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Special Russian Revolution Centenary Edition * 100 Years of the Russian Revolution 1917 – 2017 *
E-NEWS BULLETIN 13 October 2017

EDITORIAL

October 2017 marks the centenary of the great Russian Revolution of October 1917. Working class and poor people all over the world should be celebrating this great historical victory. As we state in our booklet (link below), it represents the greatest moment in the history of working class struggle. It was the first time that the working class wrested power from the Russian ruling class (Czarist autocracy and the bourgeoisie) via a process of revolutionary struggles through their own organs of power (Soviets). It highlighted the critical role of leadership and the revolutionary party in the process of revolution, central to which was the Bolsheviks and its leadership. The Russian Revolution had immediate international ramifications in all parts of the world and has a legacy that still lives with us today.

For us in South Africa, its legacy, especially during the period of political degeneration of the Russian Revolution, was mediated through the Communist Party of South Africa (CPSA) that was founded in 1921. In 1928, the CPSA adopted the controversial “Native Republic Thesis” (NRT) after a severe internal struggle that saw leading members purged from the party. This position of the party promoted a two-stage theory of political and social change – a first stage of democratic black majority rule that would gradually open up spaces for “radical reform” evolving towards the second socialist stage. The NRT eventually laid the basis for the reformed South African Communist Party (SACP) and its “Colonialism of a Special Type” and “National Democratic” (NDR) theses which argued a similar position. This two-stage conception of revolutionary struggle has been the central contradiction of the international socialist movement since the 19th century and still bedevils debate and strategy today, not least of which South Africa. It ensured the SACP and later Cosatu’s unconditional support for the ANC and tail-ending this bourgeois national party in the first stage.

The rest as they say is history, and today the masses of South Africa and indeed the world are suffering as a consequence with imperialism continuing to plunder and destroy the world and its people.

READ, STUDY, DISCUSS, ORGANISE AND MOBILISE FOR ACTION!

Watch out for our special shows on the centenary of the Russian Revolution on the SAFM Workers on Wednesday show next week (18 October at 10.00) and CTV on Thursday 26 October at 21.00 on DSTV Channel 263.

RUSSIAN REVOLUTION CENTENARY

1917 Centenary Revolutionary Festival

Participate in Over 20 teach-ins and debates, book launches, rallies, stalls, revolutionary walk, exhibition, film festival, two cultural events with top bands, DJs and poets. 1917centenary.co.za/

By way of an introduction: The stages of the 1917 revolution

The stages of the 1917 revolution During February 1917, in the midst of war, the autocratic Tsarist regime in Russia was overthrown by mass demonstrations. Eight months later, in October, the working class – supported by a popular uprising in the whole country – conquered political power and began to construct a new, socialist society. The 20th century was transformed. aidc.org.za/

[BOOKLET] 100 years of the Russian Revolution

While the aim of this booklet is to celebrate the great victory of the working class one hundred years ago, the study of this history touches on all the major discussions and debates in the socialist movement today and is a guide to our future struggles. download (pdf 1.6MB)

SOUTH AFRICA

Discontent and the coming minimum wage

Iit is easy to see why many in the labour movement see the introduction of a R3 500 minimum wage as only helping to fuel the fires of discontent – Inside Labour by Terry Bell fin24.com/

MDDA will be investigated by Parliament

The Media Development and Diversity Agency will be investigated, the portfolio committee on communications decided at a meeting on Tuesday where it emerged that MDDA chairperson Phelisa Nkomo did act as the agency’s CEO, in spite of her statements to the contrary. news24.com/

[VIDEO] Shoprite workers- Tips or theft?

For several years Shoprite has been hailed as huge SA business success story. It is Africa’s largest retailer with 2653 outlets with a diverse range of shops, including Medicare Pharmacies, Hungry Lion, and OK Furnishers.It has been voted a few times as SA’s number one brand for excellence in the Sunday Times and Markinor business brand surveys. The company employs approximately 138000 employees across the continent. However, Shoprite’s success has an unsavoury side of exploitation of workers with most earning as low as R23 per hour or just over R4000 per month. It is less in other African Countries and recently it was reported that a Shoprite manager in Cape Town had their casuals workers handcuffed and arrested for accepting tips from customers.