Marxist Workers Tendency of the ANC

The Marxist Workers Tendency of the ANC or MWT was a Trotskyist group within the African National Congress which was eventually expelled from the party.

History

The MWT was launched after Martin Legassick and others were expelled from the ANC in 1979^[1] The Marxist Workers’ Tendency was affiliated to the Committee for a Workers International, an international organization of Trotskyist parties and the newspaper, The Militant.^[2] Legassick was again expelled from the ANC in 1985.^[3]

Reception

Both the African National Congress and the South African Communist Party, often described as a Stalinist party, have been highly critical of the MWT.^[4][5]

Legacy

MWT comrades have been involved in the most significant social movements in post-apartheid South Africa with Zackie Achmat being a founder of the Treatment Action Campaign and Martin Legassick working closely with the Western Cape Anti-Eviction Campaign, Abahlali baseMjondolo (Cape Town branch) and being a founder of the Democratic Left Front.

Notes and references

1. ^ Legassick, M, "Debating the revival of the workers' movement in the 1970s: the South African democracy education trust and post-apartheid patriotic history", Kronos (Bellville), vol.34 no.1, Cape Town nov. 2008, http://www.scielo.org.za/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0259-01902008000100010&lng=pt&nrm=iso
2. ^ see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Committee_for_a_Workers'_International
3. ^ History of Democratic Socialist Movement of South Africa, http://www.socialistsouthafrica.co.za/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=12&Itemid=27
4. ^ Defeat the resurgence of the workerist tendency
5. ^ Statement of the SACP on the recent launch of the ANC voters network.