Southern Africa - September 8th, 2019
South Africa: 10 dead and 400 wounded after brutal attacks against immigrant workers
Organized by Anglo American, the ANC and COSATU treacherous union bureaucracy…
Fascist gangs attack workers from Zimbabwe, Namibia, Botswana… who do the worst jobs in gold mines and the farms
A campaign of Xenophobia to divide workers’ ranks and attack conquests of all the exploited of South Africa
The true foreigners who steal our wealth, wages and jobs in South Africa are TNCs and imperialist bankers and their partners of the new millionaire bourgeoisie of black enslavers
ONE CLASS, ONE STRUGGLE AGAINST IMPERIALISM, CAPITALISTS AND THEIR GOVERNMENTS!
Self-defence committees of unions, workers and popular organizations to smash the fascist beast that is trying to rise!
For the unity of the working class from Congo to Mozambique, from Harare to Cape Town!
Out with imperialism! For a Federation of Black Worker and Peasants Republics in the entire Southern Africa!
The International Workers International League of Zimbabwe condemns the brutal attacks that by the barbarian transnationals, victimization, murders, wounded and intimidation suffered by immigrant workers in South Africa. They work in the gold and platinum mines, and harvest the fields. Immigrant women are forced to live their families and children to work as servants in rich families. Immigrant workers are chained and sold as slaves to the capitalists in Europe. They are brought to South Africa to do the worst jobs and when the economy enters recession –by capitalist thieves and imperialist plunder- are killed and murdered by gun men paid by big companies and the government to expel to their countries.
The capitalists in South Africa, TNCs and imperialist bankers use slave labour force of immigrants to guarantee profits and also plunge workers’ salaries in South Africa and slave them even more. Labour aristocracies and bureaucracies fuel xenophobia to blame immigrant workers and not imperialism –the true promoter of slavery, hunger and misery- for the sufferings of exploited of South Africa.
The working class of South Africa can only fight and triumph if they unify their ranks and welcome immigrant workers to their unions and workers organizations fighting for “Equal work, equal pay!” “We are one single working class!” The enemies are the white bourgeoisie and imperialism, which control the best lands, mines and all the wealth of South Africa. There is a gang of black millionaire bourgeoisie who are their partners, who keep workers enslaved with their whip. A few years ago they slaughtered the miners of Marikana without asking which nationality they were, as they demanded a decent wage of R12,500. They persecute workers in the car and steel industry when they fight for better wages and defend their jobs.
The immigrants are part of the working class; they are abandoned to their fate by the union bureaucracy and left at the mercy not only the most brutal exploitation –with outsourced or temporary jobs- but also they are the reserve army of labour in nations plundered by imperialism in the entire Africa.
Black workers are killed in USA; they drown in the Mediterranean Sea trying to get to Europe; and in South Africa the bourgeoisie of Pretoria and their hired gun men kill us when they do not need us anymore.
The ANC government and its murderous police organize these gangs of gunmen and fascists who attack immigrants from the backstage. They say that we, immigrants, are the reason for unemployment and that we steal jobs. Thus, they want to prevent the working class from uprising -like happened during the general strikes against Zuma’s government- and confronting the government, workers’ true enemy.
But the truth is that capitalists have plunged the country in this crisis. Imperialism has plundered the nation and its wealth. They are firing thousands of workers, like in Arcelor Mittal. They hire immigrant without papers in conditions of precarious jobs with miserable wages and they blackmail the entire working class to either accept low wages and super-exploitation conditions or to be fired and replace by immigrant workers. Imperialism, bosses, their governments, their repressive forces and their lackeys are the propellers of “Xenophobia”!
Let’s unite the workers’ ranks to face the government, the capitalists and the bosses! Down with COSATU union bureaucracy!
Imperialism, the bosses and their government of the ANC and Stalinism have organized these true fascist pogroms against immigrants to have social base to deepen the attack on workers. COSATU union bureaucracy is an accomplice; they stand with the government who organize them. Immigrants are not part of its ranks and COSATU does not defend them. They are abandoned to their fate to suffer the worst over-exploitation by the bosses, who take advantage of this situation to plunge workers’ wages and fuel hatred towards the immigrants by telling the workers “the immigrants are to blame for wage reductions and loss of jobs.” There is nothing strange about this, since these bureaucrats are partners of social-imperialist British TUC, which raised the program of “British jobs for British workers” a few years ago. Today they allow the policy of “South African job for South African workers” in that country and then they issue statement lamenting the events of violence and calling to raise consciousness and solidarity… Crocodile tears! They request meetings with different organisms to discuss the topic, while they keep refusing to enroll immigrants and fight, first of all, for full rights for them and to fight together for jobs for all and wages equal to the family basket.
The COSATU union bureaucrats are enemies of organizing workers ranks and transforming their organizations in the spike to open the borders and conquer equal pay for equal job for all the workers, cutting down working shifts and with decent wages for all. They are enemies of organizing and centralizing the struggle against labour flexibilization and against the attack on the gains of the working class that big capital has launched internationally. They are far from propelling an international fight of the working class, like the ones in the late 19th Century and early 20th to conquer 8-hour shifts. The biggest defeat and tragedy suffered by world proletariat has been that this excrescence of the working class -namely union bureaucracies, labour aristocracies and their parties- have destroyed militant internationalism, when it necessary more than never to face bankrupted capitalist system. Down with COSATU union bureaucracy!
SAFTU, a trade union that broke away from COSATU and confronts the government, has issued a statement against xenophobic attacks. It has an enormous authority since it has been confronting Ramaphosa, but they have not organized any self-defence committee or struggle for the immigrants yet. The steel workers of NUMSA, one of the biggest union and main member of the mentioned trade union, have not done it either. Leaders of this union set up the Socialist Revolutionary Workers’ Party (SRWP) a few years ago and they have issued a statement but not any actions yet.
These trade unions and leaderships of the working class have the real chance of organizing now self-defence committees to defend immigrants and smash fascist gangs! Let’s call the grassroots workers of the unions enrolled in COSATU to break away with the union bureaucracy and join these committees and the struggle against the xenophobic gangs!
For self-defence committees!
Let’s stop the xenophobic attacks now!
Today they are coming for the immigrant workers, like they did in Marikana. In the future they will come for the entire working class. We cannot allow it! We are one working class, one nation: the black Nation, Bantu Nation!
If a sector of the labour aristocracy allows this brutal attack against immigrants, they will be selling their soul to the devil, because the government is coming for all the workers. They know the struggle class against class and that they crisis must be paid by the entire working class and the exploited. That is why: One class against one enemy: the TNCs, the capitalists and their government! Papers and full right for all the immigrants! Equal pay for equal job!
Let’s expel the real “illegal immigrants” plunderers of our wealth: the Anglo American, miners and imperialism! The government of starvation and selling out ANC is the guarantor of a new regime of Apartheid against the working class and exploited people, this time commanded by black rich, junior partners, managers and foremen of the imperialist TNCs. Enough with TNCs which steal our wealth! Out with imperialism from Africa!
The attack against immigrants in South Africa brings up an immediate need of unifying workers ranks in Africa and fight together. For a Congress of all the unions of Southern Africa, with grassroots delegates voted in assemblies to coordinate and centralize our struggle! Let’s organize unemployed workers committees in every union of Southern Africa for this combat! Enough union bureaucrats kneeled before the bourgeoisie, both black and white!
Against unemployment, we must fight for: Decent jobs for all! Sliding scale of wages and working hours! All available hands must produce! Cutting down shifts hours, for 6-hour shifts for everybody, one more shifts in every factory and companies!
Full payment of wages for the unemployment until they get a new job! For a plan of public Works and progressive taxes to the big fortunes to build hospitals, schools and houses, so everybody can have jobs!
The crisis is here: May it be paid by capitalists, bankers, TNCs and corrupted politicians!
In order to conquer bread, job, decent wages, houses and health: Let’s expropriate the TNCs, bankers and landowners, first of all Anglo American, without compensation and place under worker control!
Enough with black rich in a sea of slaves! Enough with governments of Ramaphosa, Mnangagwa and other lackeys of imperialism!
For a Federation of Black Republics without bankers, TNCs nor slaver bosses.
Our war cry against slavery must run through the tormented Africa and reach imperialist Europe and USA. Thousands of us drown in the Mediterranean Sea, while Trump organizes fascist gangs of white supremacist to attack black workers in the USA. They are the xenophobes and organize fascist gangs against immigrants!
But also in Europe and the US our allies live. They are the black workers who fight in Black Live Matters in USA and the Black Vests who have taken to the streets in France.
The fight against fascist pogroms in South Africa is the struggle of black immigrant working class taken as slave to the 5 continents!