SACP Mpumalanga mourns brutal racially-inspired farm killings and condemns thuggery perpetrated by counter-revolutionaries within the ANC in Mpumalanga

14 April 2021

The people of Mpumalanga are appalled by racially inspired attacks against defenceless farm workers in Mkhondo local municipal area by right-wing elements who are still dominating our agricultural sector. The South African Communist Party (SACP) in Mpumalanga conveys its deepest heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims of the senseless racist killings by these farmers who are still resisting the transformation of the land issue in our province and country in general.

The untransformed power relations in the agricultural sector inherited from the colonial and apartheid era is the basis of the current hostile and racist behaviour by some farmers in our province. The SACP in Mpumalanga calls for the speeding up of the land reform process in order to end this continued suffering of farmworkers at the hands of these brutal and untransformed farmers.

We call on all relevant departments to use all available legislative instruments at their disposal to protect farmworkers’ rights and stop the carnage taking place in the different farms in our province.

We further call on our judiciary to ensure that justice is not only done but is seen to be done for the victims of these unprovoked and brutal murders. This is necessary to dispel the perception that farmers are above the law and to end the arrogance that the farmers have been displaying since our democratic breakthrough in 1994.

Political thuggery taking place in the movement in our province

The SACP in Mpumalanga calls on the National Executive Committee of the African National Congress (ANC) to decisively intervene in the ongoing killings of members of the ANC in constitutional meetings of the movement. The Party is not surprised, however, by the behaviour of these counter-revolutionaries who have infiltrated our movement.

Party members were brutally assaulted, we believe by some elements who are now terrorising members of the ANC in Phillip Radebe District. As part of ending political impunity in the province, the office of the Secretary General must publish the report of the elders who investigated the incident.

We call on the ANC in the province to identify and deal decisively with all members involved in this behaviour that is totally foreign to our movement. The continued protection on the basis of factionalism of this cancerous element will only continue to erode the confidence that our people still have in our movement as a leader of society.

We further call on the police to arrest and help in the successful prosecution of those who are involved in the killing of ANC members in the province.

The SACP in Mpumalanga conveys its heartfelt condolences to the families of the members who died whilst performing their revolutionary duties.

Issued by Alex Mohubetswane Mashilo, SACP Central Committee Member: Media & Communications, 14 April 2021