victory of Socialism in the U.S.S.R., in China and other States in Asia and Eastern Europe proves that a Communist world is capable of attainment. Moreover, since the victory of Socialism in the U.S.S.R. in 1917, the Socialist camp has grown to become a world force with a population of more than 1,000 million and occupying a third of the globe.

But in spite of this victorious advance, the Communist movement still faces powerful enemies which must be crushed and wiped out from the face of the earth before a Communist world can be realised. Without a hard and bitter and long struggle against capitalism and exploitation, there can be no Communist world.

The cause of Communism is the greatest cause in the history of mankind, because it seeks to remove from society all forms of oppression and exploitation to liberate mankind, and to ensure peace and prosperity to all.

A Communist revolution is different from all other revolutions in history. Whereas in other revolutions the seizure of State Power is an end in itself, in a Communist revolution the seizure of State Power by the working class is a means to an end, that end being the total removal of all forms of exploitation, the liberation of mankind by building up a classless society.

Every Communist Party member must possess the greatest courage and revolutionary determination and must be prepared to play his part and carry out all political tasks without fear or hesitation.

In the struggle to transform the present world into a Communist world, we must strive consistently to combine theory with practice.

Finally, WE must live and develop in reality in fighting to change the world, we must start from the very people in close contact with us. We must thoroughly study our own situation and problems, understand them completely and work out appropriate solutions.

6. THE UNCONDITIONAL SUBORDINATION OF THE PERSONAL INTERESTS OF A PARTY MEMBER TO THE INTERESTS OF THE PARTY.

A Communist Party member must subordinate his personal interests to those of the Party. The Communist Party has no interests of its own apart from those of the working class. Therefore, the subordination of a Party member’s personal interests to the Party’s interests means subordination to the interests of the working class.

We test a Communist Party member’s loyalty to the Party, to the revolution and the Communist cause by the manner in which he absolutely and unconditionally subordinates his interests to those of the Party under all circumstances. To sacrifice one’s personal interests and even one’s life without hesitation for the cause of the Party is the highest manifestation of Communist ethics.

In the Party our members should not have personal aims independent of the Party’s interests. The desire for personal power and positions, individual heroism, conflict with the interests of the Party and the working class.

A true communist should possess the following characteristics:

(i) He must posses very good Communist ethics.

He can show love and loyalty to all his Comrades, revolutionaries and working people, help them unconditionally, treat them with equality and never harm any one of them.

He always tries to do more revolutionary work than others and to fight harder. In times of adversity he will stand out courageously and unflinchingly and, in the face of difficulties he will demonstrate the greatest sense of responsibility. He is able to resist corruption by riches or honours, to resist tendencies to vacillate in spite of poverty and lowly states and to refuse to yield in spite of threats of force.

(ii) He possess(es) the greatest courage. He can see his mistakes and shortcomings and has sufficient willpower to correct them. At all times and under all circumstances he speaks the truth and nothing but the truth. He courageously fights for it even when it is temporarily to his disadvantage to do so.

(iii) He has a thorough understanding of the theory and method of Marxism-Leninism. He has an objective attitude.

(iv) He is the most sincere, most candid and happiest of men. Apart from the interests of the Party and of the revolution he has no personal losses or gains or other things to worry about. He takes care not to do wrong things when he works independently and without supervision and when there is ample opportunity for him to do all kinds of wrong things.

He does not fear criticism from others and he can courageously and sincerely criticise others.

(v) He possesses the highest self-respect and self-esteem. For the interest of the party and of the revolution, he can also be the most lenient, most tolerant and most ready to compromise and he will even endure if necessary, various forms of humiliation and injustice without feeling hurt or bearing grudges.

The Communist Party represents not only the interests of individual Party members but also the long-range interests of the entire body of workers and the emancipation of mankind; the Communist Party has no other interests and aims. The Party must not be regarded as a narrow small group like a guild which seeks only the personal interests of its members. Whoever holds such a view is not a Communist.

A member of our Party is no longer just an ordinary person. He is a conscious vanguard fighter of the working class. He should prove himself a conscious living representative of the interests and ideology of the working class. He should thoroughly merge his personal interests and aims in the general interests and aims of the Party and the working class.

A communist revolutionary has his personal interests and the Party should neither eliminate his personality nor prevent personal development, as long as these do not conflict with the interests of the Party.

This is what is meant by the unconditional subordination of the personal interest of a Party member to the interests of the Party.

7. EXAMPLES AND ORIGIN OF THE VARIOUS KINDS OF ERRONEOUS IDEOLOGIES IN THE PARTY.

(i) People who join the Communist Party come from different classes of society and bring with them various habits which often clash with the basic tenets of Marxism-Leninism. Because these people do not have a firm and clear cut Communist outlook they very often waver and even desert the Party when they are faced with danger or difficulties.

The Party must pay particular attention to the education, steeling and self-cultivation of such comrades since without them, they cannot develop to be true Communists. No Communist Party anywhere in the world limits its membership only to those who have a thorough understanding of Communism. The Party will admit any person who accepts the programme of the Party and its Constitution. By serious study and hard work such comrades can develop into excellent Communists ready to give their lives for the Party and the Communist cause …. individualism and self interests in their work. In their attitude and work they place their personal interests above the Party’s interests, they worry about personal gains, they use the Party for their own personal interests.

They always want special treatment, less work and more pay. They avoid hard work and hardship; and will disappear at the first signs of danger, and yet they will want to share the honours won by their comrades for the Party through sacrifice and hard work.

Individualism frequently expresses itself in unprincipled discussions and disputes, factional struggles and in sectarian tendencies and in undermining Party discipline. A closely related mistake is that of departmentalism, in which a comrade sees only partial interests, sees only his part of the work instead of seeing the situation as a whole and of the work of others. It often leads to obstruction and must be avoided.

(iii) Others show conceit, individual heroism and like to show off. Liu Shao Chi says of these people: -

The first consideration of people with such ideas is their position in the Party. They like to show off, and want others to flatter them and admire them. They have a personal ambition to become leaders. They take advantage of their abilities and like to claim credit; to show off themselves; to keep everything in their hands and they are intolerant. They are full of vanity, do not want to keep their heads in hard work and are unwilling to do technical work. They are haughty. When they have made some small achievements they become very arrogant and domineering as if there were no one else like them in the world. They seek to overshadow others and cannot treat others on equal terms, modestly and politely. They are self conceited and like to lecture others, to instruct and boss others. They are always trying to climb above others, and do not accept directions from others, do not learn modestly from others and …….. from the masses, nor do they accept criticism from others. They like to be “promoted” but cannot stand being “demoted”.

“They can only work in fair weather but not in foul. They cannot bear attacks on injustices and are unable to adapt themselves to circumstances. They are no great men capable of asserting themselves when necessary or of keeping in the background when required. They have not yet got rid of their deep-rooted “desire for fame” and they try to build themselves up into “great men” and “heroes” in the Communist cause, and even have no scruples in employing any means for the gratification of such desires. However, when their aims cannot be achieved, when they …….. treatment from comrades in the Party, there is a possible danger of their wavering. In the minds of such persons there exists remnants of the ideology of the exploiting classes. They do not understand the greatness of Communism, nor do they have the broad vision of a Communist.

A Communist should have none of these shortcomings. Whoever possesses such weaknesses does not understand Communism and cannot rise to become as great as Lenin. In the Communist Party leaders achieve success through mass support. Mass support is earned by those Party members who have no personal interests as against those of the working class and the Party who are completely loyal to the Party, who have a high degree of Communist ethics and revolutionary qualities, who strive to master the theory and methods of Marxism-Leninism, who have considerable practical ability, who can actually direct Party work, who are not afraid of serious study and love work, and who become heroes and leaders in the Communist revolution because of the confidence and support they enjoy from the masses of the people.

The struggle to change the …….. world into a Communist world cannot be carried out by one person however able he may be and however hard he works. It can be carried out successfully only by the planned and combined efforts of millions of people.

Some Party members are contemptuous of technical work within the Party. Such an attitude is incorrect because technical work forms an important part of Party work and because a Party member should be ready and willing to do any work which is important to the Party whether or no(t) he likes to do such work.

(iv) Other comrades within the Party reflect the ideology of the exploiting classes. In their Party work and in their relations with other Party members they behave like landlords, capitalists, and fascists.

These persons seek to develop themselves by holding down others. They are jealous of those who are more capable. They are not prepared to work under other comrades or to take instructions. They secretly rejoice when other comrades fail in their political tasks and in their moral standards and conduct. They indulge in gossip and spread false information about their comrades. These are the characteristics of exploiting classes and are …….. the working class and the Party. They should be fought and exposed wherever they are found.

The working class is entirely different from the exploiting class. It does not exploit others nor does its interests conflict with those of the Party and other workers of exploited masses.

The outlook and thinking of the working class are altogether different from those of the exploiting classes. In dealing with the enemies of the people they are merciless and uncompromising, but in dealing with their comrades they are always inspired by love and the desire to assist. They are strict with themselves but lenient towards other comrades. They are strict and firm on matters of principle and always adopt a frank and serious attitude. This is the outlook of the working class and should be learnt and developed by every Party member.

(v) Some comrades still have bureaucratic tendencies. They like to run the Party by issuing edicts and directives without …….. without taking into account the views of other comrades. They resent criticism and are very harsh in dealing with other comrades. Such weaknesses are unmarxist and every communist should strive to overcome them completely.

Furthermore a Party member should be broad minded and concern himself always with the overall situation when dealing with problems. He should avoid pettiness and unprincipled discussion. He should have …….. standpoint and not a fence sitter.

Although the Communist Party is the most progressive of all political parties, and although it fights for a society which guarantees happiness and prosperity to millions of people, not everything in it is perfect. In spite of the fact that its members are the world’s most conscious and progressive revolutionaries with the highest sense of morality and righteousness, there are still defects in the Party and some of its members do not measure up to the qualifications of a Communist revolutionary. The explanation for this state of affairs lies in the fact that every Communist Party member emerges out of the very society whose evils it seeks to remove. Its members come from the various classes of that society and some of them bring into the Party the habits, prejudices and outlook on life of the class from which they came. It is precisely for this reason that Communist Party members must undertake self-cultivation.

In addition to waging struggles against counter-revolutionary forces, the Party must carry on inner-Party struggles against those comrades who are still influenced by the outlook and prejudices of the exploiting classes.

The working class is commonly referred to as the proletariat. The working class can be divided into three groups:

(i) The first group is composed of those who completely severed their ties with the capitalist class years ago. This is the core of the working class and are the most loyal and reliable.

(ii) The second group consists of those who only recently came from the non-working class, who came from the …….. the middle class and the …….. They are usually anarchistic and ultra-left.

(iii) The third group is composed of the working class aristocracy, those working class members who are best provided for, who earn high wages and whose economic position is comparatively high. They compromise easily with the enemies of the people, with the capitalist class.

Every Party member should aim to be the most loyal and reliable to the cause of Communism and to have a firm and clear-cut working class outlook.

8. THE ATTITUDE TOWARDS VARIOUS ERRONEOUS IDEOLOGIES IN THE PARTY AND INNER PARTY STRUGGLE.

Some Party members have a pessimistic view on things and they see errors, defects and a future beset with formidable difficulties and dangers. The growing strength of the socialist camp, the power influence exerted by our Party in our own country and the certainty of the final victory of Communism over Capitalism inspire them with no hope in the future.

Others see only victory and progress, and fail altogether to notice defects and errors in the Party. They become dizzy with success, become blindly optimistic and become less vigilant.

Both views are un-marxist. A Communist Party member knows that the Communist Party is the most progressive and most revolutionary Party in the world. He has complete confidence in the future and he dedicates his entire career to the cause of Communism. In spite of this knowledge he realises most clearly that in our Party there are still various kinds of errors, defects and undesirable things. A Party member clearly understands the origin of these errors and the method to be used in removing them.

The following are the various kinds of attitudes towards undesirable things in the Party:

(i) To enjoy seeing errors and defects in the Party and to magnify them to undermine the Party. This is the attitude of spies and similar elements within the Party.

(ii) Some people consider that the existence of errors and defects in the Party is to their advantage and they deliberately help to spread them and to make use of them. This is the attitude adopted by opportunists and similar elements within the Party.

(iii) To leave these errors and defects undisturbed instead of fighting against them. This is the course followed by those members who have but a weak sense of duty towards the Party and who have bureaucratic tendencies.

(iv) To harbour violent hatred towards errors and defects and towards Party members whose political outlook is incorrect. They believe in bitter struggles among Party members and expel their comrades at the slightest pretext. This is the method used by Party comrades who do not correctly understand the methods of correcting mistakes and weakness amongst comrades.

All these attitudes are incorrect and dangerous and should be scrupulously avoided by Communists. Our own attitude is as follows: -

(i) We first analyse the situation most thoroughly and decide which views are correct and which of them are incorrect and dangerous to the Party. Once we are convinced of the correct opinion we firmly uphold it to the bitter end and no matter how strong the opposition and how influential the individuals who hold the opposite point of view.

(ii) Having carefully analysed the situation and having decided which is the correct opinion, we then devote our attention to the promotion and development of the correct viewpoint. We never allow ourselves to be influenced by an incorrect point of view.

(iii) Communists are men of action. In promoting and developing the correct viewpoint we also fight actively against all the undesirable things in life. A Party member who is afraid of action and hard struggle, however brilliant he might be, can never be a Communist revolutionary. A Communist must always and under all circumstances, be ready and willing to conduct an active struggle against all forms of reaction.

(iv) Although a Communist never compromises on questions of principle, he never adopts an inflexible and mechanical attitude in his methods of struggle. The aim is always to reform and educate those comrades who still possess non-Communist tendencies.

(v) The elimination of undesirable tendencies in the Party and the building up of revolutionary qualities in our members enhances the discipline and prestige of the Party. Those Party members who fail to respond to the most patient persuasion and to efforts to educate and reform them, should be expelled from the Party.

As indicated at the very beginning of this series, a Communist is a member of the Communist Party who understands and accepts the theory and practice of Marxism-Leninism as expounded by Marx, Engels, Lenin and Stalin, and who subjects himself to the discipline of the Party. A good Communist is therefore one who:

(i) Is a member of the Communist Party who is absolutely faithful and loyal to the Party, who obeys without question all Party rules and regulations and who carries out all instructions issued by the Party.

(ii) Has thoroughly studied the works of Marx, Engels, Lenin and Stalin, who understands them clearly and who knows how to carry out their teachings in the struggles of the people to defeat capitalism and all forms of exploitation.

(iii) Devotes all his time to one thing, and one thing only, the struggle against Capitalism and for a Communist world.

(iv) In their relations with Party comrades are always inspired by love and sincere friendship and the desire to be helpful.

(v) Are honest and upright and who are prepared to defend the truth at all times and under all circumstances.

Such is a good Communist.

DIALECTICAL MATERIALISM

Dialectical Materialism is the revolutionary philosophy of the Communist Party and the working class.

Dialectical Materialism was founded by Marx and Engels and is discussed and explained in the works of Lenin and other prominent leaders of the Communist Movement.

It is a dialectical philosophy because it studies things concretely and objectively and because its approach on all things in nature is always based on data established through scientific investigation and experience.

It is materialistic because it holds the view that the world is by its very nature material and that the numerous things and processes we see in the world constitute different forms of matter in motion.

In ancient times dialectics was the art of arriving at the truth by disclosing the contradictions in the argument of an opponent and solving these contradictions. This dialectical method of establishing truth was later extended to the study of nature. Using the dialectical method of study and investigation, mankind discovered that all things in nature are always in motion and always changing, and that nature develops as the result of contradictions in nature itself.

DIALECTICAL METHOD

The dialectical method has four main features:

(1) The dialectical method considers that nothing can be understood taken by itself in isolation from other things or from its surrounding circumstances. A thing must always be studied and understood in relation to its environment or circumstances.

(2) The dialectical method considers everything as in a state of continuous movement and change, of renewal and development, where something is always arising and developing and something always falls into pieces or is dying away.

(3) The dialectical method holds that the process of development should be understood as an onward and upward movement, as a transition from an old qualitative state to a new qualitative state, as a development from the simple to the complex, from the lower to the higher.

(4) The dialectical method holds that internal contradictions are inherent in all things in nature. Everything has its positive and negative side, a past and future. In nature there is always something dying away and something developing. The struggle between the opposites, between the positive and the negative, between the past and the future, between the old and the new, between that which is dying away and that which is being born, is the sole reason for development and change.

Historical materialism is the application of the principles of dialectical materialism to the study of society and its history.

A Communist must strive to master completely the principles of the dialectical method discussed above and use them as a guide in his political work.

Dealing with the first proposition mentioned above, the principle of considering things in relation to actual conditions and circumstances and not apart from these actual circumstances, is always of vital importance to a Communist in deciding the simplest policy questions. A Communist is useless to our movement if he deals with policy questions in the abstract without taking into account the actual circumstances in relation to which policy has to be implemented, without understanding that the same policy can be right in one case and wrong in another depending on the concrete circumstances of each case.

In their struggle against race discrimination the oppressed people of South Africa have in the past followed a policy of peace and non-violence. They still seek peaceful solutions and they will do everything in their power to avoid violent strife and bloody revolution. But a blind and mechanical application of this policy, irrespective of actual conditions and circumstances can lead to defeat and disaster for our movement. In the past the people were able to conduct successful non-violent struggles because opportunities were available for peaceful agitation and struggle. But the policy of the Nationalist Government, which forcibly suppresses the peaceful struggles of the people, has created new conditions under which non-violent and peaceful methods of struggle have become inadequate to advance the struggle of the people and to defend their rights. Under these new conditions it is easy to understand why the masses of the people are searching for a new formula of political struggle which will enable them to hit back effectively and end the violent and reactionary policies of the Government. Whilst in the past it was correct to preach non-violence, under present conditions it is not correct to go on stressing it as if nothing has changed. There is nothing sacred or inherently superior about non-violent methods of struggle. So long as they are effective weapons to fight for freedom and democracy, they must be employed fully, but it would be wrong to persist with them mechanically once conditions demand modifications.

The second proposition is equally important. If the world is in a state of constant movement and development, if the dying away of the old and the upgrowth of the new is a law of development, then it follows that no system of society is permanent and everlasting. Just as primitive communal society was replaced by slave society, and just as slave society was replaced by feudalism, and feudalism by capitalism, so will capitalism be replaced by socialism. This is what happened for instance, in Albania, Bulgaria, China, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, North Korea, Rumania, Russia and North Vietnam. In all these countries the capitalist system was overthrown and replaced by socialism. In our own country capitalism cannot and will not last indefinitely.

The people of South Africa, led by the S.A.C.P. will destroy capitalist society and build in its place socialism where there will be no exploitation of man by man, and where there will be no rich and poor, no unemployment, starvation, disease and ignorance.

According to the third proposition of dialectical method, the process of development should be understood as an onward and upward movement, as a transition from the lower to the higher and from the simple to the complex. Hence the transition from capitalism to socialism and the liberation of the working class from the yoke cannot be effected by slow changes or by reforms as reactionaries and liberals often advise, but by revolution. One therefore, must be a revolutionary and not a reformist.

Finally, if development and change in things take place by way of collision between opposite forces, then it is clear that the struggle between workers and capitalists is natural and unavoidable. Hence we must not try to preach peace and harmony between workers and capitalists. We must stimulate and encourage class struggle. We must call upon workers to conduct a ceaseless war against the capitalist class and for socialism.

MATERIALISM

The philosophy of materialism as expounded by Marx is a way of explaining all questions, and is irreconcilably opposed to idealism. Two examples are given to illustrate the difference between the two methods of materialism and idealism, namely, what causes thunderstorms and why are some people rich and others poor?

An idealist would answer by saying that thunderstorms are due to the anger of God and that some people are rich and others poor because God made them so. The materialist, on the other hand seeks for an explanation of the natural forces and in the material and economic conditions of normal life. To a materialist, thunderstorms are due solely to natural forces and not to the anger of the Gods. He would explain that some people are poor because they are compelled by material conditions to work for low wages for the rest of their lives for the rich who own the means of production – the land, its mineral resources and its forests, the banks, mills and factories, transport and other systems of communication.

These differences have important practical results. If we accept the idealist’s explanation of thunderstorms, and of why some people are rich whilst others are poor, then there is nothing we can do about the matter except to sit, arms folded and pray to God. If we accept the materialist’s explanation, however, we will take precautions against thunderstorms such as building lightning conductors. Instead of accepting our poverty as the will of God, we will stand up and fight to put an end to a system of society which condemns us to lifelong poverty and misery.

Materialism and idealism are irreconcilably opposed. Materialism teaches: -

(1) That the world is by its very nature material. In other words the things we see in the world are composed of matter.

(2) That matter is something we can see with our naked eyes or by the aid of scientific instruments.

(3) That the world and its laws are capable of being known. That although there are things which are not yet known, such things will yet be known through scientific investigation and experience.

Idealism is essentially a belief in superstition, in the mysterious. It goes hand in hand with religion. It prevents clear thinking and confuses people. For ages it has been used by the exploiting classes to prevent the common people from thinking for themselves. It is a philosophy of the ruling classes and not of the working class. It is not the philosophy of people who fight for freedom. The philosophy of the working class is dialectical materialism, the only philosophy which is based on truth, and which is scientific and practical.

POLITICAL ECONOMY

Political economy explains how men get their living.

It deals with the production and distribution among human beings of food, clothing, shelter, fuel and other things essential to human life.

An important feature about production is that it is always in a state of change and development. Furthermore changes in the mode of production inevitably result in changes in the whole system of society, in the ideas of that society, in its political views and in its political institutions. To put it simply, at different stages of development people lead a different sort of life.

Five main modes of production and five main types of society are known to history. These are primitive communal society, slave society, feudal society, capitalist society and socialist society.

PRIMITIVE COMMUNAL SOCIETY

Under primitive communal society, men of the village went out together to hunt for the animals, to fish and gather the fruit that grew wild. The land and forests in which they hunted and picked up wild fruits, the rivers in which they fished, belonged to the whole community and not to any particular individual property and was shared equally by all. For clothes they used the skins of the animals they killed, and for shelter they used caves and rocks. Their tools consisted mainly of a hunting spear and trap and of a fishing net.

This is how man produced food and shelter under primitive communal society.

There were no classes. There were no rich or poor, no exploitation of man by man, and all were equal before the law. The affairs of the village were discussed publicly in a village council and all members of that community could attend the meetings and take part fully in the discussions. In times of war they killed their prisoners. They could not enslave or exploit them because they had no food to feed them with. In those days man could only produce enough food to feed himself and could not afford slaves.

The only division of labour that existed was between the sexes. The men hunted wild animals and gathered wild fruits whilst the women managed the house, looked after children and cooked the food.

This is the sort of life man led during primitive communal …….. the earliest mode of production known in history.

SLAVE SOCIETY

In course of time some tribes developed new means of producing food and this change in the method of producing food enabled men to lead a different sort of life. They began to sow seed and rear cattle so that they should have food ready at hand whenever they wanted it. Primitive agriculture began to develop and there arose differentiation between the tribes. Some still concentrated on hunting as the principal method of producing food, but others became pastoral farmers. The latter could now produce more than required for their personal needs. They became rich in cattle and began accumulating wealth. Under these new conditions men captured in war were not killed as in former days. Now they were needed to plough the lands of their captors, to look after their wealth and to produce more wealth for the slave owners.

The division of society into classes had begun.

The land and forests in which men used to hunt in former times, and the rivers in which they fished no longer belonged to the whole community but to the slave owners. The common and free labour of all members of the tribe in the production process, which existed under primitive communal society, had now disappeared; in its place there was now the forced labour of the slaves who were exploited by their masters. There was no common ownership of the means of production or of the fruits of production. Common ownership was replaced by private ownership.

Rich and poor, exploiters and exploited, people with full rights and people without rights, and a fierce class struggle – such were the conditions under slave society.

The emergence of private property, of contrasting extremes of enormous wealth on one side and dire poverty on the other, and the class hostility that resulted, made it necessary for the slave owners to build an instrument which they could use to protect their properties and their wealth and to crush slave revolts by force. It was under these circumstances that the exploiting classes created the army, the police force, the courts and the prisons and made laws. These things put together are called the State which is an instrument used by the exploiting classes to compel others to give in to their will.

The State will last as long as class society exists. Only under Communism will the State disappear. In primitive communal society, order and discipline were maintained by tradition and custom and by force of public opinion. It was not necessary to rely on an instrument of force to suppress others. In exactly the same way, under Communism there will be no State because mankind will have reached a high level of political and cultural development and responsibility.

A significant development during slave society was the emergence of commodity production. Articles produced not for the personal use of the producer, but for exchange, are called commodities. This was a development of tremendous importance and we will discuss it very fully when we deal with capitalist society.

This was then the mode of primitive life under slave society. The system of society had changed, the people led a different way of life, new political ideas and new political institutions had arisen.

FEUDAL SOCIETY

Feudal society developed out of slave society and was essentially an agricultural mode of production.

There were two main classes in feudal society. These were the Lords and the Serfs.

As in slave society, the means of production were owned by the lord of the estate. The serf was in a slightly better position than the slave because the lord did not have the power of life and death over him, and also because the serf owned the tools he used to plough the lands of his lord.

He was however, subject to cruel exploitation and restrictions. He ploughed the land of his lord in return for a piece of land which he was allowed to occupy at the pleasure of his lord, and out of which he maintained himself and his family. The piece of ground where he lived was given to him to encourage him to produce more food and more articles for the enrichment of his lord, and he thus produced better results than the slave. He was tied down to the land and could not leave without permission. He was in a similar position to our own squatters commonly found on many white farms in our country.

Under feudal society, food was grown and clothes and other articles were made to cater for the local population but the lords (or nobles as they were commonly referred to) used part of their wealth to buy all sorts of luxuries for themselves. In the course of time trade and transport developed and the desire for more wealth and luxuries increased.

The development of trade and transport led to the growth of towns and their influence. It gave rise to new classes of society and to new ideas. A new class of men who earned their living through trade and commerce arose. These were the merchants.

Feudal society became an obstruction to the expansion and growth of trade and commerce and the new ideas that were arising. The new class that was rising to power came into conflict with that class that held power. Feudal society was being challenged by the new social system of capitalism. Only by revolution could the new forces that were arising be freed. It was by revolution that the new forces challenged feudal society and replaced it with capitalism. It was also by revolution that the working class in many parts of the world replaced capitalism with the higher and democratic system of socialism.

We have now seen that five main types of society are known to history. Primitive Communal Society, Slave Society, Feudalism and Socialism. New forms of society grew out gradually from the other society and in some cases different forms existed side by side. For example, in slave society there were traces of primitive communal society, whilst traces of slave society existed within feudal society. In our own capitalist South Africa there are still Africans, and to a lesser extent Coloureds, who live and work on white farms under conditions remarkably similar to those of feudal society of the Middle Ages. In other parts of the world we see Socialist societies, and societies in transition to Socialism.

We live in a capitalist country and the chief task of our Party is to destroy Capitalism and replace it with Socialism. Capitalism is to us a …….. of …….. great imbalance. It is for this reason that we devote the greater part of this lecture to a study of this system.

CAPITALISM

Capitalism has three essential features.

(1) Wealth is concentrated in the hands of a few people who own the means of production as well as wealth in the form of money. The few people who own the means of production are called capitalists.

(2) The vast masses of the people earn their living by working for capitalists in return for wages. In Marxist language these working people are called the proletariat.

(3)…

Nelson Mandela is a symbol, an icon, one of the world’s most famous statesmen, recognised and revered by all. He dines with royalty, associates with the world’s great leaders and his opinion is sought and valued on all weighty matters. He has achieved an almost divine status in the world, equal to that of the Pope or the late Princess Diana.

Most people  would agree wholeheartedly with the above quote. But they run into an unexpected problem when someone asks “why is he considered such a great statesman?”

The problem is that Mandela, apart from having a likeable personality, has achieved next to nothing in his relatively short political career which saw South Africa rapidly decline to the status of the world’s most violent and crime-ridden country, and, to add to the confusion, his greatest friends are communists and dictators.

His ex-wife Winnie Mandela, whom he quickly left when it became clear she was a considerable embarassment to his political career, is a self-confessed advocate of terrorism and violence and has committed murder.

In his public statements and speeches Mandela is always critical of the democratic countries of the west, but has nothing but praise for the remaining communist dictatorships of the world. He condemns mistakes and controversial policies of the west, but refuses to publicly condemn the genocides and brutal repression of current or former communist countries.

The truth is that the ANC cried when the Berlin Wall came down in 1989…