Portside

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Hugh Masekela - trumpeter and singer-songwriter was a pioneer of jazz in South Africa and a campaigner against apartheid in exile. The "Father of South African jazz," Masekela died in Johannesburg Tuesday. Masekela was one of those rare artists who succeeded in fusing politics with music, making his songs and performances compelling and timeless.

This weekend the African National Congress will choose a new president to replace Jacob Zuma, but all of the contenders have been, in varying degrees, complicit in Zuma's corrupt rule. While one needs to be cautious before suggesting an organization that has been at the center of freedom struggles for over a century will disappear, it is equally difficult to imagine the ANC ever regaining the moral stature and trust it once enjoyed, whoever is elected to lead the ANC.

The race between Cyril Ramaphosa and Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma as to who will succeed Jacob Zuma as ANC president remains too close to call. The divisions between the candidates reflect the divisions within the revolutionary alliance that brought an end to South African apartheid.

Ronnie Kasrils, head of intelligence during South Africa’s struggle against apartheid, on his revolutionary life and the prospects for the country’s left.

An interview with Ronnie Kasrils Ronnie Kasrils, head of intelligence during South Africa's struggle against apartheid, on his revolutionary life and the prospects for the country's left.

One of the reasons why we need to recall Luthuli's life in this time of shameful and shameless greed is that he consciously emphasised what he called the "gospel of service". Even if the ANC chooses to neglect the memory and legacies of Luthuli we, the citizens of South Africa need to draw on these. Luthuli was the first non-racial leader in South Africa, the first African to have a following amongst whites.

Although advances for the South African people have been made under ANC leadership, continuing poverty and unemployment made worse by the recession and decline in the value of the Rand. The solution to our frustrations with the ANC will not be solved if the reasons that have led to the failure to assert working class hegemony within the tripartite alliance of ANC, COSATU and SACP is not accurately diagnosed. This was the question before the SACP Convention.

Many Portside readers follow developments in the international socialist movement, including recent developments in South Africa. Here is the declaration from the recently concluded Congress of the South African Communist Party. Some readers may find it a hopeful sign of the SACP's returning to its role as a critical partner in the governing coalition with COSATU in the governing coalition. Others may feel that the SACP is not being critical enough. What do you think?