By Emily Setona
QWAQWA – The South African Communist Party (SACP launched its 2023 Red October campaign in Maluti-a-Phofung (MAP) local municipality on October 1 by paying homage to Thabo Mofutsanyana a former SACP general secretary, and decrying the rising cost of living that is killing the poor working class.
On their way to launch the Red October campaign, SACP secretary-general Solly Mapaila and his team went to Khabisi location to observe an agriculture project of Masakhaneni – a group of 27 – women and two men who plant spinach and cabbage to sell to make a living.
Addressing jubilant supporters at the MalutiTVET College’s Bonamelo campus, Mapaila emphasized that radical economic transformation is necessary if the lives of the working class are to really improve in this country.
“We need to sort out the problems of society by stopping this culture of all spheres of government outsourcing all the service delivery aspects from the private sector. We need to employ the professionals to do the job that they have been trained for.
“We are launching our 2023 Red October campaign by fighting the crisis of rising inflation. It is sad that people cannot even afford to buy eggs, a basic source of protein for our people. The cost of electricity is increasing, the price of petrol is increasing and this rise in the cost of living is creating a secondary crisis of mental health where the suicide rate amongst the youth and poor is increasing,” Mapaila said.
According to Mapaila South Africa hasn’t achieved policy sovereignty.
“Freedom cannot be defined through paper achievements by having the best constitution in the world yet the poorest of the poor in the country are still suffering.”
These sentiments were echoed by a member of the ANC’s National Executive Council (NEC) Phoebe Potgieter.
“Our people don’t eat ideas; they want to see concrete change in their daily lives. One of the problems we face today, specifically in the ANC is the fact that we haven’t been able to explain to our members and comrades what we mean when we talk about the democratic revolution for us today.”
“Peter Khumalo of the local SACP in our community met with us during a community meeting and when he heard about our needs he decided to assist us by buying us seeds.
“We are here today selling our produce all because of his efforts to help us,” one of the women members of the group Manyaka Tshabalala said in an interview with The Guard.
Cosatu Leader Solly Phetoe, YLSA national secretary Mzwandile Thakudli and Thabo Mofutsanyana’s grandson Mathole Mofutsanyana were among those present at the launch of this campaign.
