The hegemony of political power In the period since the political victory of the national democratic revolution in 1994, we have experienced an intense and sustained contest to define the tasks of this revolution. This has manifested itself in various struggles against the ANC, within the ANC, within the broad democratic movement, and in society as a whole. Interventions in this regard have been made both from within our country and from elsewhere in the rest of the world. With regard to the latter, we would like to recall the bold statement made by a member of the then US Administration, many years ago, that – South Africa is too important to be left to the South Africans! Taking into account what has been happening during the years of our democracy, and the antecedent period, it is clear that this view is shared by both leftist and rightist forces within the global community. Again, the democratic revolution did nothing to obstruct the intrusion of external leftist and rightist ideas, and their foreign representatives, into our national space, consistent with the conviction of the motive force of the national democratic revolution that its fundamental nature dictated that it should uphold the objective of establishing a truly open society. Nothing we have said subtracts from the reality that our movement, and the masses it leads, have a revolutionary responsibility to assert and exercise their hegemony as the leader of the process of the fundamental social transformation of our country, without which the democratic revolution would have no meaning. On the political and ideological plane, the exercise of this hegemony is challenged both from the left and the right. Consistent with what has happened in other countries in the past, more often than nought, this left and right opposition usually comes together in the political positions it expresses and fights for. We are our own liberators Thus, actual social practice must serve as the teacher of the national democratic movement as it strives to assert and exercise its hegemony as the leader of the process of the fundamental social transformation of our country, without which, as we have said, the democratic revolution would have no meaning. This extensive but necessary introduction to this short series, without whose understanding our democratic revolution cannot discharge its responsibilities, lays the basis for a revolutionary understanding of the ideological, political and organisational struggles that have been a feature of our recent and current reality, and what we must do as a truly independent revolutionary democratic movement. As an integral part of the struggles to which we have referred, the opponents of our movement have sought to present their interpretations of various issues that confront the democratic revolution as constituting elements of a revolution in crisis. Thus they have sought to argue that our revolution will succeed, and achieve universal acclaim as a successful revolution, if it responds to a whole variety of matters according to their prescriptions, directives and wishes!
Posted on: Fri, 12 Jul 2013 07:52:03 +0000