Khadija Magardie The South African Communist Party has launched disciplinary proceedings against one of its senior members, freelance journalist Dale McKinley, for allegedly bringing the party and its alliance partners into disrepute.
McKinley is set to be grilled on Friday August 11 for more than two hours by a panel made up of the top hierarchy of the party, including deputy SACP general secretary Jeremy Cronin and Minister of Water Affairs and Forestry Ronnie Kasrils. The hearing could be postponed because of procedural issues relating to McKinley’s right to external legal representation. Given the severity of the charges, he faces suspension, even expulsion, from the party. The last time the party hauled one of its members before a disciplinary tribunal was in 1993, which led to the suspension of the late Harry Gwala.
The charges stem from a series of articles written by McKinley in his personal capacity that were published in several newspapers, including the Mail & Guardian. All indications are that the party’s major grievances are related to an article penned by McKinley for the M&G (”The evolution of the ANC”, February 25 to March 2 2000). The article broached whether the African National Congress alliance had betrayed its core socialist values – in particular a commitment to redistribute wealth – by becoming a slave to capitalism. What appears to have been the main point of contention with the SACP leadership is McKinley’s implication that former revolutionaries and trade unionists have now themselves joined the ranks of the ”capitalism-with-a-human-face club”.
Although the charge sheet was drawn up by the SACP, of which McKinley is a member, it is understood the disciplinary inquiry stems more from the writer’s criticism of the ruling ANC than the SACP itself. McKinley’s article was an extrapolation of ideas he advanced in a book he authored, entitled The ANC and the Liberation Struggle. The book was given wide press coverage, including in the M&G, following its release in 1997. Insiders have questioned why the sentiments expressed in the book three years ago were not subjected to a similar lashing by the SACP. ”One can draw the conclusion that this entire hearing is related to the changed balance of power – and one can clearly see the direction from which these comments have come,” said one SACP member, who did not wish to be named.
According to the lengthy charge sheet the article ”calls into question the credibility of the ANC and its leadership in a manner not befitting a member of the SACP”. It goes on to say that the article also undermines the party’s alliance with the ANC. The charge sheet criticises McKinley’s thesis that the ANC is not a revolutionary party, saying such talk represents ”a violation of one of the party’s policies of not questioning the bona fides of our allies, no matter how strongly we can disagree on a matter”. McKinley also stands accused of ”insulting” the Congress of South African Trade Unions leadership in an article published in the Australian journal Green Left Weekly by implying that they were becoming capitalists. In a section entitled ”Publicly and Consistently Promoting Positions that Undermine the SACP”, the charge sheet describes as ”a serious offence” McKinley’s apparent contradiction, in public, of the party’s own publicly stated positions – citing McKinley’s critique of Budget 2000 in a London-based communist journal as an example.
The case raises serious questions about the right of the individual to freedom of speech, while at the same time being subject to the rules and regulations relating to membership of a voluntary organisation, political or otherwise. The Freedom of Expression Institute has taken up McKinley’s case because, it says, it goes beyond a personal issue and has wider implications for the constitutional right to free speech. McKinley declined to comment, saying it may be premature and prejudice his case. He confirmed that he refutes all the charges. The SACPhas confirmed that disciplinary proceedings are being instituted against McKinley, but refused to elaborate. ”We will treat this as an internal matter between the party and its members,” said Mazibuko Jara, national SACPspokesperson. He added:”We will not conduct our internal affairs through the M&G or any paper.”