On the eve of the centenary celebrations of our vanguard party, the South African Communist Party, we take the opportunity to salute the pioneers of Sebatakgomo, feta kgomo o sware motho, mofetakgomo ke moriri o a hloga. We do so in a profound manner, dedicating this article to the memory of the pioneers of this formidable organisation, with the understanding that a revolution without its soldiers is like God without His angels.
The men and women of Sebatakgomo are indeed revered pantheons of our struggle, who as a result of the difficult path they have chosen, have today earned their rightful place, in the order of the glorious pages of our history books. They have in its chapters, earned their rightful place, as the most exceptional and beautiful embodiments of our struggle, whose founders we shall never forget.
During the epoch of the ancient Egypt civilisation, the philanthropists of the time embraced the sun as a fountain of life, symbolising the horizon where it sits and rises, as transition between the land of the living and the land of the dead and during the epoch of Sebatakgomo, its pioneers placed on a high pedestal, the impetus of their unending commitment, between the land of the living and the land of the dead, the necessity to take forward the struggle for the liberation of our country.
Today in our roll call, we count their names, sons and daughters from the great region of Sekhukhune. We cherish the dauntless courage, determination and heroism of Cdes Elias Moretsele, Flag Boshielo, Elias Motsoaledi, John Kgwane Nkadimeng, Godfrey Mogaramedi Sekhukhune, Phirime Mashego, John Phala, Kgosi Mampuru, Mamogase Nchabeleng, Uriah Maleka, Segowe Aolo Rapolai, Peter Nchabeleng, Kgosigadi Madinoge, Nelson Diale, Phooko Ratsoma and Lawrence Madimetje Phokanoka.
On the eve of the centenary of our party, we salute the immensity of their untold courage and sacrifice, the hardships they endured during the long periods of harassment by the racist apartheid regime, torture, banning orders, long periods of detention without trial, imprisonment and years in exile. Heroic men and women, who generations of man today and tomorrow, shall regard as true volunteers of the struggles of our people.
The litmus test of bracing themselves through the storms of our revolutionary ferment, is their exemplary lives, confident that in a revolution, you fall in a battle in order to know how to rise again. A battalion which in the mist of fierce resistance struggles, volunteered its being for life or death, taking a solemn oath, that the greatest revolutionaries are not those who never fall, but those who rise every time again when they have fallen.
Through the counters of our revolutionary struggles, they remain the most magnificent authors of the novel book of our historical moment, which when they defined themselves through unflinching acts of bravery and heroism, never thought they were making history. Their living memories are the treasure store of who we are meant to be.
Through the leadership of the different successive warrior Kings and Queens of the Bapedi Kingdom, the region of Sekhukhune became the height of resistance struggle against imperialism and colonial dispossessions. Many battles were fought and won by our great kingdom against the white settler invaders.
Our warrior King of the Bapedi Kingdom, King Sekhukhune 11, together with other kings and Queens from the southern African region, such as King Solomon Ka Dinizulu, Montshioa of Barolong, Lewanika of the Lozi, Letsie 11 of Basotho, Dalindyebo of the Thembu, Ndlovukasi Lobatsibeni of Iswathini and Khama of the Tswana, attended the historic founding conference of the formation of the ANC in 1912. He was accompanied by Kgosi Sekwati Mampuru and Kgosi Tseke Masemola, who later became the representatives of his Kingdom in the ANC House of Chiefs.
Sebatakgomo was formed in 1954 at Bantu Hall, Lady Selbourne, in Pretoria, with Cdes Flag Boshielo as its chairman and John Kgwana Nkadimeng as its secretary. The inaugural conference was officially launched by one of the senior leaders of the party and the leader of the Soutpansberg Balemi Association, comrade Alpheus Maliba.
This was after the victory of the Nationalist Party in 1948, which fortified and declared officially the apartheid state of South Africa. The declaration saw the imposition of successive draconian laws such as the banning of the Communist Party of South Africa, the Bantu education and the Bantu Authorities Act.
Its membership was mainly constituted by migrant labourers working in the mines and factories around the industrial Witwatersrand, of what is now known as Gauteng. Their political activism was inspired by the political education lessons that they attended in different labour hostels, and compounds, under the auspices of the Communist Party.
It was at the time of the banning of the CPSA that many of the members joined the ANC, and ended up played a significant leadership role in the mobilisation of the people against racial oppression and segregation.
The first secretary John Kgwana Nkadimeng says the following about its formation:
“Sebatakgomo came about in 1954 with the issue of culling cattle, the curtailment of land and so-called soil erosion under the Bantu Authorities Act. We felt that many things were going to be done to our people in the country and they were not sufficiently addressed. So we needed an organisation, a group in the movement”.
The formation of Sebatakgomo was a strategic initiative by the Communist Party of South Africa, to intensify the call for the Africanisation of the party, and therefore to mobilise the peasantry across the length and breath of our country. This was consistent with the slogan by the Communist International in 1928, calling for the establishment of the Independent South African Native Republic, as a prelude towards a workers and peasants republic.
One of its leading founding members, and a senior member of the party from the area, comrade Elias Motsoaledi said the following about its formation: “First of all it is the organisation by the Communist party, but the party realises that it was not within its sphere. In other words, it realised that the important organisation to tackle this is the ANC and members of the party who are in the ANC persecute it”.
In 1956, Khuduthamaga, a replication of Sebatakgomo, was launched in Sekhukhune. The primary political focus was to fortify the activities of Sebatakgomo in the local area on the basis of day-to-day activities.
The strategy by the Communist Party of South Africa to work with the ANC during the period of its illegality was preceded by the intensification of massive revolts across the country, calling for the abolition of the racist apartheid regime, and the establishment of an Independent South African Native Republic.
There were revolts in the far Northern Transvaal by African farmers led by a prominent party leader Alpheus Maliba, the Potato Revolt by Gert Sibande in Bethal and Zeerust, as well as the Lehurutse revolt by chief Abraham Moiloa, the Sekhukhune revolt by Kgosigadi Madinoge, the Matlala revolt by Kgosigadi Matlala, the Witzieshoek revolt by Chief Mopeli, the Pondoland revolt and many others.
The leader of Sebatakgomo comrade Flag Boshielo, criss-crossed the hinterlands of the region to the mountain top of the Leolo mountains disguised as a sangoma, recruiting people into the ranks of the South African Communist Party, and the African National
Congress. He was inspired by his understanding that the national question is inseparable from the class question.
To confirm that the pioneers of Sebatakgomo were well vested with the theory of Marxism-Leninism, understanding the fundamental principles of our struggle for the achievement of our socialist future, and the relationship between the party and the ANC, comrade Elias Motsoaledi said the following: “As a result of the education by the Party, I understood the long term program of the Party and the short-term program of the ANC – then I came to understand the alliance – that when we achieve liberation, the ANC struggle ceases, and there is a continuation now with the class struggle. But I wasn’t taught that therefore you must not continue with the class struggle”.
It was from the political classes they attended that they understood that the class interests of the bourgeoisie are based on the exploitation of the working class, and in our own specific conditions, the exploitation of the black majority and Africans in particular. They understood that at the age of their historical period, the national question assumed the posture of apartheid colonialism of a special type, which became a placenta to serve the interests of the white bourgeoisie.
This was the basis of the apartheid colonial nationalism, and its ideology that underpinned racial segregation and supremacy. A system which appropriated the name of the South African nation, placing at its centre the interests of the white minority at the expense of the overwhelming majority of the people of our country.
But at the same time, they understood that the very same manifestation of apartheid colonial nationalism, was a powerhouse representing the interests of the world bourgeoisie, which is imperialism, and in our own instance British and Dutch imperialism in particular. Because of its strategic geo-political location, its mineral wealth and beautiful fauna and flora, South Africa became the cradle for the world of imperialism.
Their pursuit was the creation of an independent Native Republic, a non-racial, non-sexist, democratic and prosperous South Africa, which was to be a transitional stage to a future socialist South Africa. An idea which in the present-day world dominated by capitalism maybe considered by some to be far-fetched. An independent Native Republic, which the impetus of its nationalism is about the achievement of the common interests of the majority of the people of our country.
What distinguishes these revered guardians of our revolution, the architects of Sebatakgomo from the rest, taking the times of their historical epoch to the new conditions of our democracy, is that they were indeed true students of Marxism Leninism. They were not hallow opportunists.
Vladimir Lenin always rebuked opportunists for their dull and sterile dogmatism. He said the following about them: “They have memorised, but have not understand, they have learned by heart, but have not considered, they have mastered the letter, but have not grasped the sense”.
In Lenin’s words, our theory is not about a sterile collection of dogma, it is not about catechism, not about half-cooked concepts without profound theoretical foundations, not about vulgarity, but it is the science of the development of human society, a science of finding concrete solutions to the problems confronting humanity. Our theory is not just an invention of dreamers, but a living scientific theory, which is an inevitable outcome of the development of modern capitalist society.
On the eve of its centenary, one of the principal political tasks of our Party is to save our revolution from vulgar notions and expressions of opportunism. All Communists have to save our revolution from such vulgar opportunism.
Lenin says there are two groups of Marxists, which both work under the banner of the flag of Marxism, and consider themselves to be genuine Marxists. But they are by no means identical, for their methods of work are diametrically opposed to each other.
The first group usually confines itself to the outward acceptance of marxism, being unwilling to grasp the essence of marxism, being unable to translate it into a reality, converting the revolutionary principles of marxism into meaningless formulas. They do not base their activities on experience or practical work, but on quotations from Marx.
It does not derive its instructions and directions from the analysis of the actual realities, but from historical parallels. Discrepancy between word and deed is the chief malady for this group, which is the Mensheviks.
The second group on the other hand, attaches great importance not to the outward acceptance of marxism, but to its realisation and translation into a reality, what this group chiefly concentrates its attention on, is to determine the ways and means of realising marxism which best answers the situations and changes to the ways and means as the situation changes.
Their conduct derives its direction and instructions from historical analogies and parallels, but from the study of the surrounding conditions. Their activities are based on practical experiences, learning from mistakes and teaching others how to build the party. For this group there is no discrepancy between word and deed, and the teaching of marxism retain them as a living revolutionary force, they are the true bolsheviks.
Our sons and daughters of Sebatakgomo belonged to the true detachment of the working class, and this is so because the working class may have many detachments, and not every detachment of the working class can be called a party of the working class. But they belonged to the ranks of our party – the most advanced political party of the working class.
Our party is not just an ordinary detachment, but indeed a vanguard detachment, a class-conscious detachment, armed with the knowledge of the life of society, its laws of development and laws of class struggle.
They did not base their activities on abstract principles, but on how to influence the conditions of the material life of society, to accelerate its development. This is the character of the organisation of the party, the party which is the vanguard of the working class, the true guiding force of the working class.
The Revolutionary Alliance between the African National Congress, the South African Communist Party, Congress of the South African Trade Unions plus the South African National Civic Organisations, is the bedrock of our National Democratic Revolution (NDR).
Our revolutionary alliance is the only formation capable of taking forward the aspirations of the majority of our people.
On the eve of the centenary anniversary celebrations of our vanguard party, we salute their heroism, we salute their tenacity, their determination and dedication to the cause of the struggle for the liberation of our people. Sebatakgomo is our party and our party is Sebatakgomo.
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Ambassador Phatse Justice Piitso wrote this article on 25 MAY 2021 and it’s his personal capacity.