Johannesburg | Monday
THE South African Communist Party (SACP) reiterated its opposition to the government’s privatisation policies on Sunday, in another sign that the country’s ruling alliance is coming under strain.
”The privatisation frenzy threatens not just social security and sustainable economic growth, it also threatens the safety and moral character of the kind of society we are trying to build,” the SACP said in a statement.
”…the myopic, short-term vision of private sector investors is…entirely inadequate to overcoming the huge structural distortions of the South African and Southern African economies,” it said.
The statement was released after the party finished three days of meetings ahead of an expected summit of the governing alliance — the SACP, the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) and the dominant African National Congress.
The summit was originally scheduled for next weekend but has been postponed. A new date is expected to be set this week.
Analysts have predicted a bruising summit as the ANC finds itself at odds with its left-wing alliance partners over major policy issues such as privatisation and social spending.
The ANC has kept a tight reign on fiscal policy in a bid to stabilise the economy and woo foreign investors.
It is also committed to the sale of key state assets in sectors such as telecommunications, transport and electricity.
The SACP and Cosatu oppose privatisation in these areas on the grounds that investors will put profits before the needs of the country’s poor majority. They also fear many jobs will be lost in the process.
Cosatu last month led a two-day national strike against the privatisation plans.
Cosatu claims 1,8-million members while the SACP only has 18 000 members. But the latter’s influence on the ANC has long exceeded its numbers and the two organisations have strong ties rooted in the struggle against white-minority rule. – Reuters