I look forward to more great postings like this one. Do you have a newsletter I can subscribe to for updates?

Hello, my name’s Dace Willmott and I’m writing on behalf of New Yorker Films. I see that you’re going to participate in a panel discussion tomorrow evening following a screening of Bamako here in New York City. The film was released earlier this week on DVD through us.

We feel as though we have an important film and would like to get the word out about the movie and the issues it addresses. We were wondering if it would it be possible to include a brief mention regarding the film in one of your future blog entries? I can forward you any information, as well as artwork and images pertaining to the film. Also, if you have any suggestions with regards to interested organizations or people who could send out emails to a list serve regarding the film, please let us know.

Thank You.

Best,
Dace Willmott
dace.willmott@newyorkerfilms.com

But never mind hearsay, below is the full text of the resolution tabled by Keep Left. It’s very obvious that it does not argue to support Zuma (for example “If we are going to expose Zuma…”) but argues about methods of building a struggle when some of the people who are ready to fight are looking to a problematic leader. The other resolution on the table presented Zuma’s victory as a clear defeat for the working class. This resolution aimed to remind people that things are not so clear cut and simple – there are contrary tensions emerging from the Polokwane conference which can at the same time encourage and suppress grass-roots action.

“South Africa after Polokwane. Proposed by Keep Left

We note that:
• It was above all the strikes and delivery protests, which grew since 2005, that created the crisis inside the ANC and the alliance over the effects of neoliberalism on the poor and the working class in general
• Jacob Zuma’s election as the new ANC president is a double-edged sword for the working class. On one hand, it represented a decisive defeat for Thabo Mbeki, the president of neo-liberalism. This raises the confidence of all those who were opposed to Mbeki. On the other hand, people will now be invited to fold their arms and leave change up to powerful people in government who are believed to be on the side of the working class.
• Mbeki remains president and is continuing with neo-liberal policies such as the tax breaks to big business in the recent budget.
• So we should expect a mixed picture in the coming months – on the one hand struggles like Samwu in PE occupying the 2010 stadium, on the other hand many tensions being deferred until after the 2009 elections.
• Those who look to Zuma do so not only with illusion but also with expectation for jobs, houses and comfort. If we are going to expose Zuma we must do it by holding him to the reforms that he promised and that people expect from him out the defeat of Mbeki.

We therefore resolve:
• To repeat again and again: ‘Fight for it now- we can’t wait til 2009 for free education’ etc.
• We must look for ways to engage in joint campaigns with Cosatu members, civics, SACP members, for example over Eskom and the threatened job losses, or to involve ourselves in such campaigns when initiated by Cosatu etc.
• We can’t make support for Zuma the main dividing line within the working class movement but rather aim to be with people when Zuma’s true colours start to show to everyone
• We should be putting forward socialism as the real alternative to Mbeki’s neo-liberalism
• We should continue to argue that the working class needs its own independent organization.

Please spread the word in anyway you can! Btw, you made an excellent point in your comments about the IMF/World Bank “Structural Adjustment” b.s. that really is a tool to keep developing countries always stay poor and dependent on foreign hand-outs.

Hello and thanks to your colleague and my good friend Marie for connecting us. I’ve been following your postings eagerly, as I served in the Peace Corps in Zimbabwe (98-99). In fact, we ended up pulling out as the situation deteriorated and we were disinvited by the regime. I await further news. I was surprised to read the observer’s description of the election as “free, fair and credible” given what I’ve heard about ballot boxes missing and open threats from security forces on the BBC. Anyway, thanks much for the news and I’ll be returning soon.