Johannesburg – The SACP in Mpumalanga is calling for the nationalisation of the South African Reserve Bank, blaming it for rising cost of living in the country.
The provincial party structure made its call following its plenary session of the 11th congress on Sunday.
SACP provincial secretary Lucky Mbuyane said the meeting was attended by the provincial executive committee (PEC) members, the Young Communist League of SA (YCLSA) and the central committee members deployed in the province.
The PEC meeting deliberated on several issues, both domestic and abroad, which affect the working class and poor people in the current political and economic climate.
“The SACP Mpumalanga PEC condemned the perpetual rise of the repo rate resulting in increasing prices of basic necessities that are becoming unaffordable to the working class and poor. It agreed that the South African Reserve Bank has lost its mandate and relevance in the main and, therefore, supported the call for its nationalisation,” Mbuyane said.
He also said that contact crimes in South Africa were increasing daily, saying the meeting showed concerns about the rise in the number of hijackings and robberies in the province.
Mbuyane said load shedding was contributing to the increasing crime levels. The SACP in Mpumalanga called on law enforcement agencies not to sleep on duty, but to work and protect the people, particularly women and children, he said.
“Load-shedding is also responsible for the decline of our country’s economy as well as the prospects of economic growth, which remain bleak. The most adversely affected in this are small businesses, largely run by township dwellers who rely on them to put food on the table. The SACP Mpumalanga PEC calls on the government to reimburse those small business owners so as to revive their ailing businesses.
“The meeting also noted with disgust the growing number of frivolous attacks on the MECs deployed in various departments in our province … by faceless people based on factionalism, regionalism and the scramble for tenders. This phenomenon is gaining traction in social networks where tenderpreneurs are using young people to insult MECs that are not subscribing to the agenda of corruption and factionalism. We view this tendency as counter-revolutionary, which will disadvantage the movement’s drive towards renewing itself and further promote divisions. The party stands by the unity, rebuilding and renewal of the movement, especially during this difficult period of our revolution,” he said.
The SACP also condemned the national government and the Mpumalanga government for their continued relationship with King Mswati’s eSwatini government.
Mbuyane said the two had ignored calls to disassociate themselves from eSwatini, despite numerous conference resolutions on the Swazi question, saying the ANC-led government and its leaders continued to do business with Mswati and his “tinkhundla” regime.
“We view this act as counter-revolutionary and disrespectful to the peace- and democracy-loving people of Swaziland. We therefore call for the government and the SADC community to impose sanctions on Mswati and his government and to practically support the freedom fighters of Swaziland,” he said.