[DEBATE] : (Fwd) SSM Socialist Day School

[Patrick Bond]

South African Communist Party (Gauteng) and Democratic Socialist Movement

Joint Socialist Day School

Press Release
The Gauteng SACP and the Democratic Socialist Movement (Committee for a 
Workers International South Africa and formerly the Marxist Workers 
Tendency of the ANC) will be holding a joint commemoration of one of the 
most inspiring figures of the 20th century, Argentinian revolutionary, 
Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara.

The 40th anniversary of Che’s assassination, whose iconic status is 
confirmed by the enduring appeal of his image captured on the t-shirts 
worn especially by today’s youth, offers an opportunity to explore his 
ideas, to debate their relevance and to acquaint those who do not know, 
with the facts of his history in the Cuban revolution and beyond.

His detractors have of course dismissed the ubiquitous Che t-shirt as 
nothing more than a fashion statement by youth who know nothing about 
his ideas or his history. However, a correspondent of “The Weekender” 
(13/10/07) laments his assassination by agents of the US’s CIA because 
it “turned an increasingly ineffectual revolutionary into an icon of 
resistance.” The Gauteng SACP and the DSM are holding this commemoration 
to bring his idea back to life and to explain the basis for his 
continued popularity.

The Joint Day School will also afford an opportunity to debate the 
political issues posed by the ANC’s Limpopo’s elective conference – 
undoubtedly the most important conference since the ANC came to power in 
1994. In particular the debate will centre around the prospects of the 
working class claiming victory through the Alliance Pact adopted by 
Cosatu with the support of the SACP.

Saturday 17th November, 2007
House of Movements
Vorgas House
123 Pritchard Str corner Mooi Str
Johannesburg

09h00 13h00
Che Guevara Commemoration
40 years after his assassination, are his ideas still relevant today?

14h00 – 16h00
ANC Conference Limpopo
With Cosatu’s Alliance Pact Proposal
Can the working class claim the ANC?

Speakers:
SACP: Nkosiphendule Kolisile and Makhi Ndabeni
DSM: Bongani Nkosi and Weizmann Hamilton