Time to up democracy, says SACP

IT’S time for a second‚ more radical phase of the country’s democratic transition‚ the South African Communist Party (SACP) said.

This would mean having to transform the colonial structure of the economy and its unsustainable reliance on the import of finished products and dependency on export of raw materials and primary goods‚ it said yesterday in a year-end message.

It said South Africa had become a better place to live in since 1994 when the apartheid regime had been dislodged.

But these and other social achievements needed to be built on as the country continued to transform for the better.

“In particular, we must place our programme of transformation on to a second‚ more radical phase of the democratic transition in South Africa.

“We must up the stakes in this regard in tackling the problems of persisting inequality‚ unemployment and poverty.

“Strategic infrastructure programmes must continue. Most importantly and beyond infrastructure development we must develop productive capacity‚ expand‚ diversify and raise the levels of national production‚” the SACP said.

“The ongoing international economic crisis has glaringly exposed the dangers of colonial and dependent economic organisation‚” the party added.

It said more emphasis must be placed on localising ownership and developing collective forms of ownership such as co-operatives‚ public ownership and democratic national control.

“We must close ranks against those who seek to loot the public sector for personal gain as an essential pillar in the struggle for a second‚ more radical phase of our democratic transition.”