Slovo's
retreat from
stalinism
The release of Nelson Mandela has generated a new debate within the anti-apartheid forces on the framework and objective of talks with De Klerk. In this context, the changing political line of the South African Communist Party can prove a decisive factor in the politics of the African National Congress. CHARLIE VAN GELDEREN reports on the latest pronouncements by the SACP's leader, JOE SLOVO. The South African Communist Party (SACP) has, for most of its existence, firmly and uncritically adhered to the gencral line coming from Moscow. Until very recently, its successive programmes were either dictated by Moscow or subjected to veto there. The Path to Power. adopted at the 7th Congress last year was probably the first "native" programme in
The whole of the present leadership of the party and its predecessors after the expulsion of R.P. Bunting in the early 1930s wore in doctrinated with Stalinist, revisionist conceptions of Marxism, the first principles of which was that the Soviet Communist Party (CPSU) were always right in doctrinal and practical matters. What it said had to be accepted without question.
In the 1920s, when Trousky and the Left Opposition were being persecuted in the Soviet Union, the SACP expelled everyone who even mildly hinted of support for Trotsky. After the Sixth Congress of the Comintern, when Stalin proclaimed the Third Period' which signalled a sharp turn to ultraleftism and presaged Stalin's break within Bukharin, it started a witch hunt for Right Oppositionists'. Where none existed they invented them. Thus, ultra-loyal stalinists, like the trade union leader Solly Sachs, were summarily thrown out of the Party. Under the Icadership of the Moscow-appointed Douggie and Molly Wolton, oppositionists were even
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SACP politics have always been a kay factor in the line of the African National Congress physically assaulted.
When war broke out in September 1939. the SACP correctly declared it an imperialist war, and were even prepared to work Joully with the Afrikaner nationalists to resist South African participation Fascism, it said, had to be fought at home. This all changed on 22 June 1941. when German troops crossed the Soviet frontier. The Purty now called for the defence of the socialist homeland. whose victory would bring about the destruction of Tas: cism, the liberation of oppressed nations and a rapid transition to world socialism.
The SACP was used by Moscow to signal its break with Popular Frontism after the war. Later came the 1950s show trials of Laszio Rajk and Rudolf Slansky, the invasion of Hungary (1956) and the exccution of Imry Nagy; the crushing of the Prague Spring (1968) by Soviet tanks; all were endorsed with the same enthusiasm with which in the 1920s they acclaimed the trials and murder of the Bolshevik Icaders Zinovicy, Kamenev. Bukharin and others.
Backing glasnost
It is against this background that we have to look at the pamphlet Has Socialism Failed" by Joe Slavo, the current General Secretary of the South Alrican Communist Party. In this document, Slovo unreservedly lines himself up with Gorbachev, perestroika and glasnost. The question we have to ask ourselves is: is this a genuine and decisive break with his self-confessed stalinist past? Or is the SACP just running true to form, and once again lollowing the Moscow line?
It is, of course, impossible to give an incontroverible answer to this. As Lenin once remarked, 4 "sincerometer" has not yet been invented. To discuss his motives would be unprofitable, so we will confine ourselves to ex-
COMMUNIST PARTY
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NOW TOD amining just how far he has gone and what this means for the future of the SACP in the South African political scene.
Slovo titles his document Has Socialism Failed? which would seem to indicate that he still equates stalinism with socialism. This thome recurs throughout the document Thus he constantly refers to 'existing socialism';
produced a Stalin and and on page 3 he defines 'Stalinism' as 'the bureaucratic-authoritarian style of leadership (of parties both in and out of powct) which denuded the party and the practice of socialism of most of its democratic conteni... What he does not yet grasp is that where there is no democracy in state and party, there can be no socialism.
Stalm proclaimed the 'complete triumph' of socialism as long ago as January 1931 and the SACP dutifully echoed this, as did all its fraternal parties throughout the world. The lying satistics emanating from the stalinist school of falsification which depicted the ever-growing prosperity and happiness of the Soviet people was swallowed wholesale not only by Party members but by a host of fellow-travellers like the Webhs and Bernard
Siovo now recognises that even where there was growth in the Soviet economy, the methods employed resulted only in human misery. Slovo could have saved himself years of travail if he had the moral courage to break from iron stalinist discipline and read, among other, Trotsky, who "Socialism is a structure of planned production to the end of the best satisfaction of human needs, otherwise it does not deserve the name of socialism' (The Revolution Betrayed p.64).
Slovo writes that self-pity is not enough,
that it is not enough to deceived" but also to ask why were deceived?' He accepts thar the docades of stalinist-bureaucratic rule brought horror and misery to the Soviet people and to the people of Eastern Europe. But he puts it all down to the subjective factor. The wrong people, wicked people were in power. He ignores completely the false ihcoretical foundation of stalinism, the utopian, revisionist belief that socialism could be established in one country:
It was the adoption of this policy in 1926 at the Sixth Congress of the Communist Iniemabonal which transformed the
Comintem from heing the world staff of the guneral proletarian revolution, as Lenin and Trotsky conceived it, into a border guard for the USSR. Its main role as an instrument of world revolution was inevitably relegated to the background.
From then on, the Communist
Partics- became instruments to implement the policies and interoils of the ruling bureaucracies leaderships which did not blindly follow the line as dictated in
Moscow were unccrcmuniously ousted.
A vanguard party?
Slovo deals very well with a number of issues of great importance to the future of the special importarice to developments in Africa:
He claims that in some instances the SACP anticipated glasmost. This applies particularly lo the conception of the vanguard role of the
CP. He urgues that the programmne of the
SACP adopted in 1989 Path to Power supports his position thal a communist party does not carn the title of vanguard merely by
Proclaiming it:
But is this really the case? In the introducbon to the programme, we find The national offensive is led by the African National Congress in revolutionary alliance with the van guard workers" party - the South African
Communist Party...
: And on page 2 The
Communist Party is the leading politi cal force of the South African working
In that section of the programme which deals with developments in the independent African states, the assumed status of "vanguard party is re emphasised time and again: * small in number the African working class is crucial to any radical social transformation bot it can only play is revolutionary role to the full if it is organised. under the guidance of
Marxism/Leninism. depending on the actual social and political situation in each country.
the vanguard revolutionary forces will assume i variety of organisational forms, the highest
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When refering to these states programme consistently talks of 'countries of socialist origin" and calls on them lo widen popular democracy (sic) and strengthen the vanguard revolutionary party It claims that the victorious revolution in Mozambique and
Angola 'set the stage for development towards
WE
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BY 88B
LEADERS
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The question is where the leaders stand now?
socialist construction'. Since then of course.
Mozambique has openly movement and of advisors with Israelis.
either political or trade union organisations believe in the democratic process!
ally of the ANC
African
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AT OBADERS
LEADERS
LEADERS ahandoned the socialist path, and. just as it once proclaimed liself Marxist/Leninist, has now disowned the contradication title. The ruling clique in Benin has also decided that it is no longer Marxist/Leninist and the Mengistu regimo in Ethiopia has replaced Cuhan and East European military
Slovo, in his document, Is somewhat critical of one party states and admits that in both capitalist and socialist oriented countries... it is used to provent, among other things, the democratic organisation of working people in
But his criticism is not whole-hearted.
This is not to say that all one parly states in our contiment have in fact turned out to be authoritarian: indeed some of them are headed by the most human leaders who passionately
*his critique of Stalinism is in line with the general trend of "Eurocommunism', and part of its aim was probably to make the SACP more acceptable to join in the negotiations with the Pretoria regime"
parently not passionacly enough to pennis their poople a freo choice of government.
Afler all, Kaunda, Joe Slovo's bost in Zamhia, is one of the benevolent Heads of a one-party state, and Zimbabwe's Mugahe, Who has now declared his Marxisteninism and is desermined to establish a one-party state, 18 a Close
Slovo's document is of course to be welcomed, although it should be appreciated that it is not an official statement of SACP policy.
In raising the sort of questions he does, Slove opens the way for the possibility of a real debate on the way forward for the South revolution But his critique of
Stalinism is in line with the general trend of
Eurocommunism", and part of its aim was probably to make the SACP more acceptable to join in the negotiations with the Pretoria regime in May.
Further there 1s one aspeci of Stalinism which is nol rejected in either Slavo's document or the 1989 programme - of the two-stage the theory revolution. First, the theory cells us, there has to be a "national democratic revolution in alliance with the nationalists.
and then later - perhaps much later - a socialist revolution.
And anyway Slovo now thinks that socialism could evolve the peacefully through democtatic process!
This theory justifies the
SACP's definition of South
African society as 'colonialism of a special type and which theorises the existence of an oppressor while nation and and oppressed black nation. Not only is this in the that the with fact programme itself states that 'South Africa has a developed capitilist economy, but it also fies in the face of the proclaimed aim of the
ANC of a unitary one-nation state. The
"colomalism of a special type theory is a mitmur image of Verwoerd's grand apartheid, which thenrised the existence of different nationalities, and which provided his rationale for the establishment of the Bantustans.
In South Africa today, the struggle for national and democratic demands predominates.
Butthe workers, now powerfully organised in made unions playing an increasingly leading role, will advance their own class and cocialist demands within that struggle. Indeed many of the COSATU unions are putting forward tran socialist demands. The sitional.
struggle for national and democratic the demands #nd struggle socialism are not separate but combined
Apartheld in its present make for can and will be ended withoul the end of capitalism: But the full icalisation of national and democratic demands can only be achieved by the victory of the working class; the establishment of a workers' state in South Africa: Then we will have the chance to lest out if genuine socilism succeeds or fails.
SOCIALIST OUTLOOK no 24, May 1990 Page 10