Draft Document for Comments

South Africa in Crisis
A Call to Action
Act now to reclaim a truly just and democratic South Africa
Build people’s power

AS MARIKANA SHOWED, the South Africa we have today is not the one of our dreams. This South Africa is not meeting the needs of its young people. The majority of the people do not have a life of decency, decent jobs, a living wage, rights, democracy and equality. Our country is drifting into a living hell for the majority.

Political parties are only interested in getting our votes. Politicians earn high salaries and many are involved in corruption. The Limpopo provincial government cannot deliver textbooks to all schools on time. The Western Cape provincial government denies the demands of farm workers and the unemployed. Many workers earn poverty wages. Many more are not employed and live without food for days. Only a few are doing well. A small minority continue to own and control the economy and resources of our country. Racism continues. Through the Traditional Courts Bill and the Secrecy Bill, our people are being robbed of their rights.

We, as the people of conscience who live in South Africa, shall not allow this rot to continue anymore. We shall work together to build the power of ordinary people to change this country forever. We appeal to all who live in South Africans of good conscience to join us in this long struggle.

A TRULY JUST AND DEMOCRATIC SOUTH AFRICA is not possible when the rich continue to make huge profits whilst the majority are poor, starving and without decent lives. This is irrational, unnecessary and undemocratic. We have the power within ourselves to end it. We must act now to end it. We must act now to build a new meaningful democracy in South Africa.

WE CALL ON ALL WHO LIVE IN SOUTH AFRICA TO UNITE AND ACT TOGETHER. TO stand up and reclaim the vision and dream of a just and democratic South Africa based on the will of the people as a whole.

SOUTH AFRICA CANNOT BE JUST, PEACEFUL AND DEMOCRATIC WITHOUT:

• The power of every person to take part in making decisions about their lives
• The power to decide every aspect of one’s life
• The power of ordinary people to directly elect and recall their representatives
• The power of ordinary people to directly participate in decision-making, control of public budgets and implementation of decisions
• The redistribution of wealth to the unemployed and workers
• A democratic economy that is collectively owned and controlled to meet social needs
• People before profits
• A living wage and decent jobs for everyone
• An end to unemployment
• Challenging and defeating the legacy of racism and white privilege
• Building a genuine non-racialism that does not deny our history and past
• Decent housing for everyone
• Free education, water, sanitation, electricity and other basic services
• A clean and sustainable environment
• An end to violence against women and our lesbian sisters
• An end to xenophobia

LET US TAKE POWER AWAY FROM THE ELITES!
LET US ALL COME AS EQUALS TO TAKE OUR COUNTRY OUT OF THIS MESS!

WE CALL ON ALL PEOPLE OF CONSCIENCE:

• Unemployed young people
• All other young people who want a future in this country
• Exploited workers in the mines, in factories, farms, offices and streets
• The unemployed in our townships, informal settlements, inner cities and rural areas
• Women
• Small farmers and other rural dwellers
• Lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, transgendered people, inter-sexed people, and all other people oppressed because of their sexuality
• Sisters and brothers from other African countries who live and work in South Africa
• Religious leaders

TO BUILD A MASS ACTION CAMPAIGN FOR DEMOCRACY FROM BELOW.
LET US MAKE DEMOCRACY WORK FOR THE PEOPLE!

LET US START WITH IMMEDIATE ISSUES OF NATIONAL CONCERN. LET US COLLECT A PETITION OF SIGNATURES WHERE WE DEMAND:

• Justice for the families and workers of the deceased mineworkers who were killed on 16th August 2012 at the Lonmin Marikana mine;
• A public process to decide on a decent living wage for all workers in all industries;
• A public process to decide on a living income for all the unemployed;
• The delivery of all required textbooks to all schools before the start of the 2013 school year;
• A public review to determine whether the construction of President Jacob Zuma’s house has been financed from public funds and whether all the required procedures were followed;
• The withdrawal of the Traditional Courts Bill; and
• The withdrawal of the Secrecy Bill (Protection of State Information Bill).

DO NOT THROW this document away.
READ IT! PASS IT ON TO A FRIEND AND NEIGHBOUR. DISCUSS IT WITH OTHERS.

FIVE EASY STEPS TO RECLAIM DEMOCRACY AND JUSTICE IN SOUTH AFRICA

ONE: SEND IN YOUR NAME AND ADDRESS BY FREE SMS TO XXXXX, TWITTER OR ON THE DEMOCRACYFROMBELOW.ORG.ZA, stating that you endorse the call to action and that you are interested and would like to assist in the campaign.

TWO: WHERE YOU STAY OR WORK, FORM A LOCAL GROUP OF AT LEAST 10 PEOPLE to distribute the leaflet and discuss the DRAFT PLATFORM.

THREE: COLLECT THE VIEWS AND DEMANDS FROM YOUR COMMUNITY on how to change South Africa for the better, on what democracy from below must mean in the real lives of ordinary people. SUBMIT THESE views and demands to your local conference, by sms and the website.

FOUR: ACT NOW TO ADDRESS YOUR IMMEDIATE PROBLEMS:

• Demand that politicians and all public service must use public services
• Demand that the municipality must open its books and tenders to the public
• Occupy and take over local factories and run them as worker-owned cooperatives
• Mobilise for the extension of democratic accountability to other key economic institutions and factories such as the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, the Reserve Bank, state-owned enterprises, multi-national corporations and capital flight
• March to the local Shoprite and other supermarkets to demand that the price of bread, milk, flour, maize, meat and other basic foods must be subsidized by government
• Organise local women to demand free services from the local hospital
• March to the local Chamber of Business to demand that factories and government to put people’s democratic needs before profits for a few
• Discuss what new laws are need to make democracy from below work for the people

FIVE: ORGANISE A LOCAL PEOPLE’S DEMOCRACY CONFERENCES ON 27 APRIL 2013

Let us reclaim our Freedom Day from the politicians by convening Local People’s Democracy Conferences on 27 April 2013. Instead of clapping silently by the sidelines listening to politicians, let us use this day to reclaim our democracy and our power. On this day, let people in Marikana, Umlazi, Wolwehoek, Upington, Khayelitsha, De Doorns, Mdantsane, Msinga, Crossroads, Elim, KaNyamazane, Soshanguve, Hillbrow, Matsulu, Soweto, Katlehong, Seshego and all other townships, informal settlements, rural villages, and inner cities of our country meet to discuss how to build a mass-based democracy that works for the majority in South Africa.

EMAIL: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
WEBSITE: democracyfrombelow.org.za

This leaflet is available on the website in Afrikaans, English, SeSotho, SiSwati, SeTswana, isiNdebebele, isiXhosa, isiZulu, Shangaan, Shona, TshiVenda and Xitsonga.

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