Political Resolutions of the COSATU 9th National Congress, 18-21 September 2006

1-4 The National Democratic Revolution (NDR) and socialism

This Ninth National Congress notes:

1. The persistent dominance of a perspective that separates national democracy from socialism, with the so-called “Third Way” dominating the international political discourse.
2. A conservative economic policy that limits spending on social and economic development programmes, while business wants to roll back the progressive labour regime established after 1994.
3. A revolution is worth nothing if it cannot defend itself and seize state power.
4. Historically, the NDR has always provided a clear and unambiguous attitude towards socialism. Currently, the clear dangers are that the historical attitude of the NDR towards socialism is being challenged within the Alliance.
5. Since the April 1994 democratic breakthrough, while the theory of the NDR has been fully adopted by the ANC through its strategy and tactics, the relationship between the NDR and socialism has not been fully discussed within the ANC itself. Failure to address this question has been partly responsible for the rupture on our shared understanding of the NDR.
6. The strategic socialist direction of the NDR has been increasingly challenged by a capitalist agenda, for example through the post-1996 class project.
7. In recent times, the leadership role of the NDR has been taken over by other class forces, particular the capitalist class. This is demonstrated by the fact that the capitalist class (black or white) has been the main beneficiary since the April 1994 democratic breakthrough.
8. The current trajectory of the NDR, if left unchallenged, can deliver our revolution into the hands of the capitalist class.

Believing:

1. The NDR seeks to resolve national, class and gender contradictions in our society and lay the basis for socialism, which means it must affect property relations.
2. Because of the multi-class character of the NDR, various class forces continue to contest its essence.
3. Since the ascendancy of the ANC into power, the primary contradiction has begun to elevate itself, with a life-and-death fight now underway for the control of the ANC between the working class and the comprador, parasitic, aspirant black capitalist class.
4. The comprador element has gained access and influence through the office of the Presidency in policy formulation to disarm and re-direct the NDR from its socialist orientation envisaged in the Morogoro and Kabwe conferences and the Green Book.
5. The post-1996 class project is in deep crisis and the solution can only be provided by a working class leadership of the NDR. The solution requires a complete break with the policies promoted or advanced by this class project.

Therefore this Ninth National Congress resolves:

1. The Alliance is meant to achieve a minimum programme and, given its multi-class character and the associated limitations, the Alliance cannot be the vehicle to achieve an egalitarian society.
2. The working class must re-direct the NDR towards socialism and jealously guard it against opportunistic tendencies that are attempting to wrest it from achieving its logical conclusion, which is socialism.
3. The working class should assert its leadership role of the NDR, and not outsource this leadership role to other class forces.
4. The working class must mobilise society and all progressive forces against the current macroeconomic framework.
5. We must bring back the fundamental thrust of the Freedom Charter and the RDP on nationalisation of key and strategic industries.
6. The state should take drastic steps on the redistribution of wealth, e.g. via the tax system.
7. This decade must be dedicated to a struggle to challenge and defeat the dominance of white monopoly capital, which reproduces itself through the emerging parasitic black capitalists. We must consistently expose and struggle against the neo-liberal agenda of the state, which leads to the growing impoverishment of the working class and the poor.
8. The National Liberation Movement as led by the ANC should speed up the process of reviewing the clauses affecting the working class in the national Constitution that could contribute towards a developmental state. The sunset clause entered into with the National Party should be reviewed.
9. We should define in practical terms the political economy of the NDR in the current epoch as articulated in the Freedom Charter.
10. We adopt an official position that rejects the separation of the NDR from socialism and asserts that the dictatorship of the proletariat is the only guarantee that there will be a transition from NDR to socialism.
11. A popular movement towards socialism, located within a restructured Alliance and involving a range of mass movements, must be formed to assert the leadership of the working class in the NDR.
12. To directly call for an open debate and discussion within the ANC (and the Alliance as a whole) on the relationship between the NDR and socialism. This debate must be accommodated at the 2007 ANC National conference.