SACP provincial executive committee member Pretty Ndlela said there was a feeling that many of those who were involved in the contemporary Struggle were not necessarily doing it for altruistic reasons.
DURBAN – ANC and SACP speakers at a memorial event for Struggle heroine Fatima Seedat on Sunday warned that the party would not get support if leaders prioritised the fight for positions over the urgent needs of citizens.
The ANC will hold its elective conference in December and concerns have been raised that the focus will be on leadership positions while policies that focus on transforming the economy and dealing with unemployment, inequality and poverty will largely be put aside.
Family, friends and fellow activists gathered in Phoenix, north of Durban, on Sunday to celebrate what would have been Seedat’s 100th birthday.
Seedat and other woman leaders including Dora Tamana, Dorothy Nyembe, Fatima Meer and Florence Mkhize, led more than 20,000 people in the historic Women’s March to the Union Buildings in 1956.
Seedat, who died in 2003, was first jailed in 1946 for her role in the passive resistance campaign in Durban when her child was an infant. She was jailed for the second time in 1952 for her role in the defiance campaign and was sentenced to a month’s hard labour.
SACP provincial executive committee member Pretty Ndlela said there was a feeling that many of those who were involved in the contemporary Struggle were not necessarily doing it for altruistic reasons.
“There are those participating in the Struggle who interpret it as a way to get a job or a good life. We have been volunteering from the days of the apartheid Struggle and today we volunteer for the ANC and SACP.
“Fatima is a giant of the Struggle. Take lessons and hear what they (Struggle activists) have done for the country and try to do what she has done, even though the situation and material conditions are different.”
Ndlela said Seedat was not motivated by interests that would benefit herself.
Ravi Pillay, former MEC for economic development, tourism and environmental affairs, warned that the country was facing an even tougher economic period.
“The masses want to see how their material conditions will improve. The state of the economy is not good.”
He said serious reorganisation was needed to build confidence and to create jobs. “If people look at leaders and see that they are not interested in their welfare, are constantly fighting among themselves and are more interested in positions than what they can do for people, then this is a problem.”
Pillay said the alliance partners must harness the spirit of Seedat and regain and rebuild the trust deficit that exists.
“There must be unity as we go to branch general meetings and prepare for the December conference.”
Maggie Govender, a member of the provincial legislature, said Seedat was involved in grass roots activism and did not expect to be paid for this.
“Now it is about everything to be gained and nothing to be sacrificed. Today almost everything that is done is advertised and individual acknowledgement is demanded. It is not about doing something because you believe in it.”
