The character and workings of counter revolution

THE THREAT OF COUNTER REVOLUTION: HOW COUNTER REVOLUTION WORK

We need to note that there is no limit to the depth to which counter revolutionary forces are prepared to sink in its unprincipled assault to the movement, some could be acting from within our ranks as impure load that every revolution carries, there is no revolutionary organisation immune from this danger. The nature of it is not ashamed of accusing a democratically elected government of illegitimacy.

But then we know that the survival of revolutionary structures and their leaders DEPEND ENTILEY MORE ON THE MASSESS. For us to understand the workings of counterrevolution we need to understand the features, style, patterns and methods of work, and structures involved. In the main civil society organisations are never neutral in any revolution.

The will poster themselves as an issue based formation- like Afri Forum, Section 27, Right2Know campaign, including the bourgeoisies unions. Political analysts, commentators, academics, Editors in news rooms or media houses, and rating agencies.

These forces will never tire to ‘reduce politics to the rhetorical manipulation of the mass constituencies, and to elite rivalries and trade-offs”. I say this because the balance of forces remain complex and we ought to use our position in government firmly, and effectively to drive and defeat such forces in the judiciary, in the security forces and other levels. The voted legislation in parliament – state information protection bill is a perfect classical example.

They –reactionary forces opposed the Bill and still persistent to challenge it despite the vote in parliament. The ANC as an organisation was voted by the masses in this country to lead. They will approach the constitutional court with confidence at all times on every matter to counter the progressive measures imposed by the revolution.

Off cause they shall continue doing so. The above piece of legislation that seeks to shake the remaining foundation of the apartheid system, aimed against any form of expunge and grisly scheme. Therefore the resistance to this bill was not something innocent.

The revolution must always act against political complacency and conformity which undermine growth and freedom. In our country how many private security companies we have, and the control over them?? Would it be paranoid to say this present a security threat to our country?? One point to be made here is that South Africa must NOT be a HAVEN OF CRIMINALS. Those who committed crimes in their countries the find home and protection in our country.

This is the kind of complacence that we are talking about. One of the key tributaries of democracy is freedom of speech in this country, does this justify freedom to lie, and distortions, insults to the leadership of the movement and allow at free lance liberal ideological propaganda??

Part of this war will come out in a form of lay out on juxtaposition of stories as a regular diet, sensationalization of trivial incidents and disinformation or false information will be pervaded to the ground through mass media. These forces will talk of intolerable state-party confusion, that the ANC want to run the country as one party state which is the threat to democracy, police state brutality under the ANC leadership, and human rights abuse with the supreme objective to undermine the democratic institutions created post 1994.

The situation in Marikana is a pure classical example which was not a mere accident of history, including the emergence of AMCU which is the rival to NUM. Even if NUM can be destroyed tomorrow AMCU will never be a revolutionary union. The emergence of miky mouse political parties- AGANG/EFF and others. These forces will make sure that the unity of labor movement or put differently progressive unions are whimsically being undermined and ultimately destroyed.

Surely they will never miss a word because of their delirium about the ANC SACP COSATU alliance which at the centre of their campaign is communist vermin – ANTI-Communist propaganda. All these reinforces the ideological tinge of the right wing opportunism and populism in our society. We need to take precaution measure against the violence in our country and against insidious attacks, and all sordid acts of provocations-“ Bacterio-logical war fare of the Right”. There is a great possibility that certain hidden hand- foreign intelligence ferment the discontent against us using any dump of leaders or individuals to create fissure.

Their languages will always appear innocuous, but firmly intransigent against the revolution. We need to understand and know the ideological weapons at the disposal of the enemy forces which will always try to create an artificial climate of crisis. Surely, the most thrust of the counter revolution will be at the ideological level and target us and areas where we are weak as a movement. The campaign will first and fore most attack to undermine the moral authority of the movement as a whole and cast doubt in the minds of the people on the ANC government and its leadership by constant criticism on any progressive measures against the bourgeoisie interests.

Does this justify that we ought to modify our policies every time these forces shout aloud at the movement?? Now, of particular note is the deliberate efforts by DA to appropriate our traditions to ingratiate itself to the public. This is not innocent, they spell with their mouth horrible inventive to justify their agenda through their liberal ideological fermentation. Some of their patterns and trend of counter revolution will take the form of crisis in the economic growth, decrease production activity, the flight of capital, speculations, laced with the acts of hoarding.

Certainly we need to follow the historical accuracy and believe in history. There is a dialectical link and collaboration between the extreme left and the right wing. What we need to know these forces will fervently exploit the genuine grievances of the masses and the capacity of the state to transform social relations, with the aim to build their own political power base. Taking advantage of the level of consciousness of the people. However we accept the right of every body to criticise, but nothing should justify subversive acts.

How do we account for the DA march to the residence of the sitting President of the State, even a march to the Head Quarters of the ruling party or union federation, and we still say this is democracy at best, when it represent clear signs of counter revolution and anarchy at best. What lesson should we draw from the recent incident of attempted vainly failed bomb planted in the ANC Head quarters?

Where have we ever seen that happening?? The big question is – what is the attitude and reaction of the leadership in the face of such circumstances?? Yes, may be it happened in any other time in history and other parts of the world, and sorry pardon my ignorance.

 WHAT SHOULD BE THE RESPONSE OF THE REVOLUTION TO COUNTER REVOLUTIONARY OFFENSIVE ?

Firstly we need to objectively study to understand the limitations and weaknesses we have as a revolutionary movement which might have given ground space and nice vacuum for our detractors and all those opposed to us to operate freely with their viral attacks. The revolution must not shrink in the face of counter revolution, it must intensify and consolidate, and be convulsive to the enemy in providing incisive ideological response that should pulverise the forces of reaction.

They must encounter our imprecation at display, that of the revolutionary forces fired by the revolutionary ardour (passion). At the kernel of this should be the social needs and deep aspirations of the existing great masses- the poor working class. The revolution must understand the people even if they are quite, that shall signifies the highest matured level of political vigilance that proceed from the surface, beyond the appearance and façade. This will be the basic criteria to fulfill, maintain confidence and install faith to the revolution. The revolution must never fail.

We must translate the ANC declaration of a decade of a cadre into a living reality. We need a well aimed and targeted political education program with intensity. The theoretical depth is the only condition for any political acumen and masterly grasp of the political content of our transformation program and the challenges that are facing the revolution.

In this regard we need adroit, mercurial leadership with intensity in all the regions and lower structures of the movement. We must restore the credibility and integrity that is deserved in the presidency and the organisation. This does not need a smile, and cosmetic nor romantic approach to the enemy forces, but need hard convulsive line with massed organised phalanxes of revolutionary cadres of the movement, if we still need a effulgent future of the revolution, which must not loose its discursive power.

Yes, let me avers that the enemy is not the “invective”(scurrilous or abusive)concept, but the personnel of the revolution must be exponents acculturated on principle as voluntary revolutionary actors in the process of the revolution fighting being their element, fired by revolutionary ardor laced with uncompromising attitude to the enemy, fighting must be their element. As much as the- “revolutionary movement should not be afraid of the defeat and, therefore, it can’t be afraid of recognising it as such because when a revolutionary movement falls prey to such infantilism, its future is compromised because without analysis of the defeat- of causes that led to nit, of real relative strengths within which it occurred, of the points that favored the enemy, of the weaknesses that undermined the movement, of the mistakes that both sides made it is impossible to create the subjective conditions for recovery, for a new offensive”

This is the leadership that must grasp the theory of knowledge and understand the laws of social development. Just to quote few for the purpose of this article : the starting of social change is not in the ideas that society holds, but in the way society produces its goods, -the relations between men and thus between classes in society rise in conformity with the state of development of forces of production,- that since the forces of production constantly develop and improve, -the social relationships of the former time constantly lag behind the present needs,- the old ruling classes tend to resist all changes in the social order, and conflict between them and the classes seeking change is therefore the state of existence of all class society,- that the class struggle is the moving force of social and political change in class society”.
Are these not relevant to the current political and social situation in the country??

It is only well trained cadres politically and ideologically who can defend the organisation and unblinkingly defend the revolution. We need ruthless suppression of the counter revolution and its grisly schemes. The press freedom and freedom of expression should not be confused with the deliberate ideological attack and viral propaganda of the right wing forces. We need to balance and differentiate the genuine popular grievances of the masses and that of the street violence that is taking place in the land orchestrated by the reactionary elements.

The bottom line is -we need a large scale of heightened, sustained certain degree of harassment- ideological imprecation that will be crude enough to upset the opposition and forces of reaction- an ideological cutthroat (remorseless political-ideological offensive). At the center of our collective organisational incisive response must be reassertion of the moral authority and standing of the movement and its cadres in our society as a well calibrated strategy.

The basic defining characteristic of a revolutionary is for he to be a symbol of and paragon of moral integrity, and nerve of irreconcilability with everything false. His ideas and actions effecting on quality change in the lives of ordinary people as a portal of service to the people. We need to deplore grand larceny and extravaganza, and this is what is defoliant to the movement and the masses.

We need to take the masses along with us, vibrate within the masses, march along with the masses, not to hail above the heads of the masses.

This means to be gregarious with the masses- to touch the pulse and heart strings. Consciously develop and build revolutionary vigilance of the masses and their political consciousness. It is through action and practical involvement where revolutionaries earn and gain experience not in the board rooms.

In all these we should never allow any form of natural hiatus by the progressive forces, and friendly forces of the revolution. The ANC and its revolutionary alliance must be a political panopticon with ubiquitous web through its cadres that are ebullient, but with the understanding that contradiction is not just a mere unity of the opposites. Confrontation between opposites is struggle, it is through this struggle that development takes place, “struggle is the essence of the relationship between opposites”.

In the society the struggle of opposites assumes the form of class struggle. And this is not depended on the basic assumptions and best wishes and dreams of individuals, but it is science. It is from this vantage point and outlook we need to view and understand the current political and ideological onslaught on the movement.

The challenges we face are not new, but are the same challenges that faces all other revolutionary movements in Africa and elsewhere in the world such as the Sandanista Revolution in Nicaragua, Chile and Cuba for example.

Parkies is a member of the central committee of the SACP and ANC chief whip in the Free State Legislature