By Charlie van Gelderen THE MASSACRE in Soipatong in June did more han mark the foundering of the hopes aroused by the CODESA negotiations It also changed the relationship between the ANC leadership, its rank and file and the great mass of the people whe ooked to Nelson Mandela and the ANC for leadership in the regnt a gainst apartnera ana for d democratic South Africa.
Archbishop Tutu's plaintive wail to heaven 'God, do you not love black people? is symbolic of the new mood of the people salvation to those in high of ices, whether in government o a the ANC, or live in hope of divine intervention.
New mood They will rely from now on only on their own organised strength. and reporters at the mass funeral of thirty of the victims of the Boipatong slaughter - significantly on the anniversary of the Sharpeville massacre speak of the perceptible change played by Jay Naidoo, General of COSATU. Up to now, the trade union movement as suca nas phiyed 10 29r 88 570 CODESA negotiations, but only a peripheral, advisory role.
Armed struggle
Anarmed conflict at this junc ture against the super-efficient armed forces of the state can only lead to disaster Especially as the ANC and its Communist Party (SACP) ally, deciding to mainly play the negotiation card, placed its armea wins. Umanonto we Sizwe (MK), into cold storage after suspending the armed struggle.
The most powerful weapon in the liberation forces armoury is the industrial muscle of the black working class. This could bring the already enfeebled 9088 Atrican economy to d standstill overnight.
It is time to turn the muchrepeated rhetoric about 'the leading role of the class', so prominent in ANCand SACP propaganda, into reality.
The recent events in Cape Town, when the police opened fire on an unarmed HOTC South African blacks demand an end to brutality KiLUNG OF