SOUTH AFRICA is in a “deep structural” crisis and requires the unity of a left movement to help resolve the crisis, according to a draft resolution of the Conference of the Left in Boksburg, South Africa.

The three-day conference, which closed today, brought together hundreds of left-wing political formations, trade unions, environmental justice groups, solidarity economy initiatives, feminist, youth and environmental justice campaigners with independent activists, intellectuals and international solidarity organisations.

The framework for the conference set out some of the challenges facing South Africa, such as widening inequality, rising household debt, access to food, energy, transport and precarious housing.

“The democratic gains of 1994 were real and must be defended — but without transforming ownership and productive capacity they remain vulnerable.

“Capital did not accept defeat in 1994; it adjusted and reasserted dominance,” it said.

The framework added: “Economic policy is now shaped by financial capital, not social need. Meanwhile, reactionary forces exploit mass insecurity while protecting the very system causing it.

“Neither neoliberalism nor reaction offers a way out. Only organised confrontation with the structures of economic power — and the rebuilding of a capable left — can resolve this crisis.”

The draft resolution of the conference proposed the establishment of a Council of the Left as a “broad, democratic, accountable and non-sectarian co-ordination platform of left, working-class, socialist, feminist, anti-imperialist, community, labour, youth, women, cooperative, civic, cultural, research and popular formation.”

It also identified nine priority areas of work for the next year. These included a cost-of-living campaign, developing working-class alternatives to austerity, developing a programme for transforming ownership of the commanding heights of the economy, land and food sovereignty, public services and campaigning for a just transition as the climate emergency takes hold.

The draft resolution also vows to develop left approaches to safety and security, boosting the participation of youth and women and establishing political education programmes.