Importance of EFFSC in Institutions of higher learning and its relative autonomy by Lubablo Mcunukelwa & Lindokuhle Mponco

The EFFSC is a radical and militant student wing of the fastest growing political party in South Africa, and in Africa, the EFF. It is steeped in the politics of ensuring that the EFF manifests itself in every sector and space of society. The EFFSC exists to bring together all the revolutionary elements within student populace to ensure that students and workers in the sector of Higher Education are mobilized behind the banner of the EFF which seeks to attain economic freedom in our lifetime, and in this current epoch. The EFFSC is therefore important in the sector of Higher Education as it exists in this space to galvanize support for the EFF. In this document we will deal with three fundamental things:

a) The Importance of the EFFSC in Institutions of Higher Learning

b) The concept of relative autonomy

c) The need to popularize the politics of the EFF & the EFFSC in the sector

a) The importance of the EFFSC in Institutions of Higher Learning

The EFFSC exists in the institutions of Higher learning to primarily mobilize students behind the banner of the EFF which stands and fights for economic freedom in our lifetime. It exists in institutions to show that there is an alternative to the current status quo which has many contradictions. First and foremost, students must understand that they are not a class on their own, but rather come from class backgrounds. An example of this is a student who is funded by NSFAS. A student funded by NSFAS is most likely a child of a working-class parent or a poor peasant/rural dweller. This speaks to the class character of those funded by NSFAS as students that come from working class and peasantry backgrounds. These two classes form the backbone of the oppressed layers of society. Students on the other hand are in a factory which seeks to transform them into the next working class which will be controlled by the bourgeois. This is not necessarily the case for every student because some are being transformed into being the next bourgeoisie. 

Therefore, institutions of Higher Learning become another terrain of class struggle and class contradictions due to the fact that institutions are microcosms of society. A typical institution of Higher Learning is the mirror image of the society it finds itself in, and this includes the patterns of relations to knowledge production and accumulation. The EFFSC being a Marxist-Leninist-Fanonist organization draws from this reality, and therefore postures itself in the primary as a tool to wage the class struggle on behalf of the working class and the peasantry. In the secondary, as a tool to ensure that institutions are transformed into havens of revolutionary knowledge and the development of the most advanced layers of the oppressed classes. The founding principle of mobilizing students behind the banner of economic freedom in our lifetime as espoused by the founding manifesto of the EFF is fulfilled through the EFFSC being a tool of class struggle, thus rendering it a protest movement, or rather a manifestation of a protest movement called the EFF in the sector of Higher Education. The other aim is to mobilize students and workers to be vessels of the struggle against commodified education, and capitalist patterns or relations in the sector. The other founding principles such as transforming the higher education sector and promoting academic excellence and research are also fulfilled through the EFFSC being a tool to ensure that institutions are transformed into havens of revolutionary knowledge. The process of transformation also includes the need for us to decolonize the sector to ensure proper representation of all knowledge producers, and to eradicate the dirty stains of colonial pedagogy and epistemology. 

The importance of the EFFSC in institutions of Higher Learning is that it seeks to dialectically connect the struggle for free, quality, well resourced, and decolonized education with that of economic freedom in our lifetime, while ensuring it is rooted in the struggle for a Socialist Society steeped in the principles of Marxism-Leninism-Fanonism. The importance of EFFSC in institutions of Higher Learning also helps us to combat the racist order of our education system whether the institution is a historically black or historically white institution. This importance cannot be understated by charlatans who refuse to acknowledge that our struggle is primarily a class struggle even though it is intertwined with the race struggle. This is the importance of Fanonism in the grand scheme of the ideological framework of the EFFSC as it helps us understand our colonial society as it is, and not what we want it to be or how we want to see it. If we cannot practically link this with the work of the EFF then all our efforts are futile, and the EFFSC should just dissolve itself. We do not exist to solely contest SRC elections, but rather we see contestation of SRC elections as one of the many means to an end and not an end in itself.

b) The relative autonomy of EFFSC

The EFFSC's founding provision is in Section 32 of the EFF Constitution which was ratified in the 2nd National People's Assembly (NPA) in 2019. Section 32.1 clearly states that the EFFSC is an autonomous structure which should exist in every institution of Higher Learning. Section 32.2 of the EFF constitution also states that should the EFFSC seek to exist outside institutions of Higher Learning, then the National Students' Assembly (NSA) must take that decision and it should have the concurrence of the EFF Central Command Team (CCT). Therefore, from these constitutional provisions we can see two things:

a) The EFFSC has the autonomy to make and take decisions which will advance its political life, and its subsequent development. This means that in navigating the spaces of Higher Learning the EFFSC has every right to take decision that will not only benefit the EFFSC as an organization but also benefit students at large. This also means that the EFFSC can align itself with the organizations that it sees fit to align with it, so long as the alignment is ideologically principled, grounded in a sound scientific program of action, and will advance the revolutionary movement which seeks to overthrow the Capitalist regime which is represented by the ANC and its affiliates. The ANC in our institutions contests through SASCO, therefore, the EFFSC must take decisions that will unseat these friends of management while remaining ideologically principled.

b) The EFFSC cannot take decisions that involve it campaigning outside institutions of Higher Learning or exist outside these institutions without the agreeing with the EFF CCT. This means that whatever decision the EFFSC takes to link the struggle of students with the general struggle against the Capitalist regime, they must work hand in hand, and agree with the EFF CCT. Another facet is that EFFSC can't take decisions of a significant nature in the general politics of society without agreeing with the EFF. This is where the autonomy ends, hence the term relative autonomy.

Therefore, the EFFSC is beholden to the EFF, and its autonomy hangs on the existence of the EFF. Without the EFF there is no EFFSC, and that means the EFF is the alpha and omega of the EFFSC. Like a parent to a child, such is the relationship of the EFF and the EFFSC. One can't exist without the other even though the other can exist without the other even though the capacity will be reduced.

c) The need to popularize the politics of the EFF & the EFFSC in the sector

The sector of Higher Education like any other space is a space of the contestation of ideas between the antagonistic classes in society. We must be cognizant of the fact that education is a very key component of maintaining the capitalist order. Antonio Gramsci once wrote, "Culture is a privilege, education is a privilege and we do not want it to be so." Due to the reality of education being the center of ensuring the cultural hegemony of the capitalist system. It is very important for the EFFSC to first popularize the politics of the EFF which seeks to unite the struggle of the students with those of the oppressed classes which include the working class, and the peasantry. Cardinal Pillar 1 clearly states that we must expropriate the land without compensation for equal redistribution in use. In an EFF-led state the land will be expropriated to ensure we build more residences, campuses, and new institutions of Higher Learning, while ensuring that land is also economically productive. It is very important for us to not just only look at these cardinal pillars as abstractions but rather as concrete ideas that can be realized and linked with the sector.

Cardinal Pillar 2 clearly calls for the nationalization of mines, banks, and other strategic sectors of the economy without compensation. When the mines, banks, and other strategic sectors are nationalized, the surplus generated from those economic ventures will be used to ensure our education is well resourced in terms of equipment, facilities, and allowances. When the state owns these strategic means and have them under democratic workers' control it will be much easier to redirect the surplus value to the workers and developing the sector of Higher Education further. Cardinal Pillar 3 calls for the building of state capacity, which will lead to the abolishment of tenders. When state capacity is built, jobs will be available for graduates, and we will have a more professional civil service which will deliver services without discrimination and prejudice. Even the public institutions will be developed through increased research capacity due to the state funding and capacitating public institutions of Higher Learning.

Cardinal Pillar 4 calls for free education, healthcare, houses, and sanitation to ensure that all have education, healthcare, housing, and sanitation. We must begin to link these demands with the call for campus clinics, and proper residences with proper sanitation that many students in South Africa and Africa are not afforded. It is this cardinal pillar that we ought to fight for directly in our campuses due to how we derive existence from this cardinal pillar. This doesn't mean we must neglect other cardinal pillars because most of the campaigns and activities around ensuring that these demands are met require us to move out of our campuses and start connecting our struggle with that of the community, hence the slogan Student Wars are Community Wars. Cardinal Pillar 5 speaks of massive protected industrial development to create millions of jobs. It further goes on to raise the demand for the introduction of minimum wages which will close the gap between rich and poor. t\This is another means of eradicating a class-based society as per the dictates of the science of Marxism-Leninism-Fanonism. 

Cardinal Pillar 5 can be linked to our struggle due to how a socialist education system will be a conveyor built of the most skilled professionals and workers who will participate in the process of massive industrialization. It is precisely why we must understand the cardinal pillars from that perspective.  Cardinal Pillar 6 links to our struggle due to how the development of the African economy creates the prospect of opening doors of opportunities in other spaces of this gigantic continent, especially if one attains quality education. Marx and Engels clearly understood that the worker has no borders due to how a worker will migrate to another part of the world for a better wage. Once the African economy is developed or even in the process of developing into an industrialized economy, the movement of workers across the continent will be necessary to ensure maximum employment of all the factors of production.  All of these cardinal pillars cannot stand the test of time if Cardinal pillar 7 is not realized. We cannot have an industrialized continent without an open and transparent government that doesn't use law enforcement agencies to settle political scores.

However, we must not be naive in the realization of this cardinal pillar as this pillar requires us to redefine the role of the state post-socialist revolution. Once the State is in the hands of the oppressed classes, it is logical that the State will be used to settle political scores of the oppressed classes against the oppressor classes. This means that in the early years of the revolutionary government the State will use law enforcement agencies to ensure revolutionary justice is the norm, and to settle the political question of the dominance of the bourgeoisie and the aristocracy. These cardinal pillars ought to be popularized in our campuses, offices, and various spaces of interaction and ultimately be linked to the seven non-negotiable founding principles of the EFFSC. These principles cannot be taught without understanding the cardinal pillars. This is why this document primarily emphasizes the 7 Cardinal Pillars due to how understanding these pillars will be necessary to understand the dialectical connection between them and the 7 Non-Negotiable Founding Principles of the EFFSC. 

Popularizing the Non-Negotiable Founding Principles of the EFFSC is an immediate task of the EFFSC in the country, particularly in the Eastern Cape. This is due to the Eastern Cape being an ANC stronghold which is plagued by corruption, poverty, misery, ignorance, and economic backwardness. All of these characteristics of the Eastern Cape province requires the EFFSC to be a fighting organ of the oppressed masses against the prevailing regime, and the system they implement which is capitalism. The Non-Negotiable Founding Principles of the EFFSC are steeped in ensuring that the revolutionary student understands the subjective struggle, and afterwards be able to link it with the objective struggle. The subjective struggle in this context is the fight for free, quality, well resourced, and decolonized education in our lifetime. The objective struggle on the other hand is the struggle for economic freedom in our lifetime, and these struggles can only be achieved through the realization of Socialism in our lifetime. Socialism will not appear through reform and electoralism, but through sheer struggle against the Capitalist order and that requires us to take the path of revolution. It is only a revolution that will resolve the class contradictions and the malaise of the contemporary African capitalist society, and the world at large.

The Non-Negotiable Founding Principles are as follows:

(1) Mobilizing students behind the struggle for economic freedom, embodied in the EFF Founding Manifesto.

(2) Pursuit of radical higher education transformation with the aim towards free, quality education.

(3) Championing the interests of students and all workers in institutions of higher learning. 

(4) Building a dynamic relationship between students and community struggles and campaigns. 

(5) Participating in progressive international campaigns and programs. 

(6) Promoting academic and research excellence and progress. 

(7) Contributing to intellectual and ideological discourse in a manner that seeks to promote the struggle for economic freedom.

Once we popularize these principles, the power of the oppressed classes will be inescapable just like the power of the oppressor classes is inescapable in this current epoch. Once we popularize these politics it is only then that students will realize that the SRC is not an end in itself but a means to an end. It is only then that students will realize the need to create their own organs of power which are not under the auspices of institutional management. It is only then we will appreciate the need for dual power in order for us to radically transform the Higher Education sector, and the society we live in. Once dual power is a reality, we are just simply one push away from overthrowing the current education regime of capitalists and replace it with a regime of socialist education. This cannot be achieved without the overthrowal of the capitalist order, and it is imperative for us as Fighters to ensure that we understand this fact. 

d) Conclusion

Chinese Marxist Deng Xiaoping clearly states that the role of a Marxist is to search for the truth in the available facts. We cannot construct a revolutionary program if we are not armed with the truth. We cannot build a revolutionary organization without the truth, and ultimately the work of the Party cannot be carried out without the truth. It is this truth that should guide us in our quest to conquer state and economic power and this requires us to make the revolution permanent as Marx said in the Congress of the Communist League in 1850. Marx said this to make sure that all revolutionaries are aware that our struggle is intersectional and international due to how the primary contradiction of class determines the ideas and implementation thereof in as far as gender, race, and ethnicity is concerned. To give this document justice, it is only fair for us to provide the quote, and it reads as follows, "While the democratic petty bourgeois want to bring the revolution to an end as quickly as possible, achieving at most the aims already mentioned, it is our interest and our task to make the revolution permanent until all the more or less propertied classes have been driven from their ruling positions, until the proletariat has conquered state power and until the association of the proletarians has progressed sufficiently far – not only in one country but in all the leading countries of the world – that competition between the proletarians of these countries ceases and at least the decisive forces of production are concentrated in the hands of the workers"

A Luta Continua Contra Capitalismo!

On Heritage: A Youth Perspective by Siphokuhle Ncetezo

Heritage – an ambiguous term that transcends the boundaries of indoctrinated perspective, one that rests on opinion purely to highlight a commonality amongst people, a similarity amongst a diverse nation and most importantly a chance to openly reminisce on one’s undiluted history. Some may seem to assume that this message then seeks to support the claim that individuality is a sine quo non for the expression of heritage and indigenous pride, which may be true as envisioned by the founders of Apartheid who strongly aligned with stratified freedom through individual autonomy. The mention of the word “Apartheid” can certainly assert that the theory is therefore not valid but that is not where the crux of this contextualization rests or rather begins.

This conversation begins by understanding that Heritage is defined the same but comprehended differently. Unlike organizations, society does not have a sole interpreter of philosophical concepts, hence people are always yearning to affiliate with an organization that aligns with how they feel about a certain concept. This can be seen as both a benefit and a detriment in the sense that there is power in uniting through difference, due to the fact that the unity is developed by people who have realized themselves and their self-attributed roles within society. It can also be seen as a detriment due to the fact that society has only allowed difference to be proudly attributed in recent years. Marginalized groups like women, homosexual people, Black People and so on have been far too excluded that they seem to define their heritage in the best way that suits the society they never built themselves. The outcry though in this sense is found in the lack of real heritage, that which is the realization of one’s history to celebrate a present time you can comprehend. 

The Harmony of History and heritage is where the 21st century generation needs to put itself. Realizing History does not mean unravelling revenge or hatred between groups nor does it incite any action that may change the outcome of history for the favored group. Simply, realizing your history is a self-diagnostic measure that aims to develop one according to the principles of one’s origin, to realize one’s own identity as built over time so as to allow better envisioning for the upcoming generation hence in layman’s terms it would be put as “you won’t know where you are going unless you know where you come from”. In an African context that boasts on auditory history, it is important to understand that heritage requires more reasoning than listening, more expression than publicity but of most importance is the act of seeking knowledge rather than being taught. Culture that is expressed through the eye of the observer is a mere event whereas culture that is expressed by the custodians who hold its heritage is then considered a way of Life. This then leads us to the conclusion that Heritage is the positive alignment of uncut difference within a unified society, heritage is in the eye of the beholder! 

Now that we understand what heritage is, it’s only logical to understand the origin story behind the celebration of Heritage Day and closely link it to our definition of Heritage. September 24 was previously known in South Africa as Shaka Day, a day commemorating the Zulu King of Shaka. He was known for uniting the Zulu clan together and forming the Zulu nation. Every year, South Africans would gather at his grave to honor him. In 1995 a request for the day to be confirmed as an official holiday was rejected. After receiving some pushback from the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP), a majority Zulu party, it was decided that the day was needed and would be known as ‘‘Heritage Day”. (National Today, 2017-2022). Sankofa symbolizes the wisdom in learning from the past in building for the future. (It is not a taboo to go back and retrieve what you have forgotten.) A symbol of perpetual heritage in essence, it is not a shock that the idea of celebrating heritage emanates from an African setting. This is because above all difference within the African community, heritage is the unchanging commonality within each and every soul: the love for rhythm, the ease of communication but most importantly, Humanity(UBUNTU). 

Hence, the following words by Steve Biko affirm the reason why most people celebrate Ubuntu during heritage month, “The great powers of the world may have done wonders in giving the world an industrial and military look, but the great gift still has to come from Africa – giving the world a more human face” (Biko, 2004). This is not said because Africans have nothing left to offer the world apart from character traits but rather it emphasizes the point that Heritage is not a materialistic concept hence the greater the value you attribute to intangible history, the greater the heritage you carry. Ideally, the conception moved from the celebration of a fallen king to the celebration of general pride in cultural history which was not an entirely flawed idea considering the opportunities offered by South Africa’s Diversity. The anti-climax then comes in with the understanding of the afore-mentioned, the fact that the heritage is celebrated incorrectly. Sankofa - as explained, is culminated by the mandate which we should carry, heritage is not just appreciation of past group-based accolades and good times but also an invitation to shape the future into one yearned for by the masses.

In conclusion, the injustices of the world, starting from things like homophobia to racism have a link to the misconception of heritage. It is the pride in concepts not relative to a people that misleads the masses to be comfortable with unnatural acts. The incorrect story telling of the African story has met Africa’s children with a confusion and loss of identity so much that it feels wrong to be proud of who you are or even worse, to seek who you are. One may argue that the culture I so much advocate for assists in the prejudices of the current world but that is the idea behind the most important take off from this contextualization. Culture is defined by the custodian generation of a pre-defined group of people. Understanding your history doesn’t change who you are but rather allows you to understand why you are there in the first place. To importantly note, the way you live now will be the culture that the next generation fears to change, the habits you have now will be the basis of character that future generations will hold therefore live proud and loud so as to echo your vision loud enough for the next generation to hear. Real Heritage will come when we assimilate modern concepts that are independent of inter-personal influence into historic constant concepts that are at the base of the African culture. Unity doesn’t come from broken pieces, unity comes from the amalgamation of independently functional parts. Realize your real heritage, realize that you are part of that heritage and finally, live the history that will birth the heritage you want to see!

On the decline of SASCO and the rise of EFFSC in UFH by Lindokuhle Mponco

SASCO in the University of Fort Hare is a shadow of its former self due to a litany of issues. One of those issues is a decline in ideological understanding. SASCO is a representation of movement that started on a revolutionary path, but due to interactions and alliances with bourgeois power structures they have become reformist. This is the case at a national level, and also at an institutional level. The decline of ideological understanding can be located in the development of a student aristocracy. The development of a student aristocracy over the past 28 years has led to SASCO being a brake in the student movement, and the biggest reformist/sellout organization in the broad politics of the higher education sector.

This development of SASCO cannot be dislocated from the decline of the YCL and the ANCYL. It is public knowledge that these three organizations have an alliance (Progressive Youth Alliance) which seeks to unite the youth behind the banner of the politics of the tripartite alliance (COSATU-ANC-SACP). This alliance has not produced anything progressive in the past 10 - 15 years due to the assault of the reactionary leaders of the ANC who have used the PYA (Progressive Youth Alliance) as their mobilization and lobbying vehicle. This is the case in the University of Fort Hare and it seems like it will be the case for many more years to come. This decline can be located to the shifting of political priorities in the PYA. The PYA is now deployment-centric and proximity centered. Most of the leading layers of the organization are concerned with being deployed and having proximity to institutional managers. The issues of students are used as a tool to get deployment, the deployment is then used to secure all kinds of bourgeois luxuries and in some cases jobs! This is not possible without selling out.

We cannot disassociate SASCO from selloutism because selloutism has become part of the DNA of SASCO, especially in the University of Fort Hare. Those few SASCO activists that still uphold the founding principles have been victims of suspensions and internal suppression. The character of a reformist/sellout movement is the suppression of the best layers of the organization in exchange for the promotion of the most reactionary and incompetent layers of the organization. The reason why the reactionaries and incompetents get promoted is due to them being easy to control and dictate. They can't present cogent arguments because they have not even grasped the basics of Marx, Engels, Lenin, and Trotsky. They can't present cogent arguments because they have not invested their time in reading Biko or even engaging the history and the roots of SASCO. In the University of Fort Hare, SASCO is like the ANC in all characters and form. It is thus a dying horse that has no kicks left to offer. Its saving grace is the interference of managers and higher ups that save them from near death at every juncture.

The EFFSC's existence has further amplified the need for a revolutionary organization. The EFFSC has thoroughly replaced SASCO as the vanguard of student and worker struggles in the University of Fort Hare. The EFFSC represents the brand of politics that SASCO used to represent 30 years ago due to how the movement has been able to self-correct when necessary. The EFFSC in the University of Fort Hare might have gone through a turbulent period in as far as internal politics are concerned, but the ability to self-correct has proven beyond reasonable doubt that the EFFSC is revolutionary through and through. The ideological decline in SASCO has been thoroughly exposed by the EFFSC due to how the EFFSC has represented itself in governance, and in the broad politics of the institution. This is the reason why the EFFSC is on an upward trajectory. The EFFSC represents a new hope and is a rising star in as far as the politics of the University of Fort Hare are concerned. Its first taste of governance in 2019/20 in the East London Campus proved that with the EFFSC at the helm, progress will be a reality.

The EFFSC's manifesto has proven to be a manifesto that resonates with the masses of our people because it is derived from the masses of our people. The EFFSC is a now a bulwark of student and worker struggles because it is the only organization that genuinely embraces the struggle of the students and the workers. The author is not ashamed to admit that mistakes have been made, and failures have occurred. However, the EFFSC has shown a unique skill and tendency of utilizing the ideological tools of analysis bestowed to it by the masses of our people. It has been able to use Marxism-Leninism and Fanonian thought in a very concrete manner, such that the students have been drawn to its revolutionary politics. These tools have been used to shift and reorient the movement towards the revolutionary path. 

It is our revolutionary duty as Marxists to safeguard the EFFSC and ensure its rise continues. The EFFSC must be sheltered from charlatans and opportunists that seek to use it as a tool to escalate the careerist ladder. We must shelter the EFFSC from opportunists that want to use the EFFSC as a bargaining chip to secure bourgeois luxuries and cushy jobs. We must shelter EFFSC from the agents and pawns that are being used by the management to destabilize the movement from achieving its revolutionary mission of free, quality, decolonized, and well resourced education in our lifetime. We must begin the process of purging all of those that have been involved in selloutist tendencies that seek to prop up the incompetence that exists in this gallant but colonial institution called the University of Fort Hare. We must safeguard the EFFSC from those that continue to chant management sponsored slogans which represent tyranny and the collapse of student activism within our institution.

It must be known to all that the EFFSC is not a home for thieves, scoundrels, opportunists, charlatans, demagogues, reactionaries, and sellouts. The EFFSC is a home for revolutionary progressives, and people centered activists that seek no profit for their work but the advancement of the revolutionary movement, and a socialist society built on the principles of Student and Worker Power. This political period requires us to hold fast to the words of Amilcar Cabral, "Hide nothing from the masses of our people. Tell no lies. Expose lies wherever they are told. Mask no difficulties, mistakes, failures. Claim no easy victories." 

Renew Student Governance Now! By Lindokuhle Mponco

Student Governance in the current context of the system is the cornerstone of student politics. Political Organisations and Societies contest this arena with the sole aim of reshaping the politics in the sector of Higher Education and Training. When Student Governance reaches the state of ebb, we as revolutionary Marxists must be worried. We must be worried not because there is a decline in the content of politics, but our worry must be in the state of our organisations. In this article I will explain why we need to need to renew Student Governance, and how we can achieve this renewal.

Why do we need to renew Student Governance?

Student Governance in the current context of the Higher Education Act espouses a sector where the SRC is the supreme representative of the Students. However, the shortcoming lies in the fact that it doesn't make room for an accountability organ. Therefore, the current Higher Education Act is logically flawed when we factor in the principles of the current constitution in as far as governance is concerned. 

This sets up a situation whereby the SRC can rise above the very same students that vote for it, and ultimately mandate them. This not only creates that particular contradiction but also heightens the chance of having a student bureaucratic dictatorship. The Student Bureaucratic dictatorship takes form in the following sequence:

1. A Student politician is elected to serve in the SRC.

2. The Student politician is co-opted into the system through various measures (benefits, stipends, and other privileges) that render him/her/they into being another bureaucrat in the long line of bureacrats in the institution.

3. The Student politician submits himself/herself/they to the management, and then sells out the manadate. Anyone that seeks to expose this hypocrisy is suppressed.

This dictatorship is created through managements and councils exploiting this loophole of not having an accountability organ. When a Student-led accountability organ doesn't exist, the SRC accounts directly to the management. This means that the management can use their power to force the SRC to tow the line. Rhodes University is a typical example of a Student Bureaucratic dictatorship. 

The reason why many organisations have not seen this loophole is particularly because there is minimal engagement with the Act, coupled with the general lack of political education. Another factor that can be seen visibly is the lack of a reading culture in our Organisations due to the emphasis of practice over theory instead of a balance between the two as Lenin encouraged.

What is to be done?

The EFFSC must play a role in ensuring that we break down these dictatorships which seem to be spreading across our institutions, especially in this year whereby some institutions are going through constitutional reviews (University of Western Cape, University of Fort Hare, and PE TVET College). The EFFSC must first and foremost expose the current relationship between the SRC and Managements so that we can fully understand in the objective sense that our SRCs are beholden to the Management. This cannot be done without the full understanding and appreciation of the tools called dialectcal & historical materialism. 

We also need to analyse the Higher Education Act dialectially so that we can see the contradictions, and understand the historical development of the Act and the sector to have a full appreciation of how, and why Student Governance declined. We cannot lie to ourselves and purport an image of a fully functional Student Governance component in our country. The state of SAUS and SATVETSA are a typical example of this decline due to how they respond to student struggles. This is precisely why we need to renew Student Governance by creating a Student-led accountability organ; which shall consist of all Student Parliaments across the institutions of higher learning in South Africa.

The EFFSC needs to mobilise its branches to objectively analyse the situation in our sector, and link it with the broad struggle against capitalism. We must understand that the current reaction of management is influenced by the current neoliberal reaction led by the ANC. We must understand that Minister Blade Nzimande has no interest in developing Student Governance and renewing it due to the fear of another #FeesMustFall generation. It is not in the interest of the State to break these Student Bureaucratic dictatorships. In fact, it is in the interest of the State to have these type of dictatorships due to the current austerity plan. This is why the EFFSC must hasten the formation of the Governance Task Unit, with the sole aim of reshaping the type of governors the movement deploys to these components. The EFFSC must also zoom into the development of Student Parliaments across the institutions where the EFFSC is found. It must link that with the call to amend the Higher Education Act to include parliaments as the accountability organ. 

A democratic society or sector without seperation of powers is bound to find itself in sewer of dictatorship and tyranny. This is why the EFFSC, and the revolutionary Marxists who find themselves operating outside of the EFFSC need to unite under one banner of ensuring that Student Governance is renewed according to the terms of the students, and only the students.

On Political Education by Bonginkosi KaNgwenya

In the context of assemblies, and people’s many political ambitions to occupy this and that position, genuine policy questions which have the potential of advancing the struggle for economic freedom and free education and changing the material well being of students and workers lose their substance. They are reduced to fatuous sloganeering and empty rhetoric in an equally fatuous attempt to mobilize support for their political ambitions. The question of political education is one such policy which has been a victim of this fatuous political program. All those who wish to mobilize political support passionately chant politicaleducation this and political education that,without a clear understanding of what this political education is in relation to its form, content, and character, and how it is supposed to be delivered.

This piece therefore seeks to briefly ponder on the question of political education, through providing some critique on our collective understanding of political education and other problematic tendencies when treating this question of political education. Lastly, some views will be shared on what a genuine political education of the EFFSC might look like. Before we begin our brief pondering on the subject matter, I want to deal with an anticipated response and/or anticipated attitude, the ‘solutionism’ imagination that occupies those who shy away from critically thinking about issues and pretend to be doing something about them to mask their laziness in thinking critically about them.

To do this I will borrow from two left scholars the, John Holloway and the Slavoj Zizek. John Holloway in his book ‘change the world without taking power’ in the first chapter argues that beginning of thinking about problems in the social, economic, political, and cultural, is by negation, which he call the ‘scream’. Holloway goes on to say that it matters not whether the scream is ‘justified’ but what is important is that we scream. Zizek in his book ‘first as tragedy then a farce’ thinks along the imagination of Holloway, arguing that the it is important to critically think about matters before doing anything about them.

What we are getting from Holloway and Zizek is that it is possible to critically think about maters even though at that point in time one does not have any solutions for the identified problems. So, this piece will attempt to critically think about political education, and what ought to happen after will be responded to by the collective.

Contextualizing Political Education

Before we ponder on political education, I think it is important that we begin by stating the obvious, to say briefly highlight the conditions which necessitate political education. Capitalism exists, is maintained, and thrives through exploiting the intellectual and physical labour of workers. Conscious of its contradictions, it produces a philosophical framework with which the same workers it exploits will utilize to think about that exploitation. This philosophical framework ensures that in thinking about their exploitation and how to counter it, workers think and act far away from capitalism-to say far away from the land, the banks, and the mines.

Political education, therefore, is a deliberate attempt at ensuring that workers firstly understand and appreciate that the current thinking they are utilizing keeps them far away from the actual problem, in response to this, a different philosophical outlook is provided, which speaks directly to the contradictions of capitalism. In the context of the party, the EFFSC, politicale ducation is a deliberate, consciouseffortatensuring thatthe generalmembership,students,and workers utilize Marxism-Leninism-Fanonism to understand the contradictions in the social, economic, political, and cultural. 

Our problematic understanding of political education

Paulo Freire in his magnum opus, the pedagogy of the oppressed, theorizes beautifully about the problem of education, and this problem he termed ‘banking approach education’. In this banking approach, the teacher delivers education to students, the students’ responsibility is to uncritically consume that education. It is a hierarchical, authoritative top down approach. Freire to correctly points out that the problem with this approach is that it assumes that the teacher knows it all and has stopped learning, the student knows nothing and must learn from the teacher.

If one can go to any branch where they are having a program of political education, one will find that there is an ideologue who is at the podium articulating Marx,Lenin, and Fanon, and other members are listening and taking notes. In Freire’s imagination, the ideologue is the teacher, and the membership are the students, and through the ideologue articulating on the podium, knowledge is supposedly imparted. This banking approach to political education is problematic as correctly argued by Freire, what we need are spaces arranged in a manner that encourages meaningful dialogue, where all those engaged in that conversation arebboth teachers and students. This is not to say the usual method must be completely abolished but relying on it alone is unsustainable.

Lack of organization and coordination

As alluded above, political education is a conscious effort by the party, meaning it is a responsibility of the party to ensure that there is political education organisations. Currently, the party, through some policies and public pronouncements speaks about the importance of political education, but there are no organized and coordinated efforts by the party to ensure that there is constant political education in all branches throughout the country. It is as if the party is hoping that somehow political education will mysteriously take place. In branches where political education takes place, it is so because of the isolated efforts of the branch leadership, not organized and coordinated efforts by the party, through relevant offices.

Downplaying the context

Another problem in relation to political education is that there is a very dangerous approach, which undermines the reality that currently, the ruling intellectual force are the ideas of the ruling material force, as observed by Marx. This is to say in relation to how students and workers collectively understand the fundamentals of their problems, they do so through neoliberalism. Therefore, undermining this reality, means you undermine the importance of political education, meaning you undermine the efforts to advance class consciousness.

What can be done in the immediate?

The Party needs to understand that it is its responsibility to ensure that there is political education in all branches across the country. Through the political office nationally, there must be anorganized conceptual program that will guide the delivery of political education in all branches. This program must be shared with all provincial political officers, who will utilize it as a guiding tool in conceptualizing their own program for their provinces, this program will be shared with political officers in all branches. From there an evaluative framework must be conceptualized and introduced, which will ensure that the political education framework is implemented, and assess the effectiveness, and establish whether there is progress.

Secondly, we must stop relying on the banking approach, we must creates paces of engagements in all branches that encourage meaningful dialogues. Mikhail Bakunin argued that if we want people not to oppress and exploit each other, we must create conditions, to say organize society in a manner that will make oppression and exploitation impossible. If we want meaningful dialogues to take place where we are all teachers and students, we must make all our political education programs to be in the form of dialogues, perhaps we can borrow from African methods of imparting knowledge, where we gather in circles and exchange ideas, and there are spaces for questioning and dialogue.

To learn, learn, learn, and learn, the as argued by Lenin.

Deepening The Role of Student Parliaments by Lindokuhle Mponco

In the previous article I discussed the State of Student Parliaments and their role in the development of student activism. This article is inspired by my election into the University of Fort Hare Institutional Students' Parliament Secretariat, and seeks to delve deeper on the role of Student Parliaments in general. I will discuss on why we should deepen the role of Student Parliaments, how can we deepen the role of Student Parliaments, and what is to be done to deepen their role in Student activist spaces.

Why we should deepen the role of SPs?

As discussed previously, Student Parliaments are spaces of Student Activism. They are a space where all societies, SRC & its sub-structures, and political organisations gather under one roof to shape and define the policies that govern students. This is the hotspot for activism through legislative and policymaking means. We have discovered that this space is also a space for political jockeying and position mongering due to the degenerate state of student politics in general. Student Parliaments need to be revived with the intention of preparing the students in the sector for the coming tide of discontent.

It is not a lie that in the sector of Higher Education and Training we have problems that are deeply rooted in the systematic design of our State. These problems are predicated from our not so distant colonial past. Education in South Africa has always had a colonial character, which has ultimately determined the class character of our country. It is one of the reasons why we have an underrepesentation of black professionals in the labour market. According to Statistics South Africa, white professionals with the same skill set and experience get paid four times more than their black counterparts. 

The World Bank review of 2021/22 also came to a round conclusion that the inequality in South Africa is largley determined by the racial character of the economy. This economy did not automatically assume that character without the education sector being distorted to lay the foundation for such outcomes. The reason why the working class in South Africa still mirrors that of the not so distant apartheid past is due to the neoliberal posture which was adopted by the ANC government. This neoliberal posture also played a role in shaping the Higher Education Sector we have today. The phenomena of the 'missing middle' in modern South Africa is a product of the neoliberal posture. Student Parliaments ought to internalise such before venturing into policymaking and constitutional amendments. 

Student Parliaments need to redefine their role and deepen it by understanding that the Higher Education question cannot be delinked from the Class question in South Africa. Education much like the economy is a class struggle due to how it produces and reproduces the class antagonisms. A bourgeoisie would not exist without education (not limited to education I might add), similar to how a proletariat would not exist without education (also not limited to education). The current Constitutional Review process at the University of Fort Hare is unfolding after delays caused by the instability that existed before in the Secretariat. This process should thoroughly reflect on such, and I am proud to say the proposed amendments are starting to reflect such. The understanding of what the Student Parliament should be is starting to reach mass consciousness due to the tireless efforts of the SP Secretariat (both at a Campus and Institutional level) to democratize this process. It is only through a relentlessly democratic and revolutionary process that we can deepen the role of Student Parliaments. We must deepen their role because of the worsening material conditions. These material conditions are predicated from the capitalist system which has commodified education and ultimately the institutions that offer such, and has made them a bourgeois factory.

How can we deepen the role of SPs?

We can deepen the role of Student Parliaments by consciously embarking on a process of review and redefinition. As the University of Fort Hare we have embarked on a Constitutional Review process consistent with the theme 'Decade of Renewal'. We have embarked on this process to renew student activism by redefining the role of Student Parliaments amongst many other institutions and organs that need to be renewed. The Higher Education Act 101 of 1997 recognises SRCs as organs of student representation but is silent on Student Parliaments. Our process of renewal and review must be honest about this, but in our honesty we must look for gaps in the system. We understand that no executive organ of representation can exist without accounting to any other body unless that organ exists to dictate. 

It is on this basis that we must begin as Student Parliaments across the country to petition that the Higher Education act be amended to also include Student Parliaments as organs of holding the SRC accountable. It would be dishonest of us to continue with this process without factoring that reality. Student Parliaments ought to be fighting organs, and should ultimately develop sharp teeth that will bite when the Management tries to stifle student activism. Student Parliaments ought to embark on a deliberately revolutionary Constitutional Review process which will not be inflitrated by class forces that seek to depoliticise Student Parliaments and ultimately SRCs. We need to define our Parliaments in a way that will be consistent with the revolutionary traditions of our liberation struggle. 

I have observed that Parliaments operate on the basis of a liberal bourgeois outlook which drives reform over revolution. The type of problems we have in our sector require radical changes, which could potentially have widespread impact in broader society. As I have said earlier, education is a class struggle much like wage inequality is. Student Parliamentarians need to understand that parliaments are class organs, and as things stand they represent the aspirations of the ruling capitalist class. We need to deepen that role and ensure that they exist to represent the aspirations of the oppressed working class and peasantry. Universities like Fort Hare and Walter Sisulu University are dominated by students which come from peasantry and working class backgrounds. Therefore, their parliaments ought to represent those aspirations by ensuring that parliaments champion slogans and policies that seek to advance the interests of the working class and the peasantry.

What is to be done?

We need to do the following in order for us to deepen the role of Student Parliaments in the sector:

1. Convene an All-South African Students' Congress to form two houses of Parliament which will focus on Universities and TVETs.

2. Form an All-South African Students' Parliament Forum to coordinate the build up to forming a unitary structure of all Student Parliaments across the Sector. 

3. Intiate a campaign that will link the struggle against commodified education with that of the struggle against capitalism.

4. Intiate a consciousness campaign which will educate and raise awareness about the role of Student Parliaments.

5. Intiate a nationwide campaign which will propose the amendment of the Higher Education Act 101 of 1997 to include Student Parliaments.

6. Create a forum which will link the trade union movement, All-South African Students' Congress, SAUS, SAVETSA, and political organisations within the sector (Leftist organisations in particular) and political parties represented in the National Assembly (Leftist organisations in particular) to combat the exploitation of labour and students not only in the sector, but across the country.

If we take these steps, we will not only embark on a genuinely revolutionary process to renew student activism, but we will also be part of a broader revolutionary movement which shall overthrow the capitalist order. Lenin once said that our unity must be genuine. However, we must not unite with elements that oppose and distort Marxism. We must unite with those that will commit themselves to a programme that seeks to realise a society that is built on the foundations of Scientific Socialism!

On Student Parliaments by Lindokuhle Mponco

Student Parliaments are centres of political activism in the student space in theory. However, the practice differs from theory due to the debasement of the idea of Student Parliaments. The debasement of Student Parliaments is directly caused by the interests of the Management to ensure that the Students do not raise their class consciousness, and identify the institution as a space of contestation. The less conscious the student is, the better. However, in most cases the Management uses the very same Students against other Students to ensure that they remain muddled in petty conflicts that do not assist in advancing and developing student politics. With this being the reality in most Student Parliaments across the country, we ought to ask ourselves three questions; where did we go wrong, how did we go wrong, and what is to be done?

Where did we go wrong?

It is easy for us to come with answers of where we went wrong. However, we might come to the realisation that most of these answers could possibly be wrong due to the use of the tools of analysis. How we use the tools of analysis is important as it will assist us in coming to a much more truthful and scientific conclusion of how we got to this point. When we take stock of our journey from 1994 till 2022 and assess the work of Student Pearliaments, we will come to a round conclusion that Student Parliaments have been enablers of reformism in our institutions. Student Parliaments have become rubber stamping tools which are used to suppress all kinds of radical and revolutionary postures. Student Parliaments in their nature are beholden to the institutional management. All critical and strategic decisions have to be approved by the Management.

The Management being a tool and a representation of the ruling class ultimately dictates the posture of the Student Governance space. This current mode of operation is predicated from the naive organisation of the State and the Sector by the governing party, the ANC. The institution is organised along reformist lines, and surrenders Student Activism to the hands of the Management. This is the first contradiction of the system, and Student leaders of the previous generation turned a blind eye to this contradiction for various reasons. Chief among those reasons was the relative proximity to resources, and comfort derived from the perks of being in governance. The members of the Student Parliaments at this point should have not allowed to be used as rubber stamps for this bourgeois aspirant lifestyle and mode of leadership. They should have instead taken the path of confronting this attempt to buy the revolutionary leadership of the Students. When the ruling class wants to stupefy and dumb down the masses they start by buying the leadership through perks and proximity to resources. In some cases they give you direct access to resources.

Student Parliaments allowed this process to unfold because those that led them were in on the stupefication and dumbing down of the masses. This is the reason why till today the average student doesn't know what the Student Parliament does or how it is supposed to assist the Student populace. Capturing the Student Parliaments was part of the strategy due to the potency that Student Parliaments could have within this reformist system. A Student Parliament exists to hold the SRC accountable; ensure that Political Organisations, Societies, and Clubs have maximum expression in the development and enhancing of the Student community; and develop policies that will assert the role of the Student as a major stakeholder in the Sector. Student Parliaments can also be used outside of the Sector to connect its work with the broader population which consists of the workers outside of the Sector. This can be done through policies that seek an alliance of student and workers across all struggles in the broader society. This is why it was critical for the Management to capture this organ so that it can suppress and distort its role. Unfortunately, our student leaders have allowed this assault on Student democracy and governance to continue.

How did we go wrong? 

When we assess how we went wrong it is important to understand that the institution is a space of contestation between the ruling class and the oppressed classes of society. By virtue of one being a student that doesn't render them a new class. Students are products of families that belong to a certain socio-economic class, which is why we have different categories in the institution (self-funded & private bursary funded students, and NSFAS funded students) which mirror our class backgrounds. However, at times this can be distorted due to some working class students being funded by private bursaries, and some falling under the category of self funded due to the n+ rule. 

The evolution of how we went wrong can be predicated from the fact that we naively believed that transformation would be carried from the top to the bottom. We naively believed that the ANC government can carry out transformation due to the revolutionary mission that the masses of our people tasked them with during the Apartheid era. In our naivety, we cooperated instead of contesting until we realised that cooperation had bred unbearable conditions for the Students, and had strengthened the hand of the Management. This realisation manifests itself in the form of #FeesMustFall, even though this movement was collapsed by institutional and State reaction. In order for institutional and State reaction to succeed they need a certain layer of the Student populace to sell out. This layer then becomes the divider between the revolutionary layers and the reactionary layers. This layer becomes the reformist layer.

The reformist layer in times of such crises aligns with the revolutionary layer in the beginning. Once the movement climaxes, the layer acts as a brake to the revolution and sides with the reactionary layer. This is because of the limited understanding which leads them to believe reforms are an end in itself. On the contrary, reforms are not an end in itself, but a means to an end. This reformist layer masks this under the guise of practicality, while on the sidelines they score some benefits for selling out. Student Parliaments have been instrumental in ensuring that this happens due to the depoliticisation which occured from 1994 to 2015. The repoliticisation occurs due to the rising consciousness of the students during the heat of the stuggle against commodified education. Hence, it has become the mandate for all Managements across the country to depoliticise Student Parliaments to blunt the activism in our institutions. By us not being able to ideologically grasp this, we have managed to sell out at every critical juncture because of our short sightedness and petty politics of position mongering.

What is to be done?

We need to be intentional about our attempt to reposition Student Parliaments as organs which will hold the SRC and the Management to account. However, we need to be honest that at this current juncture Student Parliaments are bound to succumb to Management due to their dependence on institutional resources. This doesn't mean we can't work within the system to radicalise the system. This in fact means that our attempts to radicalise the system within the system will be limited. Therefore, we must explore the option of organising ourselves outside of the system where Students will have direct control of their Parliaments. This system will allow and breed the ground for dual power within the institution, and will enable us to reach the workers quicker than the current method. 

We also need to use Parliaments as they are to expose the hypocrisy of the system, while coordinating programmes that will raise the consciousness of the Students to that of revolutionary consciousness. This means that we must first contest Student Parliaments within the system before redirecting the masses to the red bases which are much more conducive for outright and open confrontation of the system. We must also begin the process of constituting porfolio committees that will hold the SRC to account and expand the powers of Faculty Councils. This is meant to connect the Faculties, the SRC, and ultimately SAUS & SAVETSA into one thread of Student Power and Democracy. While making these connections, we also need to pursue the course of setting up an All-South African Students' Parliament which will hold SAUS and SAVETSA accountable. We must also consider setting up an All-South African Students' Council which will also unify the struggles of TVETs and Universities. This means that all revolutionaries must begin the process of agitating and mobilising students towards an All-South African Students' Congress which will be inclusive of all Students studying in South Africa. The All-South African Students' Congress should be the organ that gives birth to these revolutionary organs.

We must be intentional in our approach of building an alternative democracy and ensure that the struggles of the Students are intertwined with the struggles of the Working class and the Peasantry. We must also pursue a programme that will first unify all revolutionary tendencies in the Student movement, and then unify the oppressed layers against the capitalist system incarnated in the form of commodified education.

THE VISUALISATION AND CONCEPTUALISATION OF THE ACTIONS THAT NEED TO BE TAKEN WITH REGARDS TO THE DEVELOPMENTAL AND TRANSFORMATION PATH OF THE TVET (Technical and Vocational Education and Training) SECTOR, WHAT DO WE MEAN? by XABISO “CHE” MANYA.

THE VISUALISATION AND CONCEPTUALISATION OF THE ACTIONS THAT NEED TO

BE TAKEN WITH REGARDS TO THE DEVELOPMENTAL AND TRANSFORMATION PATH

OF THE TVET (Technical and Vocational Education and Training) SECTOR, WHAT DO WE

MEAN?

                                                                XABISO “CHE” MANYA.

This article proposes that the Technical and Vocational Education and Training ( TVET) colleges needs restructuring in order for it support more innovative responsiveness to the emerging economy, and to further bring about a conceptual understanding and an exposition on the challenges confronting the sector in its entirety and the direct effects they have of Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) college students populace and structural predicaments and setbacks on a developmental path of the country in terms of economic needs and the labour market. It is therefore imperative that we put things into practice and constantly test everything we say, while we act according to the standards we set with a sound and logical understanding of the role TVET sector in the economic development. At the centre of this discourse is to diagnose the structural dysfunctionalities that keep the sector at nadir state of stagnation. By so doing herein anticipate to arrive at a constructive solution to addressing these challenges towards guaranteeing a single coordinated standardized TVET college system that we envisage, and that is furthermore responsive to the demands of employment, labour market and economical needs of the country.

Education means service in which the society is projected, if not then it is meaningless and we do not intend to delve into how the educational system of the country is lopsided but to directly speak to the lack of system restructuring of the TVET sector and how it has become a continual structural exclusion of the vast majority of poor student that do not meet requirements to be admitted into the Universities. The Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) were established (formerly known as Further Education and Training (FET) colleges) with a purpose of providing training for mid-level skills to develop the country's economy through pathways of occupational programmes in, tourism, business and management related skills; which directly respond and assist in the demands and economic needs, but as a result of the unending dysfunctionalities and their ambiguity in function. The TVET sector remains fundamentally weak and embody institutional stigma which questions their efficacy in producing skilled, qualified graduates. The qualifications offered in these institutions remain debatable. the lack of clarity in sectoral structure and composition give impetus to maladministration, mismanagement and rampant corruption; further impairing the integrity of all these 52 TVET colleges, from the Coastal KZN TVET college, Esayidi TVET college, Majuba TVET college to Vhembe TVET college, Sekhukhune TVET college, Waterberg TVET college in Limpopo, the core issues remain the same and unattended. The TVET sector colleges are then characterised with impermanence, uncertainty, unpredictability.

 At the beginning of each academic year we often ask ourselves questions on how do we forsee the year to look like as if those in upper echelons have come into realisation of their degree of responsibility but keep on doing the same thing and expecting different results, a true definition of insanity. This then brings us to a formative set of questions on how do we objectively reach our end-point and what entails the transformation of the TVET college system. These are fundamental and structural issues that hinder progress, and undermine the potential of every student being equipped with industry-related knowledge and skills that enhance their employability.

THE ENTRY AND EXIT PATHWAY OF THE SECTOR

The formation of TVET colleges was clearly grounded and rising sound concepts in its agenda of addressing the challenges faced by the society, the sector thus became everything to everyone without a standardized entry. For instance, a Grade 9 pupils are able to enroll in a National Certificate Vocation (NCV) programme alongside those who have completed their Grade 12 creating a challenge in terms of class dynamics and the validity of the qualification within the employment and labour market. The exit point of the sector also poses a challenge as any level is an exit level, this is a result of the failure to structure the National Qualification Framework within these offered programmes has further creates confusion in labour market due to lack of consistency resulting in the questionability and validity of the qualifications.

THE OUTDATED CURRICULUM OFFERED

The intentions of the TVET colleges is to adequately equip young people with necessary skills for employment or self-employment purposes, however most programmes offered within the sector prove to be unresponsive to the current labour demands leaving graduates unemployable. The supply of graduates from the TVET colleges does not correlate with the country's economic demands, and as a result the market is unable to absorb graduates. Furthermore, students remain with inadequate skills and experience due to the overemphasized theory rather than practical experiential training. The curriculum position and content is outdated due to the stagnation in developmental stages of the sector as the World continues to gravitate towards the 4Ir due to this the Sector lacks a technological relevance. “Never forget technology is a weapon, if you feel the world is not perfect as it should be, then you must struggle to put the weapon of technology at the service of the society” – Comandante Ernesto ‘che’ Guevara.

CERTIFICATION

The TVET sector has a huge crisis of certification in all the colleges. The department fails to provide certification to graduates on time due to lack of proper coordination of data collection in these institutions owed to the reality of a technological backwardness in the sector. This links to my earlier point on technology being a key to unlock the potential of the sector. The poor system of certificate disbursement has resulted in many graduates unable to apply for employment and relegating them further from accessing the economic space and opportunities.

THE POLICY POSITION AND FUNDING MODELS

There is no correspondence between policies governing TVET colleges which have given an impetus to the ambiguities that management usually capitalize on for corruption and to loot the coffers of the institutions. The policies governing do not speak to students interests and aspirations that has caused discontent. There is a need for policy review of all policies governing the TVET sector and a standardisation of policies around the sector and all colleges. One other thing that remains a challenge is the funding crisis in the sector. The role of SECTOR EDUCATION AND TRAINING AUTHORITY (SETA) in linking TVET colleges with the employer through skills programme. In terms of funding the current NATIONAL STUDENT FINANCIAL AID SCHEME (NSFAS) is not sufficient to deal with the challenges of student funding in the sector. Each year there is an increase in NSFAS qualifying students but no adequate provision of funding for students, this has resulted in a phenomenon known as “ Top-slicing” being produced by institutions where the grant afforded by NSFAS to institutions per qualifying TVET sector await for more than 3 months for their meal and travel allowances. Thus leading to an increase in drop outs due to the financial challenges encountered by students. The educational inequalities display themselves even on model of funding between the two sectors in this country.

INFRASTRUCTURE AND STUDENTS' ACCOMMODATION

A number of Colleges are without student accommodation and the physical structures in majority of TVET colleges are dilapidated and are not accommodative to students living disabilities. These institutions that are located outside the Central Business Districts are often in an uninspiring and undesirable state of near collapse are not conducive environment for effective learning and teaching; this is a significant lack of infrastructural management and mismanagement of funding allocated for infrastructural development. Students travel from far-off areas to access various campuses, the TVET colleges inability to accredit private accommodation in order for NSFAS to settle the rent students who are beneficiaries remain the core reason to the high drop rate in TVET colleges, there is a serious need to accommodate the increasing number of enrolment in TVET colleges these are impediment that stifles the progress in the sector in terms of academi excellence.

The standardization of curriculum across all the institutions of the TVET sector with an aim of putting emphasis on technological and innovative modern studies like digitalisation, automation and robotics and telecommunication that are intertwined with the current development in relation to 4IR, accreditation of students accommodation, a complete review of all policies from administration, funding to students governance, abolish the tendering system within the sector that is often given to people with no interest in the development and transformation and an establishment of a clearly defined TVET sector system that will be responsive to the current labour market and demands. This the direction henceforth should be building capacity within our students representation councils with uncompromising and decisive intention of transformation otherwise the efforts might dwindle in some insignificance. Therefore, the upliftment of TVET sector colleges is pivotal to it being given the capacity to play the role earmarked for it from its inception, and bring measures to some of the challenges experienced by South African TVET Sector Colleges. Che Guevara would speak much different to young people today, who are living under different conditions than he did over decades ago.

THERE IS A POSSIBILITY OF A REVOLUTIONARY CHANGE

Ever onward to victory!

On Internal Contestation by Lindokuhle Mponco

Internal contestations are a norm if we seek to develop the revolutionary potential of any revolutionary movement. However, when contestation is subject to the muddy waters of bureaucratic machinations and contestation management it becomes an unpleasant scene. For any contestation to benefit the revolutionary movement it ought to be primarily based on ideas and not personalities. It needs to be based on meritocratic standards balanced out by democratic standards. Our movement needs a standard, and procedure to develop internal democracy. In this article I will venture into how internal contestations can be used as a catalyst for change, and how we ought to contest power internally.

Why do we contest internally?

 "In inner party politics, these methods lead, as we shall yet see, to this: the party organisation substitutes itself for the party, the central committee substitutes itself for the organisation, and, finally, a dictator substitutes himself for the central committee." These words by Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky ring true to the nature of contestation that has unfolded in many revolutionary organisations. This is the residue of Stalinism which still grips certain structures and layers of the revolutionary movement. It is therefore of paramount importance that revolutionary activists and cadres keep the spirit of contestation alive in the revolutionary movement. We contest not because we just want to contest, but due to the fact that we have a perspective of how the revolutionary movement should move forward. The basis of any revolutionary contestation in the structures of the revolutionary movement ought to be based on ideas. If we still subscribe to the Leninist adage that there is no revolutionary movement without revolutionary theory we will then realise that our contestation has been misguided in most parts.

Internal contestation in the history of revolutionary movements has always been based on ideas. The difference that developed between Marx and Bakunin was based on the fundamental difference that the state is necessary to begin the liberation of the oppressed masses, while the latter believed that the revolution must immediately abolish the state. Needless to say Bakunin's ideas lost due to their illogical and impractical character. In the German Social-Democratic Party (SPD) the differences arose due to the belief held by Eduard Bernstein that socialism will not develop through revolutionary means but through evolutionary means (elections are seen as the pillar to achieve this), while Rosa Luxemburg held the belief that the revolution is the logical conclusion of the conflict between Capital and Labour. In the long run, Rosa Luxemburg was defeated in the SPD by the reformist faction, and she later co-founded the Spartacus League with Karl Liebknecht, which was later renamed the German Communist Party. In Russia, the Mensheviks and Bolsheviks emerged out of conditions of trying to figure out how to contest the Tsarist regime, and how they should structure the Party.This was the first battle field for the concept of Democratic Centralism, and it won through the course of history. 

It is this concept that guides how we contest, and why we contest. However, the space in many revolutionary organisation has been marked with fear due to the fear of what would happen if one's preferred candidate loses. The problem is clear; we contest power based on personalities instead of ideas. There is no scientific appraisal of the development of the revolutionary movement and where we should direct it to. We contest internally to reorient the revolutionary movement towards the revolutionary path. However, not everyone contests on that basis as we have seen in the recent past. Some contest for personal accumulation, using the revolutionary movement as their personal wallet. These elements need to be contested and ultimately purged from the revolutionary movement. We contest to rectify fundamental problems, and not to entrench them. However, due to the development of studentism in our revolutionary movement we have seen this tendency escalate the contestation to entrench lumpen tendencies. In the process of reorientation the movement ought to honestly criticise and diagnose itself. It must analyse its successes and failures in order to come to the scientific conclusion of how to move forward.

Our revolutionary movement is a Marxist movement, and therefore subscribes to the Scientific method of observing, analysing, and implementation. Our methods of moving forward must be based on the analysis of the current material conditions which originate from the historical development of our society. It must also be steeped in the future that we ought to realise, hence, Marx calls us to change the world. We contest because we understand that there is a constant process called change. The material reality of 2022 and the material reality of 2019 are two different things due to how conditions have been changed by the recent developments such as COVID-19, and the military operation in Ukraine. We contest because we understand that to accurately respond to the malaise we are in we ought to change our posture. Our posture must be inward looking in order for us to understand how we ought to adapt to the current conditions.

The character of our contestation

The character of our contestation depends on the internal dynamics. If the internal dynamics don't allow for the exchange and the battle of ideas, we are bound to have a mudfest type of contestation. The mudfest contestation is a shameful exposure of the lack of political education that pervades our movement. The tendency of practice without theory, or rather practicism dominates our movement because the material reality of our political space is that of political entreprenuers (those that use politics for capitalist accumulation and personal advancement in the bourgeois class). Practicism finds expression because of the pervasiveness of reformism which is the norm in our political space. This norm sets in because there is no understanding of what a revolution is. Lenin simply put it as the overthrowal of the old system and replacing it with a new system. The failure to grasp this has led to many leaders of the revolutionary movement acting as brakes to the revolution. We simply contest the space because it is time to replace the reformists with revolutionaries.

A revolutionary ought to contest on the basis of ideas, and those ideas must rest upon science. I stress the importance of science primarily because most of our comrades fall for utopias that are never achieved due to the impracticality of the ideas. The need for comrades to base internal contestation on the scientific analysis and understanding of our struggle is due to how personalities obscure the material reality. We have based our contestation on subjective factors rather than starting from the objective and then moving to the subjective factor. Objective analysis will tell us that the revolutionary movement is in an impasse that will require us to take a great leap forward. This leap forward will not be taken without us understanding the current conditions, how they developed, and what they could possibly lead to if unchecked. We have concentrated on the promotion of names as primary instead of ideas. The ultimate reason why people are bound to be loyal to the movement is because they are brought it in through ideas, and then the name behind the idea solidifies that. When one is brought in through names and the names leave, loyalty wanes.

Ideas sustain the life of the Party. It is the oxygen of the movement, and we cannot have a live movement without the oxygen called ideas. The blood becomes democracy due to how democracy is necessary to sustain the renewal and constant development of the movement. Any movement that has a distorted internal democracy is bound to produce and reproduce ideological and political misfits. In a  revolutionary movement, internal contestation ought to be characterised by credentials, and not just personalities. The credentials must be jointly analysed with the results produced in that particular portfolio or position. No revolutionary movement must entrust its strategic positions to comrades that have not meritocratically proved themselves. This means we must analyse your contribution to the movement through meritocratic lenses before sending you to the democratic lense. This is to save the movement from charlatans and demagogues who prey on the revolutionary movement and the popularity derived from leading a revolutionary movement.

What is to be done?

We must begin the process of remodelling our lobby groups around ideas rather than personalities due to the staying power of ideas over personalities. Personalities simply edify ideas, while ideas form personalities. In order for these ideas to be material realities we must contest without fear of reprisal. We must be given space to openly criticise without fear of reprisals, we must be given platforms to discuss the path of the revolutionary movement. Every campus/branch must be actively engaging the status quo in our sector, in the country, and the world. We must begin the process of pushing the ideas of the personality at the forefront, and base our campaign on the ideas the personality espouses. 

While doing this, we must use the scientific lense of dialectical and historical materialism to understand the material forces at play, and how we ought to reorient the movement towards a revolutionary path. The material facts that confront us clearly call for a renewal which should be wholesale due to how the revolutionary movement's leadership has failed to ensure a succession plan. It is incumbent on the current generation to capture power by robustly lobbying, agitating, and engaging the comrades on the basis of ideas. It is no lie that the revolutionary movement needs a subjective realignment in order for us to link up with the objective factor. The strike wave which seems to be picking up needs to be linked decisively to the student struggle with the aim of connecting these struggles into one common struggle against the system. Internal contestations which fail to internalise this will move in the same trajectory, and ultimately be made irrelevant by historical developments.

It is through a scientific approach that we shall conquer the internal contradictions. It is through the Scientific Socialist method of analysis and change that we shall finally see the revival of the revolutionary movement of the oppressed masses of our people in the higher educaction sector.

On Studentism by Lindokuhle Mponco

There is a tendency among students that has entrenched itself. This tendency renders the student movement a sectarian movement which inherently limits itself to student issues, and only student issues. This sectarian tendency has gripped many student organisations due to their inherently reformist character; however, this tendency seems to have also gripped organisations that call themselves revolutionary. This pervasive tendency has set itself up in revolutionary organisations due to the capacity of the current leadership in these respective organisations. This sectarian tendency is called Studentism.

 

What is Studentism?

Studentism is a tendency which is based on the belief that each institution of learning is a peculiar environment which has a different material reality from the 'outside' world. This tendency isolates the institution from the general struggles in society by emphasising that the struggles on campus are primary, while the struggles of the 'outside' world are secondary to the student. This tendency has entrenched itself slowly but surely in revolutionary student movements, and this has had a significant impact due to how revolutionary movements centre themselves on revolutionary theory that espouses a unity of struggles. When we deal with the concept of unity of struggles we must always link it to the concept of superstructures and base structures. Once we understand the relationship of both the base and the superstructure, we will also be able to understand that economic struggles are linked to political struggles, and political struggles are linked to social struggles etc. Student struggles also fall in the same category of struggles that are linked to the political, social, and economic struggles due to how all these aspects play a role in shaping the student environment.

Studentism then becomes a tendency that develops out of these conditions not because institutional struggles are primary; but because various leaders, activists, and theorists within the student movement fail to understand and even clarify the link between institutional struggles and the political, social, and economic struggles. The concept of institutional autonomy in institutions of higher learning doesn't obscure this reality for our dear friends not to understand or see these links. Rather, the concept reproduces these struggles even though they take another form. This form manifests itself in the practical form of institutions of higher learning having students who are dependent on state funded educational grants and bursaries (DHET bursaries and grants), students that are too rich for state bursaries and grants, and students that can afford to pay their tuition fees and some who are dependent on privately funded bursaries. This is the practical recreation of class antagonisms that exist in the 'real' world. This is why during protests students who are better off or happen to be funded by private sector bursaries are rarely found in the picket lines. The interests of these better off students are directly linked to the interests of the Management due to how the Management is linked to the State, and ultimately the ruling Capitalist class. 

How Does Studentism Develop?

Studentism develops in conditions of political isolation and a lack of class conscious students. It is important to note that without class conscious students the natural tendency of the student movement is to move along studentist lines of development. These studentist lines of development lead to one point and one point only, REFORMISM. Reformism is the natural conclusion of studentism due to how studentism inherently limits the impact and the reach of the student movement in the general struggle against the capitalist system. Studentism develops fast in conditions where there is no class consciousness and connection to the general struggle against capitalism. The lack of class consciousness is always attributed to the lack of political education. In some cases miseducation takes place and this ultimately distorts the entire movement. These distortions lead us to the studentist path, which then leads us to the reformist path and ultimately a reactionary path.

Studentism relies on these two primary conditions which are attributed to the lack of political education, and political ties. It is rare for geography to disconnect the struggles of students from the general struggles due to how most institutions of higher learning are either located in major cities and towns, or corridor towns that are linked to major cities and towns. Therefore, geography is not factored in this context but rather political connection is the determinant of isolation. When the branch/campus is linked to an organisation or structure that has a clear ideological path, studentism doesn't take root. When the branch/campus is linked to an organisation or structure that has no clear ideological path, studentism takes root. Studentism must then be identified as a tendency that thrives in conditions where there is a lack of a revolutionary ideological path, lack of class consciousness, and a lack of political ties to the general struggle against capitalism. Once we understand that these conditions lay a fertile ground for studentism, then we will begin the task of changing these conditions. Lenin once said, "Without revolutionary theory there can be no revolutionary movement."

What is to be done?

Revolutionary student organisations like the EFFSC must begin the slow but painful process of weeding out all elements within itself that create a studentist approach when it comes to the questions that confront the students in their pursuit for a better life. They must then begin the process of intensifying political education at all levels of the organsation to ensure that the EFFSC is the vehicle that shall be fit for the purpose of raising the class consciousness of the majority of the student population in South African institutions of higher learning. The EFFSC must also begin the process of purging the individuals that entrench this reformist tendency so that the movement can link student struggles and community struggles. 

The EFFSC must also begin the process of being the thread that connects all campuses and institutions of higher learning. However, realistically speaking the EFFSC cannot do it alone. It needs PASMA, AZASCO, YCLSA, SASCO, and any other student organisation that deems itself revolutionary to join this revolutionary front. However, we know that SASCO & YCLSA can, and will act as a brake to the revolutionary movement due to how they have linked themselves with the ruling capitalist class. They have ultimately rendered themselves a Social-Democratic left wing, and pay lip service to the decommodification of eduction due to their links to the neoliberalist ANC and its youth wing, ANCYL. Lenin cautioned us against a unity which is not based on genuine principles when he said; "...what the worker cause needs is the unity of Marxists, not unity between Marxists, and opponents and distorters of Marxism."  What we need is a general programme which will be consistent with the principles of Marxism, while uniting all revolutionary tendencies against studentism in order to unleash the revolutionary potential of the student movement in support of the revolutionary movement of the oppressed toiling masses of our people!

The State of Student Activism at UFH

The University of Fort Hare is historically known for being the epicentre of revolutionary activism. The University of Fort Hare has always been found in the right spaces, and at the right time when it comes to student politics in institutions of Higher Education. Every time there has been a qualitative leap forward, the University of Fort Hare has always produced quality activists with revolutionary leanings. The University of Fort Hare has produced monumental leaders in African history. It has been the hub of leadership, especially in the Liberation Movement in Southern Africa. 

Therefore, it is important for us to investigate the state of Student Activism in the University. This investigation is largely influenced by the looming Constitutional Summit which could make or break Student Activism. This Constitutional Summit will be a site of struggle between forces loyal to the cause of the capitalist backed university management epitomized by the slogan 'Decade of Renewal', and the independent revolutionary student activists that still hold the belief that student activism can be saved. Therefore, it is important for us to go on this journey and assess the path up until this point which we have reached. 

ISP & CSP Sittings October/November 2021

The process of consolidating the reactionary stance of rendering the institutions of Student Governance and Democracy useless started unfolding in this sitting. This process seemed like a process of student activists opportunistically using the management to settle certain scores and consolidate their own power in this particular space. The constitutionality of the sitting was questionable due to the sitting being called and convened by the Student Affairs division. This stands in clear contrast to what the Student Governance Constitution says regarding where the power lies to call and convene a sitting of the Institutional Student Parliament (ISP) and who must call and convene such a sitting.

However, this didn't sway those who were front, back, and centre in this process of consolidating the reactionary stance of rendering the institutions of Student Governance and Democracy useless and outrightly reformist. The sitting was convened and elected an ISP Secretariat. This Secretariat subsequently convened Campus Student Parliaments (CSP), and continued this process, ableit in an aggressive manner (especially in East London Campus where two Delegates were kicked out). These machinations seemed like Student on Student politicking, however this politicking divided the Student Activist space even further. This became evident when it was clear that factional disputes were abound in all the major political organisations, and some of those differences went public. 

Mass Resignations & Recallments

It was bound to be that after such developments resignations and recallments would follow. These disputes were ultimately carried over into the space of organisational politics due to the inherent connections between the two spaces (governance politics and branch politics are heavily intertwined at the University due to the Proportional Representation system when electing SRC members and deploying  delegates to the ISP or CSP). This wave wreaked havoc and instability in the Faculty Council of Management and Commerce in Alice, Institutional SRC, and Campus SRC. The reasons for these resignations and recallments varied. Most organisations cited interference of Upper Stuctures, which varies in character and form. Those unaffected by the wave simply fell back, and watched the drama unfold.

This wave led to bitter struggles internally in these respective organisations. SASCO and the EFFSC were affected by such, and as a result this had a huge impact in the overall attitude of Student Leaders and other Student Activists. This wave of instability has led to new but familiar faces occupying new but familiar positions of power. One common tendency that epitomized those that were victors in this situation is the desire to occupy high positions without a thorough, and proper understanding of what they seek to achieve in some cases. I do not wish to delve deep into the specific content of these disputes in this article, as this is just a general investigation across the politcal spectrum of student activism in Fort Hare.

Suppression of a Democratic Shutdown

The point where many Student Activists realised that the Management had firmly entrenched its power came mid-February. This was in the midst of a registration and accommodation crisis. This crisis gripped the Institution to a point whereby the only alternative was to convene the masses. This is after it was realized the SRC had no courage to convene the mass meeting. Needless to say, it was unanimously resolved that a Shutdown was necessary in the East London Campus. 

This resolution was echoed, and it was to be implemented on a strategic day of First Years Orientation. Unfortunately for the forthright Student Leaders that had taken it upon themselves to ensure that the resolution was implemented, the Management flexed its muscles, and begun following these Leaders through typical quasi-apartheid tactics and threatening these leaders with suspensions. It was clear that among the leaders the process of selling out had unfolded. 

When the day came, and the Student Leaders resolved to abort the Shutdown due to the risk of mass suspensions; it was met with mixed opinion by the Student populace. Some felt the Student Leaders were weak kneed and therefore were not worthy to lead students. Some understood and appreciated the reality of the situation. They subsequently understood that the decision was a tactical retreat.

Where to?

Given that the Student Politics space has been littered with sell outs and opportunists, it is important for us to chart a new path forward. This path forward will require us to draw lessons from the defeats suffered by Students, and ultimately the activist space. We must understand these defeats for what they are; that is  consolidating the reactionary stance of rendering the institutions of Student Governance and Democracy useless. 

The Constitutional Summit is a site of struggle which will either conclude the defeat of the Students or revive the fight and begin an upward swing of Student Activism. It must be noted that Students at the University of Fort Hare are showing signs of apathy due to the never changing conditions at the University. These never changing conditions have led Students to conclude that all organisations are the same in terms of performance, and ultimately voting is useless. The reformist character of the SRC has been laid bare, and it is only a fool or a reformist that can not see such, or see nothing wrong with the character of the SRC as an organ of power. 

When the Bolsheviks and the Mensheviks were defeated by the Tsarist regime in the 1905 Revolution, they realised the necessity to draw lessons from the defeats. To the Mensheviks this was obviously a farcical process, while the Bolsheviks ultimately proved to be the biggest learners from the errors of 1905. It was in 1905 that Lenin realised that the Soviets were the embryonic form of the Socialist society they espoused, with Trotsky (then a Menshevik) being the face of the Soviet movement. In April 1917, Lenin fully endorsed the Soviets (Soviet means Council in English, and these Councils were the most democratic organs of power in Russia in 1905 and 1917), and outrightly so in his April Theses. Lenin & Trotsky had fully realised the potential of the Soviets after trying to expose the hypocrisy of the Duma (which was a Russian interpretation of the Liberal Bourgeois organ of power, Parliament) by contesting the space in these organs. They saw the Soviets as an alternate to the existing system that benefited the ruling class. 

Much like Lenin & Trotsky, we will also be potentially faced with this reality if the Summit doesn't produce revolutionary outcomes. We will be faced with the reality of forming new organs of power and democracy because these existing ones would have failed in their purpose. The Constitutional Summit will determine whether we break from the system, or we remain docile instruments of the system. We must forge a revolutionary path by building a Revolutionary Bloc of Student Activists for Student Power. This Revolutionary Bloc is the only bloc that can take the fight to its necessary conclusion of either resounding defeat, or an inspiring victory. We have the potential to steal victory from the jaws of defeat!

To quote Marx, "But the working class cannot simply lay hold of the ready-made state machinery, and wield it for its own purposes." This summit will force us to either fight for the system to work in our favour, or for us to define ourselves out of the system. The revolutionary Student populace cannot simply lay hold of the ready-made machinery, and wield it for its own purposes; it must build an alternative machinery. This is just me borrowing from Marx and adapting this idea to the current context which will shape student activism for the next 5 - 10 years.

I make this call to every Revolutionary Activist to come to the People's Table, and begin shaping the discourse around the Summit.