By Norm Dixon
A section of the Azanian Peoples Organisation (Azapo), followers of murdered Black Consciousness leader Steve Biko, announced on September 14 it would form a socialist party to contest the 1999 elections. The decision followed a three-day conference in Durban attended by 2000 delegates.
The meeting brought together those who split from Azapo at its December conference. Delegates from the provinces of Gauteng, Free State and KwaZulu-Natal walked out when Azapo leaders refused to hold an election. Since the split, the mainstream Azapo faction has forged closer ties with the ruling ANC.
Conference spokesperson Strini Moodley said there was a “window of opportunity” for a left party in South Africa. A recent survey found that 30% of South Africans would be sympathetic to such a party.
Moodley said the new party would campaign for the nationalisation of natural resources and oppose the repayment of “apartheid debts”. He added that the new party would be prepared to participate in a post-1999 ANC government of national unity “if this allows us to infuse into government policy our socialist beliefs”. The party would be non-racial.
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