This document, produced by Zimbabwean socialists a year ago, has recently came into our hands. We publish it to give it wider circulation, particularly among South African workers and youth.
Discussion on the way forward for Zimbabwe and the Zimbabwean revolution—and the tasks which flow from this for the South African movement—is made more urgent by developments of the recent period.
The apartheid regime’s escalated economic and military aggression in Southern Africa, though directed particularly against Mozambique, in reality has Zimbabwe as its key target. With the MNR’s “declaration of war” against Zimbabwe, it is South Africa that is engaged in a proxy war with the Mugabe regime.
The reasons for this are outlined in the accompanying document, especially in the introduction to it. Essentially, they are because Zimbabwe, with a stronger industrial base than any other Southern African country, is South African imperialism’s immediate rival in the region.
What this means is that the future of the Zimbabwean and the South African revolution are increasingly linked together.
South African workers have the responsibility to give active support to Zimbabwean resistance to South African aggression.
This means struggling together with Zimbabwean workers, peasants and youth to weaken South African imperialism and defend the gains of the victory over the Smith regime.
It requires also the fullest encouragement of the struggle of workers and youth in Zimbabwe to end capitalism and achieve genuine democratic rule by the people on the basis of workers’ power.
As this document explains, despite the achievement of political independence and of some reforms under the ZANU(PF) regime, the real power in Zimbabwe remains in the hands of the capitalist class which own the big banks, factories, mines, and farms, and who dictate the policies of the government. The Zimbabwean state remains a capitalist state.
While vigorously defending Zimbabwe and it present government against threats or attacks by South Africa, youth and workers in South Africa ought also to make clear their criticism of a government in Zimbabwe which safeguards multinationals like Anglo-American, and which imprisons workers for striking.
The organised workers of South Africa have the responsibility of giving assistance to the Zimbabwean workers struggling for independent trade unions under workers’ control. Direct links should be built, particularly at the factory level, and Zimbabwean workers invited to visit South Africa and participate in union conferences, etc.
South African workers’ leaders should not sit in hotels during visits to trade union and other conferences in Zimbabwe, but establish contact with the workers’ committees and make clear they condemn anti-worker laws and the detention of trade unionists.
Dealings with the Zimbabwean workers’ movement should not be confined —as is largely the case at present to ‘diplomatic’ relations with the state-controlled ZCTU leadership. Most of these leaders have a very bad record of taking the bosses’ side or failing to struggle for workers’ interests.
Why should the enemies of the Southern African workers such as Lonrho and Anglo-American be protected in Zimbabwe? We need united action against these employers by the working class of the whole region.
When SA trade union leaders meet with the heads of Zimbabwean unions, the occasion should be used to appeal openly to the workers directly to join in a united struggle.
The Southern African revolution can only succeed finally with the overthrow of apartheid and capitalism in South Africa itself. But the further development of the Zimbabwean revolution is a vital component of this.
Not only in Zimbabwe, but throughout Southern Africa, a huge gulf is opening up between what capitalism can offer and what the masses demand—as revealed in the angry mass protests on the Zambian copperbelt against IMF-imposed food price rises of up to 100% which were violently repressed at the cost of at least ten lives. Governments carrying out these capitalist policies, whatever their pious “anti-apartheid” proclamations, are in no position to mobilise an effective fight against South African aggression.
The way forward in the struggle in Zimbabwe, Zambia, and throughout the region—depends on the socialist opposition growing among the working class in the trade unions and mass parties, around a programme to abolish capitalism.
South African workers must give these class brothers and sisters uncompromising support.