Is SASCO at a crossroads?. One Joseph Gobleales, who was a right hand man of AdolphHitler, argued that if lies keep on being repeated, people are most likely to believe it. This was said many years ago, and even today, this still appears to be the case. Critics of SASCO are well aware of this, in fact they dont hesitate to say anything, and everything about the organization. The leadership of S...ASCO at all levels have been a target of all sort of attacks. Of course, it is expected that being at the helm of an organization such as SASCO you will face criticism, and at times unfounded claims. At the heart of this attack, is a genuine concern that SASCO is not acting as it should be when championing the interest of students. SASCO s reaction to the ongoing crisis of NFSAS at various institutions, and its call for free education is used as reference of its weakness. Some of our critics argued that the aforesaid challenges are exclusively caused by the subjective weakness of the leadership. Those who are for this notion, are quick to point out names of individuals as a primary cause of the challenges the organization is facing. This notion manifest itself in different forms, and slogans . It is here you will hear things such as the Chairperson is weak, or the president is not key. coupled with this, is the malicious comparison of the former leadership, and the incumbent. Comparing leadership is not inherently wrong, however it is the motive that could be wrong as is the case in most instances. This article intend to address the above fallacy, and its ideological basis . It will further highlight the fundamental cause of the ideological paralysis within the organization, and the perceive weakness of the leadership of SASCO at various levels. Indeed, if lies are spread on daily basis, and there is no effort to counter nor correct it, then such lies will be seen by those who are not privy to the details of the situation as the honest truth. The use of propaganda as a form of persuasion in politics is not a new phenomenon. It was a common practice during the cold war. The advantage of propaganda is that you defeat your opponent without spare of blood. In the course of spreading propaganda you say all sort of things. The aim is one , tarnish the image of your opponent, and enhance yours. This seems to be exactly what arm chair critics of SASCO are aiming to achieve. In the recent past, we have seen renewed efforts to discredit SASCO as an organization, and its leadership. The names of individuals are isolated from the collective. This is deliberately done in order to present the weakness of individual as that of the organization. This is how private conversation of our criticis goes. SASCO is weak under the leadership of Z, or the election of Y was the death of SASCO, look what is happening in NFSAS, and the other will reply, the secretary has no content . This is said as if content can bring free education. Of course, there are challenges that the organization needs to address as urgently as possible. This include strengthening the capacity of branches to enable them to tackle students grievances. However, to suggest that the failure of the organization to responds to the needs of students promptly is due to subjective weakness of leadership is malicious, and shows lack of maturity. The major challenge that SASCO is facing is a general lack of political consciousness amongst its most prominent members, and the ideological paralysis, which have characterized the organization for sometime. The basis of this ideological paralysis lies on SASCO s continue disregards for Marxist -lennenist solutions that are found after using Marxist -leninist as tools of analysis . It is sad, that even after we have adopted a resolution that we are Marxist -leninists student movement, our posture can be hardly distinguished from other myopic student formations . Most members of SASCO dont understand the basic theory of Marxist, yet we expect them to led the organization in a most efficient way! The leadership of SASCO is not from heaven, those who led are elected amongst the members, so even if you change leadership every week it wont solve the root cause of the problem. The fundamental cause of the problem is lack of political clarity, and ideological grasp by members of the organization. SASCO in all levels of its structures it should prioritize political education. Such will go along way in fixing the so many wrongs that seems to be the defining feature of our organization. The challenges SASCO face are beyond the weaknesses of individuals , and ore ideological in nature. Percy Mthombeni is Branch Secretary of SASCO at UNISA, and LLB student
Posted on: Sat, 20 Sep 2014 14:34:42 +0000
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