[Marxism] ANC govt terrified of music, says Hugh Masekela [?!?!]

[Louis Proyect]

Walter Lippmann wrote:
> The problem here is that the DSP blames the capitalist government of
> South Africa for not being a revolutionary government, such as the
> Democratic Socialists would themselves envision for South Africa.

They can speak for themselves, but I would criticize the ANC for 
flushing its historic program down the toilet. Instead of pushing for 
sweeping economic reforms once in office, it decided to adopt the same 
economic program as the old regime--maybe worse. You'll note that in 
"Intensify the Revolution," a resolution adopted by the 1969 ANC 
Conference, there is a specific call for not resting "formal political 
democracy". It states "Our drive towards national emancipation is 
therefore in a very real way bound up with economic emancipation."

"Intensify the Revolution":

Is there a special role for the working class in our national struggle? 
We have already referred to the special character of the South African 
social and economic structure. In our country - more than in any other 
part of the oppressed world - it is inconceivable for liberation to have 
meaning without a return of the wealth of the land to the people as a 
whole. It is therefore a fundamental feature of our strategy that 
victory must embrace more than formal political democracy. To allow the 
existing economic forces to retain their interests intact is to feed the 
root of racial supremacy and does not represent even the shadow of 
liberation.

Our drive towards national emancipation is therefore in a very real way 
bound up with economic emancipation. We have suffered more than just 
national humiliation. Our people are deprived of their due in the 
country's wealth; their skills have been suppressed and poverty and 
starvation has been their life experience. The correction of these 
centuries-old economic injustices lies at the very core of our national 
aspirations. We do not underestimate the complexities which will face a 
people's government during the transformation period nor the enormity of 
the problems of meeting economic needs of the mass of the oppressed 
people. But one thing is certain - in our land this cannot be 
effectively tackled unless the basic wealth and the basic resources are 
at the disposal of the people as a whole and are not manipulated by 
sections or individuals, be they white or black. This perspective of a 
speedy progression from formal liberation to genuine and lasting 
emancipation is made more real by the existence in our country of a 
large and growing working class whose class consciousness complements 
national consciousness. Its political organisations and the trade unions 
have played a fundamental role in shaping and advancing our 
revolutionary cause. It is historically understandable that the 
doubly-oppressed and doubly-exploited working class constitutes a 
distinct and reinforcing layer of our liberation and Socialism and does 
not stand in conflict with the national interest. Its militancy and 
political consciousness as a revolutionary class will play no small part 
in our victory and in the construction of a real people's South Africa.

full: http://www.anc.org.za/ancdocs/history/or/or69-1.html#FC