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!