The choices
of political parties in a changing society: In memory of Cde Bantu Biko, 11and
In societies that are in a process of transformation
to a mature democracy there always exist fundamental tensions between those who
benefited from the old order, and those who expect the coming into being of the
new order to deliver something if not similar to what was enjoyed by those who
were in charge of the old order. At the same time, there is also tension
amongst members of political parties in respect to whether their party should
cooperate or not with the ruling party.
Politically these tensions are part and parcel of
political parties struggles to survive in an environment that is ever changing.
Understandably, organisations, be they political, religious, cultural or
otherwise are formed in order to exercise some form of influence in societal
spheres in which they operate.
Secondly, the nature of influence can take all kinds
of forms depending on the strategic positioning of an organisation. An
organisation can either decide to continue to be a champion of further changes
or choose to be a beneficiary of the new order, thereby accepting that the new
order that emanates from the transformation process is appropriate and that no
further struggle is necessary.
In the South African context, Cosatu and SACP can be
seen as organisations that for now have decided to be beneficiaries of the
ruling party’s transformation process and despite their rhetoric on socialism,
they have nevertheless accepted the ruling party as a vehicle through which
they will seek changes in society. To this end, they have gone on record, to
state that they will strengthen the African National Congress.
Other political parties particularly those that are
on the left of the ruling party, have over the past years not been very visible
and continue to struggle to define their new roles within the new dispensation.
Further, their struggles have not been made easier, since the ruling party
continue to absorb some of these parties’ ideological and political utterances.
The Azanian People's Organisation (AZAPO)
has not been spared of this phenomenon.
At times the ruling party’s transformation agenda and
practises are so much in line our own understanding of the future such that we
get caught in debates as to why indeed we should be opposed to the ruling
party’s objectives and plans. In other words, we then end up in what I may call
“seasons of acceptance as well as self denial”.
But like other political parties that exist in
societies that are undergoing transformation, what is happening to us remains
the nature of things. Indeed in a society that is undergoing transformational
changes, there is bound to be convergence of ideas and sometimes plans as well,
but what is important is for organisations such as AZAPO never to loose sight of its desired goal, the ushering in of
a socialist society in
Under these circumstances, we should make a
distinction between a transformation process that leads to socialism and the
ruling party’s transformation strategy that is meant to make capitalism to
adapt to new conditions. Once we can make this distinction, we will then be in
apposition to define the role of AZAPO
and ourselves within the new dispensation. In this way we will then find our
identity.
We should remember that ever since its inception, the
Black Consciousness Movement (BCM)
chose principled engagement in society. Because of this, the BCM has never been in a habit of
reacting to anything. Rather what the BCM
did in society had always been guided by the philosophy of Black Consciousness
(BC) that makes its adherents to
interpret the material conditions in which people live.
Even in the midst of other organisations seeming to
ignore principles, the BCM has
always been secured in the knowledge that our principles derived from Black
Consciousness are bigger than individuals and what other organisations want us
to believe. At the same time, experience has shows us that many years of Black
Consciousness practice has made us to triumph time and time again.
A question to be asked is; can the BCM triumph this time around?
Admittedly, we are not omniscient. Our knowledge and understanding of correct
principles are not a preserve of the BC
cadreship alone, but is limited by our own lack of awareness of our true
nature, the world around us and the flood of new things that are happening in
At times one wonders whether we have forgotten the
purpose for which the Azanian People's Organisation (AZAPO) came, into being in the first place. Comrades, organisations
are not formed or exist to be weak, and as a result when an organisation
becomes weak, members of such an organisation should as a matter of course debate
issues that they believe make their organisation weak.
At the same time they should not shy away from
analysing factors that weakens their organisation. To remind you comrades, AZAPO was formed in order to occupy the
space which its predecessor the Black People’s Convention occupied as a
political vehicle through which black people will liberate themselves including
ushering in a socialist order in
In the context of this paper, I employ all AZAPO members to start debating issues
that make AZAPO weak. When we do
indeed debate these issues we must know that we can’t always debate issues on
which we agree. In fact we must debate issues on which we do not agree in order
to reach agreement.
Eversince its
inception the Black Consciousness Movement (BCM) has always upheld the principle of open debates and unity in
struggle. Unity of its own cadres, the core of its activities and unity of the
oppressed and exploited masses of our country.
All forces in
To this end, the coming into being of different
political groupings within the BCM
family is a course for concern. It is a course for concern because this weakens
our capacity to wage a successful struggle and have direct influence on what
happens to the lives of poor peoples in our society. You see comrades; an
organisation that exists in a particular society is useful only to the extent
that it is able to influence societal process leading to changes that can be of
benefit to the poor.
If on the other hand an organisation exist for the
sake of merely watching what is happening in society or its existence is such
that it can no longer carry out its intended objectives, such an organisation
should either start a process of transforming itself into a viable organ that
the poor can use for their emancipation or consider other options.
The history of the BCM is full of examples of the movement as a change agent. It is
this change agent character that seems to have disappeared over the last
decade. The disappearance or the weakening of the revolutionary change agent
character of the BCM is a matter of great concern indeed. In this context
therefore, it appears as though the transformation activities of the ruling
party have succeeded directly or indirectly to weaken opposition parties both
from the right and the left.
Let us then ask ourselves the following question: If
Comrade Bantu Biko was alive what
will he do under these circumstances? In order to answer this question I now
proceed to reveal to you what comrade Biko did before his death.
When our people did not enjoy
adequate medical care he established Izanempilo clinic for them, when students
did not have funds to continue with their education activities, he established
a Student Aid Trust for assistance, when our people did not have an economic
development organisation, he established the Black Community Project, when they
did not have political organisations to advocate for political changes,
together with other B.C comrades, he was instrumental in the formation of the
Black Peoples Convention (BPC).
Further, together with comrade Ben Khoapa he established the Black Review
Project, which conducted research and published an annual review of
developments in black
When Bantu
Biko was still alive, he wanted the Black Consciousness philosophy to be
spread so that it could be a philosophy embraced by every member of our
society, and therefore become the basis of meeting the needs of our people at
all levels of their lives.
When unity of the oppressed and exploited seemed to
be eluding the then liberation movements, he undertook to take trips to
convince leaders of these movements to unite. In fact comrades Biko was
arrested and detained for the last time, when coming from
In conclusion, my own view is that if comrade Biko
was alive, he would be engaged in discussions with the various formations
within the BCM family in order to
bring about unity so that the BCM
can again take its rightful place in society- that is being a change agent.
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