SACP statement on the National Planning Commission

The SACP welcomes the announcement made by the President of the Republic last week establishing the National Planning Commission.

We are committed to work with the planning commission in a dynamic way to buttress its activities with popular mass participation on what should be the long term plan of our country on key challenges facing South Africa.

We particularly welcome the appointment of South Africans, a most welcome move away from our policy direction being determined by ‘Harvard Panels’ as if South Africa does not have its own intellectual resources. However, we obviously would have liked to see more names of people coming from the ranks of the working class, and we are concerned that people associated with business are over-represented in the commission.

Cronin, SACP, on nationalisation

THE South African Communist Party (SACP) has played down the African National Congress Youth League’s mines nationalisation document, warning that the manner in which the debate is handled could divide the tripartite alliance and discredit major structural transformation in SA.

Writing in the SACP newsletter, Umsebenzi, deputy general secretary Jeremy Cronin warned against treating nationalisation as a standalone issue and as a rhetorical badge for radicalism.

Rather, “any progressive call for nationalisation needs to be a coherent and do-able part of an overall democratic programme”. Cronin said the discussion around the transformation of the mining sector needed to account for the broader challenge of putting SA on a new job-creating path.

ANC partners push for Reserve Bank control

ANC alliance partners have confirmed they are actively lobbying for a takeover of the SA Reserve Bank by the state.

The Young Communist League (YCL) says the government should consider “expropriation” if the central bank’s shareholders are unwilling to sell their shares.

“The nationalisation of the SARB will lead to a reorientation of the monetary policy review committee in composition and approach, especially the nonsensical notion of the independence of the SARB,” the YCL said in a statement.

“We see this call for discussion as re-enforcing our long-held view of the democratisation of the SARB, consistent with many developing and developed economies.”

This week the bank defended its independence, saying it was not owned by anyone.

“The SARB is a creature of statute, with the status of an independent legal person, which may not be liquidated other than by an act of Parliament. Its independence is entrenched in the Constitution and it is not owned by anyone,” the bank said in a statement.

Alliance leaders are expected to discuss details of the take over bid at a summit next month.

“If none of the shareholders agree to sell to the state their shares, we call on regulated ‘expropriation’,” said the league.

Source: The Sowetan

SACP: Inflation targeting was not working

Briefing the media after its central committee meeting yesterday SACP deputy secretary-general Jeremy Cronin echoed calls by trade union federation Cosatu for improved economic alternatives. He said the ANC, SACP and Cosatu discussed the need for a macroeconomic policy shift at the recent summit of the tripartite alliance.

"We said the matter should be looked at with urgency as the country was bleeding."

He said that the government's policy of inflation targeting was not working and this, with related matters, would be discussed in the new discussion forum that the appointment of Gill Marcus as governor of the Reserve Bank had provided.

The SACP is to hold its second special national congress next month.

Source: The Times