Pretoria - Voters next year will have the choice of yet another political party after the launch of the Workers and Socialist Party (Wasp) in Pretoria on Thursday.
The party was born from the ashes of the Marikana massacre last year, where 34 miners we killed. The party’s leaders plan to contest next year’s general election.
Hundreds of people gathered at the launch at the community hall in Danville along with many delegates from the Democratic Socialist Movement (DSM) who were involved in the formation of Wasp.
Mamatlwe Sebei, the party spokesman, said Wasp stood for “genuine democratic socialism” and would act in the interest of the majority.
The party’s presence at the wildcat strikes within the mining sector had led to their hopes of developing a “heavy presence in the mining sector”.
The party had a hand in the negotiations during the strikes after the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) had failed to satisfy the workers’ demands.
“We stand for the emancipation of the working class. “We are a party for the struggles of the working class,” said Sebei.
The party received full support from Joe Higgins, a Socialist Party member of parliament from Ireland, who spoke at the launch.
“Wealth needs to go into the democratic hands of the working class,” said Higgins.
He urged the party to stand shoulder to shoulder with the working class in their struggles.
Higgins said Wasp was the much-needed alternative to the existing political establishment.
He emphasised the need for the party to be independent and incorruptible.
“You should not only join the party, you should help build it because a party like this is desperately needed in South Africa,” said Higgins.
He added that workers’ struggles were universal and the same battles fought in South Africa were fought globally.
Sebei reiterated Higgins’s words by saying they hoped to achieve international working-class solidarity.
“The launch of Wasp is a great and important historical event,” Sebei said to cheers of “Amandla!” from the crowd.
Wasp is in favour of nationalisation if it “advances the interests of the poor and the overwhelming majority”.
Sebei promised that Wasp representatives would earn an average worker’s salary and that anything more would be ploughed into the party to the working class’s benefit.
He also promised an immediate recall should a representative not promote what the party stands for.
“We want a decent life for all and we want to organise the working class so there is unity in struggle,” said Sebei.
One of the party’s missions was to organise the working class politically and empower it to confront the ruling class.
“We have to rise against the elite who live in luxury while we languish in poverty,” said Sebei, who also serves on the executive committee of the DSM.
Sebei on Wednesday said the launch had been planned to coincide with Human Rights Day. He accused the ANC of hypocrisy for celebrating human rights in the aftermath of the Marikana massacre. He said the ANC could no longer claim to be representing the working class.
Wasp distributed a socialist newsletter – Izwi Labasebenzi – explaining its role as a party.
Pretoria News