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!