South Africa – Zabalaza for Socialism

The fight for water in Gauteng

Rehad Desai18 August 2025

The Civic Action for Democracy and Equality (CADE) Gauteng was born from a People Assembly that was held in January 2025 following a prolonged period of interrupted supply to households during 2024. The assembly was attended by over 30 civic structures that fall mainly from within the municipal borders of the City of Johannesburg (CoJ). Representatives from the Vaal Environmental Justice Alliance were also present as were some civic structures for Erkerhuleni Municipality.

Can the SACP Help Rebuild a Democratic, Militant Left?

Brian Ashley18 August 2025

The South African Communist Party’s (SACP) decision to stand independently of the African National Congress (ANC) in the coming local government elections deserves to be welcomed. For decades, independent socialists and other militants have argued that the Party’s subordination within the Tripartite Alliance weakened the political independence of the working class and tied the fate of socialist politics to the fortunes of the ANC. The fact that the SACP has now resolved to stand on its own—even if belatedly—represents a potential step forward in re-conquering the independence of the working class and advancing class politics based on socialist renewal.

A New Attack on Labour Rights

ZASO18 August 2025

The Ministry of Employment and Labour has released for public comment the new Draft Code on Good Practice on Dismissal (the new Draft Code). The new Draft Code is intending to replace the existing Code on Good Practice. Whilst a Code on Good Practice does not override existing legislation and case law, it nevertheless provides a guideline to and an elaboration of existing labour law jurisprudence. There are some positive changes for workers, but on the whole the Draft Code is pro-employer and codifies many of the conservative court judgments relating to dismissals.

Water Justice Unpacked

Rehad Desai18 August 2025

There is a rising noise about the water crisis in South Africa that has been prompted by frequent interrupted supply to those living in the industrial heartlands of the country. How are eco-socialists responding locally and globally to a global issue that is being powered by the climate and ecological crisis and the neo liberal governance framework.

Green Structural Adjustment and the Climate Crisis

Brian Ashley18 August 2025

The South African government claims it is advancing a “Just Transition” to a low-carbon economy. But in practice, its climate policy is anything but just. It is a form of green structural adjustment—a continuation of neoliberalism in green clothing. Under pressure from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank, and global finance, the state is rolling out a climate policy built on privatisation, austerity, and the hollowing out of public institutions like Eskom.

Zabalaza for Socialism (ZASO) Statement on Police Corruption and the Commission of Inquiry Appointed by President Ramaphosa

ZASO18 August 2025

Zabalaza for Socialism (ZASO) notes the serious allegations of corruption, manipulation and criminal syndicate involvement within the South African Police Service (SAPS), as raised by KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Commissioner Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi. These revelations confirm what working-class communities across the country already know from lived experience: key institutions of the state, including the police, have been captured by networks of criminal syndicates and the predatory elites. The consequences have been devastating for poor communities, who suffer the most from the state’s failure to deliver basic services.

Where is land reform

Mercia Andrews18 August 2025

The land question is a class Question. Thirty years after the end of apartheid, the land still has not returned to the people. The ANC government and the white capitalist class it protects have turned land reform into a cruel hoax — a theatre of broken promises and elite enrichment. The National Development Plan calls land reform a “moral, social, and economic imperative,” but this is nothing more than empty rhetoric from a political elite unwilling to challenge the foundations of white property ownership and capitalist accumulation.

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Category: South Africa