“Everything which exists, of necessity. But equally everything which exists is doomed to perish, to be transformed into something else. Thus what is “necessary” in one time or place becomes “unnecessary” in another. Everything begets its opposite which is destined to overcome and negate it.”
-Karl Marx.
The paper seeks to suggest that the South African Student Congress (SASCO) has a contaminated membership that has sectional and personal interests, which, therefore, limits the capacity of the Student Movement to discharge its responsibility of building a capable and disciplined cadre that is fundamentally nourished on ethics and organizational integrity. The lack of ethical membership, ethical leadership and organizational integrity is as Karl Marx, suggests, doomed to perish and transform into a wild beast that has no interests in the growth of the Organization nor interests in attending to bread and butter issues of the student populace.
I am in no way suggesting that, the Organization has lost ethics and therefore, has perished, I am, however, attempting to be an analyst that, the Organization is well on its way to its catastrophic death, the death that would render SASCO “unnecessary” in the lives of the working-class students.
An unnecessary and mortal SASCO, in universities as a microcosm of society, is a dead SASCO in the political dispensation and therefore, SASCO cannot play its inherent strategic role of being a fountain of wisdom in providing sound policy analysis on the political economic direction that the country should take. Therefore, something ought to be done.
The 21st National Executive Committee, has a responsibility to revive and reposition the organization to its custodians, the supporters (students) and membership of the student Movement, this mammoth task should however, not be limited to the National Executive Committee (NEC), but rather all structures of the Organization, the role of the NEC is to ensure a conducive environment exists towards the cleansing of the Organization. The NEC through the Secretary General, Comrade Buthanani Goba, in its visits to provinces committed to establishing a Curriculum with the OR Tambo School of Leadership, this is the moment for the production of an ethical core of leaders and members.
The National Congresses of SASCO, have since I have joined the Organization, have not held any Commissions that deliberated on Strategy and Tactics, as well as policies that should inform any action of structures in discharging its responsibility of bread and butter issues of students, nor has it reviewed the SPOT document as a strategy in transforming institutions of Higher learning. This therefore means, I and many others, do not have the required Organizational memory, knowledge and political training to be a tried and tested cadre of the movement to be able to discharge Congress resolutions, or lack thereof, in championing student struggles. Therefore, does SASCO have the required and capacitated membership that can renew and reposition the Organization towards the defeating of the imminent threat, of the withering away of SASCO?
The said, decline of the calibre of the membership of SASCO, of which as pointed above, is a category I belong to, is due to the lack of political education- the NEC plays a pivotal role in directing structures towards unleashing political education. The 20th NEC had been embroiled in factional squabbles that have trickled down to branches, a perfect example of trickledown economics that does not actually exist in the economy, but seemingly can be useful for a case study in SASCO, on how branches were heavily weakened by the NEC infightings and therefore adopted factional interests of the NEC. This has reduced our membership, purged Comrades and dislocated the energies that should have been focused on Organizational development and transformation of policies in institutions of higher learning.
The political education cannot exist without a syllabus of ethics in the membership and particularly on the leadership and organizational integrity. The SPOT document outlines that, one must have been developed to a level of being a cadre to be trusted with a responsibility to lead this gigantic student movement, a cadre is guided by ethics, revolutionary conscience and integrity.
Many analysts, have always argued through a scenario or narration that, the leader of the Mass Democratic Movement (MDM), the African National Congress (ANC), when it catches flu the MDM structures are not immune to the illness, they are infected. For further clarity, the monetary influenced factionalism of the ANC has contagiously infected SASCO, the lack of ethical leadership that is grossly corrupt has contagiously infected SASCO and the looting of resources from governance structures (SRC) has contagiously infected SASCO.
Therefore, an ethical leadership of SASCO with organizational integrity, would ensure that, in institutions of Higher Learning, SASCO, is able to discharge its responsibility in leading students with a revolutionary and collective conscience, it would be able to better champion the struggles of students, towards the unity for democracy in education. The strategic position of SASCO as an ethical intellectual hub and a production factory of Leaders for the PYA, MDM structures and its leader, the ANC, would therefore mean, that SASCO plays a strategic and tactical role in cleansing the MDM and produces a youth dividend that is ethical and resolute towards the democratic transformation of society that is constituted by high levels of integrity.
In doing away with a contaminated membership, the instilling of political training, discipline and adherence and loyalty to the Constitution and all other policies of the Organization is paramount in ensuring revolutionary and collective conscience in building a strong organization that is able to respond to the struggles facing students.
On the occasion of the Ward Councillor Manifesto launch, I said, “I am convinced that, the intellectual acumen gathered here, knows very well that the Economy is not a systemic entity that exists outside of Society, it should fundamentally serve the society, many misguided liberals, would have us believe that, the economy is able to regulate itself without a clear political intervention, a Laissez-faire approach.” The systemic careerism within the student movement exists, because, there is no political will and intervention by the membership of Organization, this is due to the intimidation that lower structures endure from upper structures and the fear of being purged to the periphery, the fear of being purged reproduces another breed of careerists that intimidates anyone that seems to oppose his or her way, this is because, that is the kind of induction that the second careerist has been inducted to. The careerist is likely to flout all organizational processes at all costs to ensure, that, he or she, becomes a Regional Deputy Chairperson in order to be in proximity of, the provincial and national leadership to ensure he or she has sufficient connection and proximity to be able to climb the ladder to the NEC without having the required skill to grow the organisation qualitatively and quantitatively, or at worst proximity to ANC leadership to request money to campaign and buy delegates in Congresses. Without any political intervention, this liberal tendency is likely to be organic to the organization just like liberal ideologies in society as pointed above.
This is the kind of membership we have as an Organization that will preside over the withering of SASCO, an important institution in the lives of students and its authentic former leaders, the so-called convocation.
Cde President AB Xuma in 1941 directed that, “To Congress we must be loyal and true. For Congress, we must forget any personal or sectional interests or gain. We must put the cause and the interests of the people before any expediency…To be true leaders, we must put the interests and welfare of our people above our own.” This is the kind of a cadre that is expected from the membership of SASCO as a strategic factory production of a leadership for the MDM structures.
In conclusion, the political education school(s) strategically needs to anchor its syllabus on ethics and Organizational integrity that seeks to capacitate the membership of SASCO to correctly be able to reposition the organization to the true motive forces, the working class students that is a microcosm of society, a syllabus that encourages adherence and allegiance to the Constitution of the Organization is sacrosanct. SASCO “at this hour of destiny your country and people need you, the future of South Africa is in your hands and it will be what you make of it” (Moses Kotane). We must live up to the call of the late Moses Kotane and President Xuma, to renew and reposition SASCO and capture it from careerists, constitutional delinquents and Cabals that seek to handle SASCO for sectional interests. Towards any action of ethical and organizational integrity membership, we need to answer the unequivocal question does SASCO have the required and capacitated membership that can renew and reposition the Organization towards the defeating of the imminent threat, of the withering away of SASCO?
Mzobanzi Nkwentsha is the Deputy Chairperson of SASCO in Western Region, Eastern Cape. He writes in his personal capacity.