THE struggle for popular power in South Africa must be “anchored” in the leadership of the working class, the Conference of the Left said in its final declaration on Sunday.

After a three-day gathering of hundreds of left activists from across South Africa and international solidarity organisations, the historic declaration committed participating formations “to rebuild the organised power of the working class and the poor.”

The conference asserted that the working class is “the decisive social force capable of confronting monopoly capitalism, reorganising production, defending democratic gains and leading society towards a future beyond capitalism.”

The conference said its strategic goal is to build “a society based on social ownership, democratic economic control, wealth redistribution, equality, solidarity, ecological sustainability, peace and the full liberation of workers and the poor.”

The conference insisted the question of ownership and control of the commanding heights of the economy is foundational. 

The declaration said: “Without changing ownership, there can be no real transformation.” 

The declaration commits the left to the expansion of public, social, worker, co-operative and community ownership.

The conference established a Council of the Left as a standing instrument of co-ordination. The council is not a new party and will not replace existing formations or override their autonomy. 

The council will co-ordinate a first-phase Programme of Action organised around eight clusters. These are economic transformation, work and livelihoods, cost of living, public services and social protection, land, restitution, redistribution and local democratic economies, public health and social violence, community safety and working-class unity.

The other clusters will focus on climate justice, energy sovereignty and the just transition, internationalism, Pan-Africanism, peace and anti-imperialist solidarity and a review of the 1996 constitution.

The conference committed to  building the “capacity to organise, educate, mobilise, strike, campaign, negotiate, research, communicate and implement.”

In a call to action, the declaration said: “The future will not be given to us. It must be organised.”