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South African Socialist Revolutionary Workers Party Founded

04 April 2019: Members of the Socialist Revolutionary Workers Party (SRWP) at the Birchwood Hotel in Boksburg during the launch of the party. Picture: Ihsaan Haffejee
On April 4-6, the Socialist Revolutionary Workers Party (SRWP) held its Launch Congress in Boksburg, South Africa. Over a thousand worker delegates from provinces across the country and international guests met to announce their party’s intention to participate in upcoming national elections under the slogan “equality, work, and land.”

The party draws its strong base from the South African Federation of Trade Unions (SAFTU), which has over 800,000 members throughout South Africa. Last year SAFTU organized a nationwide strike—one of the largest in recent history—to demand reforms to the country’s labor laws and an increase in the national minimum wage. More generally, SAFTU organizes for the “creation of JOBS for all, a living minimum wage, return of LAND, good housing for all and free quality education.”

SAFTU was formed as an initiative of the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA) who broke the ruling African National Congress (ANC)-led ruling alliance after the Mari-kana Massacre of 2012, during which 34 striking miners were killed by police.

The ANC once led the heroic struggle to bring an end to apartheid (the Jim Crow system of white political rule) but has since betrayed the poor and working masses. The ANC’s Cyril Ramaphosa, a billionaire and current South African president, was found to have egged on the police responsible for the massacre. The ANC has pursued anti-worker labor laws and has implemented widespread privatization of public resources which have worsened the conditions for the working class of South Africa.

The Workers Party stresses that history has shown that human dignity and rights for workers cannot be guaranteed by the ANC or any other capitalist government. In a party statement, the SWRP declared “for all the world to know that we as Socialists are committed to building the organ-ization of a revolutionary working class. A class aware of its own interests. A class that will over-throw the capitalist parasites. A working class that will seize power for the project of building So-cialism, in which no human will be exploited by another.”

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Cancel Puerto Rico’s Bank Debt

By Ashlee Pintos

The United States has had its imperialist boot on the neck of Puerto Rico for well over 100 years. Both on the island and throughout the diaspora, all Puerto Ricans have been treated as second class citizens under colonial rule. As we look through the windows of the past, we see clearly how the is-land and the blood of Puerto Ricans have meant nothing but a dollar sign to U.S. Capitalists (both Democrats and Republicans).

Donald Trump’s recent racist comments on Puerto Rico’s “debt” crisis is nothing out of character for a U.S. capitalist. The U.S. Congress passed the Promesa Act under the Obama Administration which aims to force Boricuas to pay an illegitimate debt (accrued by massive tax breaks and corpo-rate ventures) of $74 billion. Since the U.S. illegally invaded and seized the island as a colony in 1898, the island’s veins have been open to the bloodthirsty U.S. capitalists. This illegitimate debt is a disas-ter that the U.S. created to keep air out of Puerto Rico’s lungs.

Let us not forget that in the early 1900s Puerto Rico suffered a hurricane similar to Maria. Then as now the US response was horrific: they deemed the Puerto Rican peso to be worth 60% of a US dollar. In the blink of an eye every Puerto Rican’s holdings dropped 40% in value.

Moreover, Puerto Rico is restricted in its ability to trade with any country other than the US while simultaneously being forced to pay one of the highest sales taxes (20%).

We know that the U.S. government is a government by and for the Wall Street banks. So—by no choice of the Puerto Rican people—it’s Wall Street banks that Boricuas are beholden to (with ever increasing interest) to cover basic expenses. To top it all off, the U.S. has made it illegal for Puerto Rico to declare bankruptcy.

Now, almost two years since hurricane Maria killed over 4,000 and left thousands without elec-tricity or basic necessities for months, Trump and U.S. officials are demanding that the island pay its debt. This seemingly hopeless situation is exactly how U.S. capitalists want it. They would prefer that Puerto Ricans cease to exist so that they can continue to build their corporate tourist play-ground. Both the debt and the United States rule are illegitimate.
Despite all that Puerto Ricans have been subjected to, we have never stopped resisting and fighting for our liberation. Most recently, many university students have been organizing against austerity measures put in place by Obama’s PROMESA board. Since Maria, there have been massive demonstrations in San Juan and other regions of the island to militantly protest austerity measures such as a 50% hike in tuition prices, privatization of the electrical grid and schools, and job and pen-sion cuts. Militant pro-independence groups such as the Ejército Popular Boricua (EPB-Macheteros) have been calling all Boricuas out into the streets to demand justice. Through hundreds of years of colonial rule Boricuas know one thing to be true: La Vida es Lucha Toda (all life is struggle).

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Violence by NOPD on the Rise Again

By Star

In less than two months’ time, the NOPD’s actions have resulted in the deaths of at least 4 people and another 11 injuries. They’ve endangered the lives of hundreds of bystanders, and they have brutally assaulted an innocent woman. So far there has been no accountability.

On February 17, the police were in an open gun fight in one of the busiest sections of town, Canal and Elk. The cops killed one man; five others were wounded. As it relates to gun fights in well-populated, public areas, the Mayor stated that “our city sleeps under the protection of an interconnected web of law enforcement agencies whose effectiveness is on display every day.” In the same breath, she assured “the public” that the city was ready for Carnival.

Looking past NOPD’s decision to engage in a public gun war, she apparently prioritizes Carnival over the safety of everyday citizens.

On March 20, around 8:30 pm, the police, in violation of their own Vehicle Pursuit policy, chased a car into a Beauty Supply Store and Salon. The building was set ablaze during the crash, killing a woman, two teenage boys and injuring six other bystanders.

On April 13, an NOPD commander brutally assaulted a 21-year-old nursing student in the Quarter, as can be plainly seen in a video taken by a bystander. When her family complained, they were arrested.

Reports, surveillance footage and police statements all show that the police will lie about violating laws and rights, even when caught on video. Their reports are filled with contradictions, lies and subjective descriptions that clearly point to their low opinion of the public’s ability to think. Now multiple people have died, and countless people have been traumatized: many lives will never be the same.

These are horrendous crimes by the police without any city action. Now is not the time for the court to cancel the Federal Consent Decree, which was a partial victory against a totally violent NOPD won by community activists.

All these deaths, injuries, and abuses must be investigated. Action should be taken against all involved police officers and any brass involved in cover-ups.

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Letter to the Editor: Xenophobia in St. Bernard

By a St. Bernard Parish resident

I am deeply saddened by the demonstrations of xenophobia at the Italian, Irish, and Isleños Parade. A float titled “Build the Wall” paraded while people flaunted “white power” hand gestures, wore Kim Jong-un masks while impersonating East Asian stereotypes, mockingly wore “Mexican Lives Matter” shirts while wearing Trump masks, imitated Border Patrol deporting immigrants, and threw out toilet paper with blatant sexist statements written on it (“grab ‘em”, “Stormy Daniels Makes Trump Sammichs”, etc.). At their worst, they were mocking the sanctity of others’ lives simply because they are different than them.

It is a certain type of irony that a parade celebrating the rich culture and history of immigrant groups tolerates the blatant persecution of other, newer immigrant groups at a family event. My great-great grandfather and my great-grandfather were both born in Cefalu, Sicily. They undertook the arduous journey to New York and New Orleans, respectively, in pursuit of a better life promised by our country. Sicilian immigrants were lynched in the streets of New Orleans, forced to live on the outskirts of town or in the slums of the Quarter, and called “dago” or other derogatory slurs on a daily basis. It seems we’ve forgotten our history because we have been accepted as “white.” If we deplore the discrimination against our immigrant ancestors who sought a better life, we must confront and reject it when done to immigrants today, who are seeking those same opportunities. We can celebrate our cultures without dehumanizing other immigrant groups.

Not only would we do well to remember the history of how our ancestors were treated as immigrants, but we would do well to remember the hands that helped rebuild our parish from the ground up after Katrina. I remember the migrants who poured into the community, working in dreadful conditions to gut and rebuild homes, roads, businesses, and schools. They labored tirelessly in oppressive heat and humidity, and many had no place to sleep. They were there for us from the earliest phases of the rebuilding process. Post-Katrina St. Bernard Parish was built on the backs of migrant labor. They assisted us in our desperate time of need as we lamented the unfathomable devastation and mourned the hundreds who perished. We must *never* forget that nor forsake them.

To close, we should always stand up to hate, *especially* within our home community, no matter the backlash or repercussions. We should welcome incoming immigrant communities. Stand with them. To any immigrant, person of color, or anyone who belongs to any other group that was targeted by this vile xenophobia – know that there are people here that want you here. You are welcome here, and you make our community, your community, richer.

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What happens to parents when schools decide to close with a few hours’ notice?

By LaVonna Varnado-Brown

How do single parents finagle their schedules for work, other siblings, and transportation with eight hours’ notice of need for childcare? We are all familiar with these situations. Bad weather reports ensue, and you get a call from the school: canceled. Even if you do not have children, this concerns you.

Imagine the stress a single mother who already has what has been normalized as the regular daily burdens of life on her shoulders. Working a second shift at home, attempting to nurture children, and heaven forbid she prioritize her own needs for a moment. I also keep in mind the fathers who are nurturing children alone. Not every individual has a community of loved ones or elders to look to for support. The stress any parent feels to place their child in a space that they will be safe, respected, and looked after properly is exponential in an unplanned situation. What is the solution? If working people got the $180 million dollars a year in tax dollars currently stolen by unelected tourism commissions, there could be a plethora of options. There could be fully funded, 24-hour, clean, safe, healthy childcare for working parents. These spaces could also provide early childcare, special needs services, and artistic enrichment to nurture whole children. There could be spaces for young people to feel whole and develop a voice.

We must prioritize our children. Another suggestion is creating a budget that allows every worker paid sick leave, maternity leave, and vacation time. In this scenario the stress can be significantly alleviated with a simple phone call to the boss. These options are not utopian; the money is there for working-class people to take back. We must organize ourselves and demand that the money be returned immediately and that it’s that way for every yearly budget. If you are interested in organizing, check out nohwa.org or peoplesassemblyneworleans.org

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Homelessness Grows for Families with Children as Rents Increase in New Orleans

By Sally Jane Black

There are 20,000 empty houses in New Orleans. These homes range from blighted buildings left after Hurricane Katrina to places intentionally kept empty by investors. This number does not include the number kept empty for most of the year for the purposes of short term rentals.

1,188 people sleep without shelter in Orleans and Jefferson Parish every night.

For many, this lack of shelter means sleeping under the Claiborne overpass, in tents and small encampments. For others, it means finding one of the empty buildings and using it for shelter.

Yet the city council, mayor’s office, and NOPD have not opened up any empty houses to those in need. They have not worked with shelters to find solutions to the over-crowding issues they have. They have instead brought garbage trucks under the overpass, treating the possessions of those in need as waste. They have targeted people in the Quarter to take away their dogs (which many people rely on for security when they have no walls to protect them).

City officials attempt to sweep the issue under the rug, hide it from tourists, and arrest people for the crime of being poor. At the same time, landlords are throwing people out at a rate higher than anywhere else in the country, targeting people of color and women especially. These same landlords have raised the rent astronomically since Hurricane Katrina, and in many cases, converted homes and apartments to short term rentals instead. And it’s the homeless that the city treats as criminals.

Meanwhile, the city took steps to cover up the horrifying rate of death among the homeless population. Instead of taking heed of an escalating issue, the city shut down efforts to track and respond to the situation. They actually obstructed the work of people who had been informally keeping track of homeless deaths. No one knows how many were lost for lack of shelter last year, but it was on pace to be one out of every 15 people living on the streets.

The city has the resources to provide shelter for every person in the city, but the landlords and capitalists in the city profit more when they can threaten poor residents with eviction and homelessness if they don’t agree to pay inflated rental prices. No wonder a third of the city hands over half their income every month for rent. With housing, healthcare, and education all designed to provide profits to the rich instead of serving the people, the working people of New Orleans have nowhere to turn to for the resources we need—unless we organize to fight back.

There is no reason except capitalist greed that the empty homes in New Orleans cannot be opened up to those who need them. No one should die of exposure while rich people leave homes to rot for tax write-offs.

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Berlin: Thousands Hit the Streets for Lower Rent

Renters in Berlin demonstrate against landlords. Banner read, “Housing is not a commodity. Enough with the crazy rent!”
Renters Demand Breakup of Real Estate Monopolies

You have more in common with your fellow workers around the world than you do with you landlord. Whether in New Orleans, San Francisco, or Berlin, we are all facing a similar housing crisis, with the same causes. Rents are doubling or tripling, gentrification is pushing working class people out, landlords are evicting tenants so they can build more profitable apartments or short term rentals, and evictions are commonplace. Meanwhile, public housing has been replaced by watered down programs that benefit the landlords more than tenants and only increase gentrification. Those hit hardest are women, people of color, and immigrants.

This is as true in New Orleans today as it is in Berlin, and on April 7, tenants in Germany took to the streets to protest. Their demands are not for voucher programs or minor breaks, but for the rental properties owned by the biggest landlords to be taken back and returned to the people.

One group called Expropriate Deutsch Wohnen & Co. is working to enact a law that would ban any rental companies owning more than 3,000 apartments from operating in the city. Companies that would like to stay in Berlin, like Deutsche Wohnen—a company owning 100,000 apartments in the city— would be required to sell their excess housing units to the city for conversion into public housing.

The landlords claim they aren’t responsible for the rise in rents, but the people know who set the rates. People across Germany are organizing. Tens of thousands of people, including 25,000 in Berlin, marched demanding that the German government use Article 15 of the German constitution to acquire hundreds of thousands of units from Deutsche Wohnen & Co. and other major companies and turn them into social housing for the people.

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Fines Are Not About Safety But $$$$$

JUSTICE FOR PARTY BUSES FIGHTS BACK

Suddenly the city is concerned that residents are driving safely in school zones, making sure party buses are safe and making space for folks on bikes. But the current campaign to raise fines has nothing to do with safety and everything to do with the city trying yet again to bleed working class New Orleanians dry.

Consider Mayor Cantrell’s decision to reject the idea of an advance notice that school zones ticketing speeds would change. If it was about safety, the city would have publicized it, and educated residents about the change. Her aides suggested that she give a warning, but she rejected it. It’s really about levying another tax on New Orleanians.

When a rich person gets a ticket, the expense is nothing to them. Or they can afford to park in an over-priced lot or take Uber wherever they like. But when a worker gets a ticket, it’s a crisis that can turn into a nightmare.

The attack on party bus operators is another attack on one of the few economic areas still controlled by Black drivers. Is the plan to put them out of business and bring in some white businessman with loads of bank cash to take over? Or just to shut down an aspect of Black life that the white elites don’t like? The move to gentrify the area under the Claiborne bridge is another example of the city taking away a significant gathering spot for Black people just to satisfy real estate developers.

Raising tickets to $300 for parking in a bike lane is horrendous. Did the city study why people park there? Most are just trying to drop off a child or pick someone up, not permanently park. Some streets like N. Galvez have just a bike lane on one side of the street but people live there. Should their kids run across the street to get into a car, or double park to get out their groceries? Did the city consider this problem?

Safety comes from education and support. Every school, library, community center, organization and church would gladly lend a hand to do presentations about traffic safety. But this was never about safety. It’s a money grab at the expense of those least able to pay.

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Extinction Rebellion Youth Fighting to Save the Planet, Blame the Rich

Since April 15 more than 1,000 people have been arrested in London blocking trains, roads and bridges to demand an end to fossil fuels and a plan to save the planet for humans and all species. Activists in 33 countries joined in similar actions across the world. The environmental crisis is upon us now and serious.  Extinction Rebellion, a grassroots environmental organization that has led these protests, points out that it is the rich who are responsible for the crisis.  Their militant actions should be applauded and repeated everywhere.

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Making Our Way Home From New Orleans to Palestine

This May marks 71 years of displacement and mass murder of the Palestinian people. We call this our ‘nakba’ which means catastrophe in Arabic. The anniversary of Nakba, May 15, 1948 occurred when the United States, the British and the United Nations, gave Palestinian land that does not belong to them, away to Jewish people from Europe and renamed our homeland ‘Isra-el.’

To this day Palestinians are hunted in the streets and continue to have our homes stolen, demol-ished or given away. Children and adults are murdered and imprisoned because just like the poor and working class in New Orleans, we are often only considered “useful” to the rich ruling class if we are dead or are being used to make the rich richer.

Like many New Orleanians post-Katrina, the rich ruling class has made it impossible for us to go home. Similarly to the people of New Orleans, there are now more Palestinians who live outside of Palestine than in our homeland.

If there is a people who have experienced their own nakba, it is the people of New Orleans.

If there is a people who feel the Palestinian struggle for land, dignity and safety, it’s the people of New Orleans.

If there is a people who understand what it’s like to see your own neighborhood, overrun with strangers who want your culture but don’t want you – it’s the people of New Orleans.

If there is a people who understand what it’s like to see your homes gutted, your pain broadcast for the world to see and still not get justice, it’s the people of New Orleans.

If there is a people who understand what it’s like to be scattered and still have a deep sense of who you are and where you come from, it’s the people of New Orleans.

If there is a people who still love life despite facing its cruelty everyday, it’s the people of New Orleans.

This year marks 14 years since Katrina and over 100,000 Black New Orleanians still haven’t come home. From Palestine to New Orleans, we are returning.

We will reclaim our land. We will fight back.

From Palestine to New Orleans the time to unite and recognize our shared struggle is now.

From New Orleans to Palestine, we are going home.

All power to the people.