What should be a role of a SASCO member in campus?

Introduction

I pen down this article as a response to a question asked by a person with a membership form in their hand at Taletso Mafikeng Campus. This member asked me upon meeting at campus that what should be a role of a SASCO member upon affiliation with the organisation. The member humbly with shyness requested that I should not answer using big terms or quote the constitution and complex documents, (which is quite difficult and undoable, to say the least), but rather should be as basic and straightforward as possible. Therefore the response to this question will be a lot more simplified without the usage of deep political jargon and terms which at some points confuse the general membership of the organisation.

However, I will not go deeper into issues but will encourage other members of the organisation to contribute in this short-sighted answer with a view of enhancing debates and also making the organisation popular and a household name for all students in campuses. This piece is however not immune to criticism even based on the writer’s intentions as stated above, the writer, therefore, welcomes any kind of criticism which may be levelled against this article.

What is SASCO?
Perhaps in the first instance, the first question should be who are we?  Most of our comrades when faced with this question, directly responds to you by saying “go and read the ABC document”, as this is the document that succinctly puts our history into perspective. It is therefore given the fact above that we will strongly recommend to the reader, as a supplement to this document to go and read the ABC document for further reference and better understanding.

SASCO, the acronym stands for South African Students Congress. This was formed in the year 1991 as a result of the merger between NUSAS and SANSCO. This was shortly before the dawn of a democratic dispensation and shortly after the unbanning of political organisations, the release of political prisoners and the return of the exiles.  As a student movement, SASCO has adopted the following as the guiding principles of SASCO which are Democracy, Non-racialism, Non-sexism, African leadership, and Working class leadership. These are the principles closer to the hearts of any member which should be guiding all the programs, campaigns and events which the organisation transcends into as and when it engages in its struggles. Academic excellence has recently been accepted as a principle of the organisation.

Ideological character of SASCO

Ideology is a complex debate. This debate was closed at the Venda Congress which adopted Marxist-Leninist tools of analysis as the ideology of SASCO. However, the Mafikeng Congress resolved differently wherein it agreed on SASCO being a broad church and using Marxist and Leninist tools of analysis and guide to action. A broad church, however, should not be seen as an ideology, it simply means that all students from different schools of thought and ideologies may be recruited and become members of the organisation but should agree to use Marxism and Leninism as the tools of analysis and guide to action.

Pillars of SASCO

In my own experience, a pillar is a basic support of a superstructure. It is the one that keeps the structure content and firm. It ensures the stability of the structure, without a pillar the structure would ultimately collapse. SASCO, therefore, identifies the following as its pillars that keep the organisation tact and sound, the following are the pillars: Campus work, Community work, Policy work, International work and Building a strong student youth movement

The role of SASCO members

Members of SASCO should be preoccupied with addressing the day to day challenges of our students. Our role as many would say is to ensure that we address “bread and butter” issues of our students. As envisaged in the SPOT document, it remains our responsibility as SASCO to ensure that we struggle for the transformation of higher education in particular and society in general. We believe that education is a site for the broader struggle, we need to ensure its complete transformation.

Members of SASCO, as they are students and SASCO is a student organisation, need to focus on tackling the challenges facing the students, there is a need to make practical the theory of our guiding principles but giving specific focus and emphasis on the pillars of our organisation. It is these pillars that really shapes up the student congress.

A duly affiliated member of the organisation should embrace the basic rules of a cadre. These rules should stay in the heart, mind and conscious of our members at all costs and at all times. These rules were summed up as follows, 1. To be loyal to the organisation and its people 2. To be a critical and independent thinker 3. To have organisational and personal discipline. These should however not be mistaken for thinking that we should undermine democratic centralism.

As a revolutionary student congress, we are revolutionary intelligentsia, Chairman Mao puts it correctly when he says that revolutionary intelligentsia is the one that integrates themselves with the masses and actually does so in practice. This means that our role is to forever be where our masses are: the student’s centres, computer labs, classes, libraries, sports facilities etc. We must integrate ourselves with the working class and the poor as that is one of the guiding principles of SASCO.

We need to also remind ourselves of these words, “the value of your education is worth nothing unless it is used for the betterment of Africa” Onkgopotse Tiro. Members of SASCO should understand that their role is to change the society, to occupy the key critical space in society. SASCO, as previously defined as the intellectual hub and skills reserve of the mass democratic movement, members of SASCO, should use their skills to better shape the society and assist it where possible.

Members of SASCO should be reminded and be mindful of their role which is carved correctly in the constitution as follows: “Pledge their unswerving loyalty to the organisation and place them under its overall discipline, Carry out decisions, duties and directives with diligence, Organize, participate and contribute positively to all SASCO activities and/or programs and to contribute to the strengthening of its organic unity, Rally all students to support and unite behind SASCO and actively participate in the creation of a united, non-racial, non-sexist, democratic and prosperous South Africa, Combat all forms of tribalism, regionalism and nepotism and any other forms of discrimination based on sex and race and as well as combating factionalism and malicious gossip within our ranks.”

We have attempted to respond to the question of that shy comrade in the SASCO stall anywhere in the country, we abscond the reader of this piece with these encouraging words and hope we meet you very soon, when the ink finishes, it is your duty to take out another pen and continue the narrative.

by Mohlomi Tshepo

Mohlomi Tshepo is the Provincial Secretary of SASCO North West and writes in his personal capacity.