By Lebone Rodah Mosima and Charmaine Ndlela
The Conference of the Left is set to begin at the Birchwood Hotel in Boksburg on Friday without the participation of the African National Congress (ANC), after the governing party dismissed the gathering as “a coalition of negation” aimed primarily at opposing it.
The three-day conference, convened by the South African Communist Party (SACP) and other left-wing organisations, is being held under the theme “Building a Left Movement for Working Class and Popular Power”.
Parties expected to attend include the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MKP), Pan Africanist Congress of Azania (PAC), Azanian People’s Organisation (AZAPO) and the Socialist Party of Azania (SOPA).
In a statement released ahead of the gathering, the SACP said the conference was not intended to establish a new political party or impose ideological uniformity, but to “strengthen coordination, unity in action, political education and organised struggle among diverse left, working-class and popular formations”.
The party said the conference was convened in response to worsening conditions facing the working class, including rising unemployment, poverty, inequality, austerity measures and privatisation.
“The Conference of the Left convenes on the understanding that the crisis facing South Africa is fundamentally a crisis of capitalism and that only organised working-class power can chart a strategic way toward genuine liberation and socialism,” the SACP said.
The party argued that while the democratic transition in 1994 dismantled formal racial domination and expanded political rights, it did not fundamentally alter ownership patterns or economic power.
“Ownership remained concentrated in the same hands. Productive capacity remained orientated toward extraction and export. Finance capital retained its grip on investment and macroeconomic policy,” the statement said.
The conference has drawn political parties, trade unions, community organisations, youth and student movements, NGOs and progressive think tanks from across the country. International organisations and speakers have also been invited.
Central to the agenda is the proposed formation of a “Left Popular Front”, aimed at uniting workers, the poor and progressive organisations in a sustained struggle against what organisers describe as capitalist exploitation and in favour of socialist transformation.
ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula earlier this week questioned whether the gathering could legitimately be regarded as a left-wing formation, accusing some participants of defining themselves mainly through opposition to the ANC rather than a coherent ideological programme.
His remarks highlighted growing tensions within the broader alliance and among progressive organisations over the country’s political direction, economic policy and the future of left politics in South Africa.
Despite the ANC’s absence, the SACP said the conference represented a strategic opportunity to rebuild working-class unity and coordinate resistance against monopoly capital and neoliberal economic policies.
The conference is expected to conclude on Sunday with a declaration outlining the way forward for the proposed Left Popular Front.
