POST-APARTHEID South Africa jumped from one of the most unjust and offensive social systems in the world - apartheid - to a market-led nightmare.
This is the irony of national liberation.
The deepening of the South African economy's immersion into global financial, production and trade structures has produced a country with one of the highest unemployment rates, obscene inequality, a deepening ecological crisis and growing hunger.
This is the short story of how the "South African dream" was stolen. Such a dream was not just embodied in the Freedom Charter but was part of the everyday longing of the oppressed majority for a life of hope and dignity.
Compelled by this tragic crime against hope and dignity, the first Conference of the Democratic Left met in Johannesburg from January 20 to 23.
Buoyed by a confluence of South Africa's leading grassroots social movements, community organisations, trade unions and left groups, this gathering of activists from different parts of the country declared a commitment to transform South Africa.
The significance of the Democratic Left is expressed through its commitment to reinvent politics from below.
Apartheid capitalism never gave us democracy, instead the people, the workers and the poor, struggled for it.
It is a product of sacrifice, of human will and a passion for liberation from oppression. It is precious as rule by and for the people and not rule by capital.
Mainstream liberalism fails to recognise the double squeeze on South African democracy such that the needs of the people are not met and the delicate ecological web is in jeopardy.
First, such a squeeze is happening through unleashing the market. The market has been propagated through values of greed, possessive individualism and competition that are naturalised in everyday life.
These values have produced a dog eat dog society. The result is profoundly undemocratic and does not authorise other ways of thinking about South Africa's solutions.
Second, part of the squeeze against democracy has been a narrowing of the boundaries of democracy and the meaning of citizenship.
Our dream of a people's democracy has been shrunk from the triad of strong representative, associational and participatory democracy to weak representational democracy.
Our politicians have become technocrats that serve the market and the power of capital. Politicians must manage "market democracy" to ensure accumulation and growth are realised at all costs.
In this context we are not citizens but subjects of capital.
The external squeeze on South African democracy emanates from the restructuring of the state. A globalised state has also reduced democratic space.
The state has been locked into a global power structure serving the rule of transnational capital. The WTO, IMF, World Bank, G20, World Economic Forum, and the UN are all transnational policy making institutions that ensure global capitalism thrives.
Through such participation, South Africa transmits a global capitalist consensus into the domestic context.
The Democratic Left believes there are other ways (than narrow elections) to harness power in civil society for transformation. This relates to how the Democratic Left Front, endorsed as the name of this political creature, evolves.
There are three fundamental differences between the "authoritarian National Liberation Left" and the Democratic Left. First, the authoritarian national liberation left (represented by the SACP), is implicated in creating the systemic crisis confronting South Africa and the double squeeze on democracy.
Second, the authoritarian national liberation left is about a state centric practice. The apparatus of the state turns people into passive recipients of what is deemed in their best interests.
Third, the Democratic Left seeks to renew our vision of hope and dignity for South Africa.
Unlike the authoritarian national liberation left's vanguardist vision, our vision is people driven. It is part of what makes us human and is an act of resistance. We intend to reclaim the South African dream by listening to the people.
- Dr Satgar is a member of the national convening committee of the Democratic Left Front
'SA dream' stolen
POST-APARTHEID South Africa jumped from one of the most unjust and offensive social systems in the world - apartheid - to a market-led nightmare.
This is the irony of national liberation.
The deepening of the South African economy's immersion into global financial, production and trade structures has produced a country with one of the highest unemployment rates, obscene inequality, a deepening ecological crisis and growing hunger.
This is the short story of how the "South African dream" was stolen. Such a dream was not just embodied in the Freedom Charter but was part of the everyday longing of the oppressed majority for a life of hope and dignity.
Compelled by this tragic crime against hope and dignity, the first Conference of the Democratic Left met in Johannesburg from January 20 to 23.
Buoyed by a confluence of South Africa's leading grassroots social movements, community organisations, trade unions and left groups, this gathering of activists from different parts of the country declared a commitment to transform South Africa.
The significance of the Democratic Left is expressed through its commitment to reinvent politics from below.
Apartheid capitalism never gave us democracy, instead the people, the workers and the poor, struggled for it.
It is a product of sacrifice, of human will and a passion for liberation from oppression. It is precious as rule by and for the people and not rule by capital.
Mainstream liberalism fails to recognise the double squeeze on South African democracy such that the needs of the people are not met and the delicate ecological web is in jeopardy.
First, such a squeeze is happening through unleashing the market. The market has been propagated through values of greed, possessive individualism and competition that are naturalised in everyday life.
These values have produced a dog eat dog society. The result is profoundly undemocratic and does not authorise other ways of thinking about South Africa's solutions.
Second, part of the squeeze against democracy has been a narrowing of the boundaries of democracy and the meaning of citizenship.
Our dream of a people's democracy has been shrunk from the triad of strong representative, associational and participatory democracy to weak representational democracy.
Our politicians have become technocrats that serve the market and the power of capital. Politicians must manage "market democracy" to ensure accumulation and growth are realised at all costs.
In this context we are not citizens but subjects of capital.
The external squeeze on South African democracy emanates from the restructuring of the state. A globalised state has also reduced democratic space.
The state has been locked into a global power structure serving the rule of transnational capital. The WTO, IMF, World Bank, G20, World Economic Forum, and the UN are all transnational policy making institutions that ensure global capitalism thrives.
Through such participation, South Africa transmits a global capitalist consensus into the domestic context.
The Democratic Left believes there are other ways (than narrow elections) to harness power in civil society for transformation. This relates to how the Democratic Left Front, endorsed as the name of this political creature, evolves.
There are three fundamental differences between the "authoritarian National Liberation Left" and the Democratic Left. First, the authoritarian national liberation left (represented by the SACP), is implicated in creating the systemic crisis confronting South Africa and the double squeeze on democracy.
Second, the authoritarian national liberation left is about a state centric practice. The apparatus of the state turns people into passive recipients of what is deemed in their best interests.
Third, the Democratic Left seeks to renew our vision of hope and dignity for South Africa.
Unlike the authoritarian national liberation left's vanguardist vision, our vision is people driven. It is part of what makes us human and is an act of resistance. We intend to reclaim the South African dream by listening to the people.
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