Mao Zedong on Contradictions and the Contemporary Situation of the SACP and the National Democratic Revolution
By Fumene George Tsibani:
Mao Zedong, China's revolutionary champion. IMAGE: History.com
The quotation from Mao Zedong’s 1957 address “On Correct Handling of Contradictions Among the People” provides a methodological lens through which to assess the current political moment in South Africa, particularly the conduct and strategic orientation of the South African Communist Party under General Secretary Solly Mapaila. Mao’s central contribution is the insistence that contradictions are universal and permanent, but their character is not fixed. He distinguishes between antagonistic contradictions, which exist between ourselves and the enemy and can only be resolved through struggle that removes the opposing force, and non-antagonistic contradic...