Zabalaza for Socialism: South Africa on the precipice — Rebuilding power and renewing hope amid crisis and collapse

By Zabalaza for Socialism

Published 23 December, 2024

After our historic Johannesburg launch in December 2023, Zabalaza for Socialism (ZASO), an eco-socialist, feminist organisation seeking to regroup militants active in grassroots movements and trade unions, met in Cape Town as an extended National Committee from December 14-16. Our purpose was to take stock of the political situation, gauge our progress since the launch and reassess our role and tasks in the coming period.

This meeting took place in a context of crises in the labour and social movements, the fragmentation of the political left, the rise of authoritarian ethno-nationalist, chauvinist, misogynist politics, which is positioning itself as an alternative to an increasingly dysfunctional state led by an unstable coalition of the ANC and the DA. Crises reflect both international and domestic factors.

The international situation

We are living in a time where the major crises facing humanity are interconnected like never before. The climate crisis, driven by decades of unchecked capitalist exploitation of the planet, is intensifying, witnessed by extreme weather events and the Sixth Great Species Extinction as biodiversity crashes. The world suffers worsening economic stagnation, ongoing financial volatility, extreme inequality, runaway unregulated technological change, and growing rivalries between global powers, all contributing to the rise of authoritarianism and neo-fascism. Nevertheless, resistance by workers and oppressed peoples rises.

The genocidal war on the Palestinians is being prosecuted by the most reactionary regime running the apartheid state of Israel, actively supported by the United States, Germany, the UK and others in the ‘Axis of Genocide,’ including BRICS corporations profiting from fossil fuel sales (including from South Africa), port privatisation and trade that violates the United Nations General Assembly’s September 2024 call for sanctions. The genocide provides a terrifying insight into how right-wing forces, which are on the ascendancy the world over, are egging on Israel, notably Donald Trump in the USA, who upon taking power in January will enable and embolden authoritarians and fascists everywhere.

In Syria on December 8, the brutal dictator Bashar al-Assad was overthrown after the country was carved into fragments by Turkey, Israel, the United States and Russia, following a 13-year war that killed 600 000 civilians and sent many millions into exile. Not only did Tel Aviv invade more Golan Heights land, extending its illegal occupation dating to 1967. Because Syria was the land bridge to Lebanon from Iran, the Hezbollah resistance there – whose leadership was decapitated by Israel in prior months – will be hampered in rearming, as will resistance fighters from Hamas and other Gazan organisations. The urgency of activism against Israeli genocide and apartheid – e.g. with Boycott Divestment Sanctions, even if that entails conflict with a government in Pretoria willing to critique Israel in the courts (but not where it hurts, economically) – is ever more obvious.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine is another example of a brutal, unjustified occupation, even if we do realise how NATO forces crept eastwards, breaking the early 1990s promises that the Western imperialist leaders gave to Russia not to do so. We abhor the loss of many hundreds of thousands of working-class civilians and soldiers on both sides, as well as the terribly destructive impact on energy and grain markets in 2022-23, with African economies defaulting (even recent ‘success stories’ like Ethiopia, Ghana and Zambia).

This is a new stage in the history of capitalism. It is different from the neoliberal globalisation that began in the late 1980s. It is more unstable and more intense in terms of class struggle and conflict between nations, especially compared to the period after the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s.

However, there are key differences between today’s crises and those of the early 20th century, which led to the catastrophic period between 1914 and 1945, marked by two world wars. One is the rise of BRICS and the hopes far too many put in mythical ‘de-dollarisation’ and multipolar ‘alternative institutions’ from this grouping of super-exploitative economies. Another is the growing realisation that global elites are incompetent at crisis management, ranging from the United Nations and multilateral institutions, to the World Economic Forum, to the G20 rich+emerging economies – which will be evident when hosted in Johannesburg next November.

The ecological crisis is the most immediate and dangerous aspect. Two centuries of capitalist accumulation based on the exploitation of fossil fuels, have pushed us to the brink. Environmental crises are escalating rapidly. Global temperatures are rising twice as fast as just a decade ago. The target of holding global average temperatures below 1.5 degrees was breached this year. We are losing biodiversity, and pollution and contamination are becoming unmanageable. The Covid-19 pandemic (and others to come) illustrated this system’s destructiveness. Urgent, radical action is needed before it’s too late for humanity and life on the planet. Already, in mid-December, temperatures rose to record highs in South Africa, reaching a staggering 46 degrees in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park.

And yet those in power stubbornly refuse to take the necessary action to cut greenhouse gas emissions and phase out fossil fuels. DA Environment Minister Dion George’s leading role at the Baku United Nations climate summit in late November is one reason: he opposed African demands for climate justice and ignored the walk-out by dozens of vulnerable countries.

South Africa’s crises

South Africa’s structural economic crisis places the nation at a point of no return, what with the centre-right Government of National Unity being welcomed by negative 0.3% GDP growth from July-September, with gambling the main growth industry at more than a 30% annual average since 2022. The levels of poverty, unemployment (especially for youth and women), inequality, corruption, crime, etc., have reached such proportions that the country could be plunged into violent strife if nothing is done, as occurred in mid-2021 when Treasury cut the R350/month Covid-19 grant.

Our schools, hospitals, public transport (rail in particular), the justice system, correctional services centres, and state-owned enterprises have become dysfunctional. Systems to provide a regular supply of electricity and water are collapsing. Our municipalities are financially, technically, operationally, and often politically bankrupt. The austerity regime mandated by the International Monetary Fund following its $4.3 billion loan four years ago, will lead to an 18.3% decline in per capita state services from 2020-26.

And all the while, government watches over this slide into the abyss, incapable of averting these crises. Its management is not only crippled by neoliberal ideology, but is overrun by cronyism, corruption, and neglect. Local government is where these problems are most severe. Budget cuts deny our people the rightful provision of decent livelihoods and services. The Government of National Unity is selling the family jewels to friends, at the expense of those for whom state assets are vital.

The economy is stagnating and crisis-ridden, incapable of satisfying the needs of the majority. It has become increasingly exploitative, extractivist, and predatory, with the Johannesburg Stock Exchange bubbling at record high levels, contributing to the export of vast sums of capital, robbing the country of the vital resources to overcome extreme forms of unemployment and inequality. The regulatory and prosecutory deficiencies are so severe that there appears no way out of the Financial Action Task Force ‘grey listing’ imposed on South African banks in 2023.

Meanwhile, the concentration and centralisation of capital produces higher and higher levels of unemployment. Including discouraged job seekers, more than 40% of the employable population is without work or income. The social fabric is collapsing, and vulnerable layers of society are subjected to barbaric treatment.

The crisis in Stilfontein, involving several thousand informal-sector miners trapped in an abandoned gold mine, illustrates the dangerous intersection of state neglect, unregulated industries, and community desperation. ‘Illegal’ mining is not a new problem, but it has intensified due to the collapse of the gold mining industry, widespread poverty, and unemployment. Abandoned mines with residual gold have become hubs for desperate miners exploited by powerful criminal syndicates. Weak regulation, corruption, and the high value of gold fuel this illicit trade, which thrives on the ruins of the country’s chequered mining legacy.

The vast depletion of gold from the Witwatersrand – at one point home to half the world’s historic reserves – contrasts with the collapse of municipalities (even Johannesburg water supply in recent days), once again revealing where the main wealth-stripping – and export to tax havens led by the City of London – should enrage society, in contrast to the inhumanity the Stilfontein workers suffer due to the Presidency’s outrageous ‘smoke ‘em out’ starvation strategy.

These crises were born of the government's failure to regulate the mining sector and create alternative economic opportunities. They are a symptom of the broader collapse of governance and the failure of local capitalism, which was built on the backs of black mineworkers from the region. Government’s futile responses only further stoke the flames of xenophobia.

Similarly, the recent spate of food poisoning incidents gripping South Africa’s spaza shops mirrors the broader failures of the country’s food system. Blame has largely been directed at foreign-owned spaza shops, which provide affordable, convenient access to food and daily essentials for millions of South Africans, especially working-class communities where formal retail options are scarce. Food safety problems stem from deeply rooted issues such as insufficient regulatory standards, economic desperation, and the failures of public health oversight. Many spaza shops operate in unsafe conditions, selling expired or low-quality goods to impoverished communities with limited alternatives. The absence of robust public health enforcement and economic safeguards leaves communities vulnerable to exploitation, and fuels mistrust between locals and foreign shop owners. Rather than addressing systemic problems, the state allows conditions to worsen, turning communities against one another, to fight for survival.

Thirty years after apartheid, the horrible truth of the so-called “New South Africa” is that millions of young people are without adequate parenting, a usable education, a job or political agency. For our children, life is often brutal and short. Inequality continues to rise, re-racialising South Africa, and raising already high levels of contempt among those left out in the cold.

The breakdown of the social fabric has turned daily life into a war of all against all. Communities fractured by poverty and inequality are pitted against one another in a desperate scramble for survival. Violent crime, anti-migrant scapegoating, gender-based violence, and social unrest have become defining features of a society that is unraveling. The failure of the state to provide basic services, ensure safety, or create opportunities has left many with no option but to fend for themselves in a system that rewards the powerful and punishes the powerless. Without urgent intervention to rebuild solidarity and address the root causes of this collapse, South Africa risks descending further into chaos, where survival is marked by despair and violence.

The death of the National Democratic Revolution

The political crisis in SA features the fragmentation of African nationalism into competing factions, each claiming to be the authentic flag-bearers of the politics of the National Democratic Revolution (NDR), i.e., first overthrowing apartheid rule and then at some point in the future tackling capitalism but only after it has been deracialised. This past weekend alone – between 14 and 16 December – the South African Communist Party (SACP) held a special national congress, the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) an elective conference, and Zuma’s uMkhonto we Sizwe party (MK), an anniversary rally. All express hostility to the centre-right government, but unity between these unreliable, ideologically-vacuous parties and opportunistic leaders – best known for their alleged corruption scandals – is evasive in spite of their stated commitment to the NDR.

And yet, it is the very politics of the NDR that has landed us in this mess. It is obvious enough that national unity has yet to be achieved and that the wealth of the country is concentrated in the hands of a tiny minority (who are largely white and colonial in their thinking and orientation), but the nationalist parties fail to recognise how central racial capitalism is to the crises we face in our country. The SACP, EFF, and MK all agree, despite other differences they may have, that it is possible to deracialise capital, through a black capitalist class somehow overcoming mass unemployment and inequality. However, it is the internecine struggle within and between different fractions of capital which is responsible for the very conditions that produce these inequalities. As the crises deepen, petty squabbles between different ruling class factions are disorienting mass movements from the key tasks at hand.

The idea that a so-called “patriotic bourgeoisie” – a locally-committed black capitalist class – can deliver true liberation, is a fatal delusion. It simply replaces one set of capitalist exploiters with another, and we have learned from Cyril Ramaphosa’s emails catalysing the Marikana Massacre or from his brother-in-law Patrice Motsepe’s export of coal to Israel that these ‘black diamonds’ are just as voracious as imperialist firms.

Capitalism, as a social and economic system, thrives on the extraction of surplus value from labour, a ‘social reproduction’ subsidy from unpaid women’s labour, and mainly-untaxed natural resource depletion rife with pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. Its logic is driven by profit maximisation and accumulation. Changing the racial composition of the capitalist class does not alter the fact that exploitation of people and nature remain fundamental features.

The old narratives of the NDR have run their course. They have revealed themselves as insufficient to secure freedom, equality, and dignity for the majority. What remains is an urgent need to forge a new politics, one that recognises that the end-goal cannot be national unity behind a capitalist project, but the dismantling of capitalism itself and the building of a new, genuinely democratic, and egalitarian society. Instead, we need an eco-socialist strategy that places the liberation of all people and the sustainability of our planet at its core.

Our strategic tasks

Our National Committee recognised that Zabalaza for Socialism was founded amidst deepening crisis and fragmentation, but also at a moment when clarity and bold political commitments were, and continue to be, desperately needed. Over the past year, we have worked to clarify our aims: to build a revolutionary alternative based on grassroots democracy, worker self-organisation, feminist and anti-patriarchal struggle, anti-racism, and the imperative to restore and heal our environment rather than continue to pillage it. These principles must now guide our interventions and organisational development as we move forward.

1. Rebuilding working class power from below

Faced with a capitalist class ever more brazen in its plunder, and a political elite either complicit or paralysed, the working class and oppressed communities must rely on our own collective strength. We will work to foster the rebirth of independent working class organisations – unions that are truly democratic, community forums that are not captured by political parties, youth suffused with militancy, women’s organisations that assert leadership in the struggle against the manifold injustices of patriarchal capitalism, and environmentalists who understand that the challenge of planetary survival requires an end to the profit system. This means nurturing forms of self-organisation capable of defending immediate interests (housing, services, wages, safety), while opening pathways to systemic change.

2. Struggle against extractivism and climate injustice

South Africa’s carbon-intensive economy is destroying our environment and ravaging communities. The mines, factories, agribusiness plantations, and energy giants that dominate our economy are hallmarks of a violent extractivism that privileges short-term profit over long-term sustainability and human well-being. We will continue to ally with grassroots ecological struggles –local environmental committees, trade unions committed to a genuine just transition, fisherfolk alliances, small-scale farmers, climate justice movements – and learn from them how to integrate demands into an increasingly unified eco-socialist strategy. We oppose all forms of extractivism. But we understand that the struggle for a mass politics around the climate and ecological crisis can only emerge when the symptoms of that crisis directly undermine the foundational pillars of life. Then mass struggles will emerge around issues such as access to water and sanitation, electricity, food and the lack of relief around floods or droughts. That said, opportunities for bigger mobilisations continue to exist, as we have experienced, for example, in the sterling work of the Amadiba Crisis Committee and shoreline allies in resisting the oil exploration of Shell, Total and Johnny Copelyn’s Impact Africa, whether in beachfront protests or in the courts.

3. A feminist and anti-patriarchal commitment

Gender-based violence, the marginalisation of women and LGBTQIA+ people, and the erasure of care work remain central features of South African society. Patriarchy is woven into the fabric of capitalism, and no liberation can be achieved without dismantling it. ZASO will strive to ensure that women’s leadership and feminist politics are at the forefront of our programme. This means incorporating into all our work and personal politics, the struggles for bodily autonomy and reproductive justice, an end to gender-based violence, and the socialisation of care giving. It also means that it is important for us that our organisational practices model the character of the new society we envision – democratic, respectful, and free from domination.

4. Internationalism and anti-imperialism

We do not struggle in isolation. Across the globe, capital uses various regimes – liberal, authoritarian, fascist – to maintain its rule. The working class must build ties of solidarity with workers, peasants, feminists, anti-racist activists, indigenous peoples, LGBTQIA+ communities, and all oppressed groups worldwide. In particular, our solidarity with the Palestinian people and other oppressed peoples is non-negotiable. We reject all forms of imperialism, whether disguised as “development aid,” neoliberal trade agreements, or outright military aggression. An internationalist perspective is not a luxury; it is the recognition that the fate of humanity is interconnected, and that our struggles are strengthened when woven across borders.

As part of this internationalist perspective, we affirm our commitment to pan-Africanism – a vision of continental unity that prioritises the liberation of ordinary Africans from the twin burdens of imperialism and postcolonial exploitation. Across Africa, many people continue to face oppression, not only from global powers, but also from local elites who cling to power through violence, corruption, and the suppression of dissent. This is evident in countries like Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, Tunisia, Zimbabwe and elsewhere, where ordinary people have been rising up against governments that serve the interests of the few at the expense of the many. We remain disgusted that South African corporate and political elite continue to deploy working-class SA National Defense Force soldiers in sites of extreme corruption and resource extraction, such as northern Mozambique and the eastern DRC – there, supporting status quo maldevelopment and profits for Western and BRICS fossil fuel and mining corporations which extract ‘blood methane’ within a civil war and cobalt dug by child workers, respectively.

The decline of US hegemony presents opportunities for the global Left to challenge imperialism and build a more equitable international order. Following military coups in Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger, we are concerned that Russia has positioned itself as a counterweight to the US and France, capitalising on anti-colonial sentiment and the failures of Western-led counterinsurgency campaigns. This engagement, begun under the notorious Wagner Group (now the ‘Africa Corps’), has reproduced patterns of extraction and exploitation rather than addressing instability’s root causes: poverty, weak governance, international capitalist exploitation and climate change. While some view these coups as hopeful alternatives to discredited civilian governments, we reject the false choice between authoritarian strongmen and democracy.

Emerging powers in the Global South, like China and Russia, are often presented as the harbingers of a new multipolar world order, as is the BRICS which was hosted by Vladimir Putin this year. However, their rise does not signify a break from the logic of global capitalism; after all, the global value chains link Western and BRICS capital. So do multilateral institutions’ neoliberalism as the unanimous ideological standpoint. Nor does it represent any progress for democracy. The challenge posed by emerging powers requires addressing the structural roots of inequality, exploitation and ecological devastation that underpin both unipolarity and multipolarity. A revitalized, non-polar internationalism must prioritise the struggles of oppressed peoples – whether they face imperialist domination or repression by their own ruling classes – while rejecting alignment with any imperialist or sub-imperialist bloc.

5. Education, consciousness raising and organisation

To successfully challenge the ruling order and its ideological apparatus, we need a politically-educated membership and a broader public that understands the roots of our crises. This education comes in part from the lessons learned through social struggles, so we will be drawn to these as sites where organic intellectuals guide us in anti-capitalist pedagogy, critical research and movement building. ZASO will invest in popular education, political schools, and cultural work that revives the traditions of working-class self-education. We will produce accessible materials – pamphlets, e-zines, podcasts, videos – that help connect the dots between everyday struggles and the structural nature of crisis. At the same time, we will develop an organisation that is disciplined, yet democratic; strategic, yet flexible; rooted in local struggles, yet guided by long-term vision.

6. Strategic alliances and united fronts

While we must remain clear in our politics and objectives, we will also be willing to collaborate with other radical forces where that is possible. Building united fronts around concrete demands – opposing austerity, defending public services, fighting for public housing, advancing food sovereignty, pushing for a just transition, and fighting racism, sexism, homophobia and xenophobia – can mobilise mass energy and draw new layers into struggle. However, we will make alliances without diluting our core principles, our analyses, our strategies and our tactics. We will never sow illusions about the interests driving organised politics.

We reject both the so-called “constitutional” camp, defending the Government of National Unity under the guise of stability, liberal values, socio-economic reform potentials and the rule of law, and the anti-GNU parliamentary ‘progressive caucus.’ While the ‘progressive caucus’ claims to offer an alternative to the austerity and neoliberalism of the GNU, it is, in reality, little more than a coalition of disaffected factions and individuals, with no coherent vision or programme for systemic change. Its politics are often defined more by opportunism and the pursuit of narrow political gains – including a route back into the ANC party-state – than by a genuine commitment to the transformation of society in the interests of the working class and oppressed.

At the same time, while the constitutional camp often cloaks itself in the language of democracy and accountability, its programme is often inseparable from neoliberal austerity, and aside from advocating a Basic Income Grant, it is rare indeed to find liberals uniting with working-class social justice struggles. The constitutionalists seek to shore up a state machinery centred on the Treasury that is deeply committed to fiscal consolidation, budget cuts, and privatisation, thus prioritising the demands of global capital over the needs of the local majority. The constitutional camp positions itself as the defender of democracy and the rule of law against authoritarian tendencies, but its vision of constitutionalism is hollow – one that protects property rights and elite privileges, while ignoring the socio-economic rights enshrined in the constitution itself, or accepting that such rights will continue to be neutered by weasel word terms ‘within available resources’ and ‘progressive realisation.’ The ‘rule of law’ they defend too often serves private capital’s property rights, not poor and working people’s human and environmental rights. A genuine constitutionalism must challenge the material conditions that make its promises unattainable for the majority: poverty, unemployment, landlessness, and systemic violence. It must move beyond procedural democracy and empower grassroots movements to realise substantive democracy in every facet of life.

Our task is not to align ourselves with coalitions that defend or merely tinker around the edges of a crumbling system. Instead, we will work to build independent power outside the state, anchored in the self-organisation of workers, communities, women, and oppressed groups. We will also advance the struggle to democratise and transform the state into a tool for genuine popular power and competent, capable governance that serves the needs of the majority. True alliances must be rooted in shared struggle, principled politics, and a clear vision for an eco-socialist, feminist future – not in the consolidation of elite power under a different guise, or in the false promise of stability, which leaves the causes of the crisis unchanged.

7. The crisis in local government

The 2026 municipal elections represent a critical juncture for South Africa’s working class and popular movements. As failures of neoliberal governance continue to marginalise communities, ZASO calls for a radical, people-centred approach to local government.

Municipalities remain the weakest link in South Africa’s governance system, plagued by systemic corruption, elite-driven contestations, and service delivery failures. Instead of addressing the structural drivers of inequality, the neoliberal policies imposed since 1994 have commodified basic services and entrenched austerity measures, leaving communities in crisis. The water crisis, in particular, exemplifies the consequences of this dysfunction, as mismanagement and failing infrastructure leave communities vulnerable to drought, disease, and environmental degradation. With expected electricity load-shedding in early 2025 due to Eskom’s ongoing ‘death spiral,’ extreme price hikes, and ongoing ‘load reduction’ (load shedding for black townships) ensuring misery and declining productivity, we anticipate many more battles over electricity access and cost in coming months.

Against this backdrop, ZASO affirms that the path forward lies not in perpetuating electoral elitism, but in building genuine people’s power from below. So we will actively seek to build united fronts around water justice that are emerging from the struggles for access to a regular supply of water. It is clear that the local state is using the climate and ecological crisis that is driving water stress to limit supply to poorer households. In this context the demand for water for all is fast becoming a revolutionary demand in many parts of our country, in turn opening up prospects for eco-socialist ideas and a local electoral platform where water as a public good under democratic control can take centre stage.

The SACP’s decision to contest the 2026 municipal elections does not offer a solution. Instead, it risks exacerbating factionalism and further complicating efforts to address municipal crises. Likewise, the EFF and the MK Party, driven by populist and ethno-nationalist agendas, fail to provide transformative visions required for local government. These agendas demand robust examination, critique and decisive responses from progressive social movements and communities. At the same time, local conditions may demand tactical alliances with the left popular fronts spearheaded by the SACP and EFF, to keep the right wing – the DA, Patriotic Alliance and Inkatha – from winning council seats in 2026 governments of local unity with the ANC.

In the former homelands, traditional governance structures often overshadow constitutional democracy. Unelected traditional authorities control land allocation and natural resources, leading to undemocratic decision-making, rights violations, hollowing out of democracy, and skewed development captured by local elites. They also have extensive governmental powers in 15 areas established by law, including the administration of justice. This creates a fourth tier of unaccountable government that is not provided for in the constitution. It is also in these same former homelands where elected local government and organised social movements are the weakest. Together, this rural governance system means that former homelands are governed differently than urban areas, often in a way more like feudalism than democracy. This undermines constitutional rights, deepens inequality, and erodes public trust in the state.

ZASO calls on working class communities and progressive organisations to reject the failed frameworks of elite-led governance. Instead, we must embrace a transformative municipal agenda rooted in mass participation, direct democracy, and grassroots control. Where municipalities collapse under corruption and mismanagement, communities have already begun taking the lead – organising mass struggles, challenging state failures in court, and directly managing services. These must be supported as models of popular power.

In preparation for the 2026 elections, ZASO urges:

• Mass Struggles for Responsive Local Government: Communities must mobilise to hold municipalities accountable and ensure they meet people’s needs.

• Transformative Alternatives from Below: Grassroots solutions, such as community-led service delivery and local economic development initiatives are essential.

• A Unified Anti-Capitalist Strategy: Progressive movements, independent candidates, and civic organisations must build alliances to advance a radical agenda for municipal transformation.

• Transparent and Accountable Elections: Candidates must emerge from democratic processes, rooted in community mandates and anti-capitalist principles. Election campaigns must prioritise commitments to transformative change and community control.

ZASO will work tirelessly to ensure that the 2026 elections serve as a platform for grassroots empowerment and systemic change, rather than narrow party-political gains. Inspired by successful movements such as the Makana Citizens’ Front, we believe that independent candidates and local alliances can lead the charge in breaking the cycle of elite capture and neoliberal decay. In doing so they must learn from past errors and put into place democratic measures, such as the right to recall, that keep candidates accountable to the structures that have elected them. The fight for truly democratic, responsive, and inclusive local government cannot end with the 2026 elections. Beyond the polls, ZASO commits to sustaining mass mobilisation and transformative struggles to challenge corruption, oppose privatisation, and defend the working class.

Our vision is clear: a people’s power approach that prioritises community-driven governance, rejects neoliberalism, and builds a municipal system that serves the majority, not the elite. Together, we can reclaim local government and lay the foundation for socialism.

Looking ahead

ZASO emerges determined to fight back against despair and defeatism. The horizon is daunting: an intensifying ecological crisis, deepening social misery, and the global ascendency of authoritarian-capitalist forces. Yet, it is precisely this bleak landscape that compels us to advance an alternative vision and practice.

We are aware that no single formation alone can solve these massive problems. But we know that without an eco-socialist perspective – one that fuses class struggle with the fight for ecological sustainability, anti-racism, feminism, and true democracy – the Left cannot break out of its current fragmentation and weakness. A movement for socialism – far bigger than ZASO – is desperately and urgently needed in the face of capitalism’s worldwide destruction of the foundations of life. But it is possible only if the practices, strategies and perspectives of socialism are renewed. We invite all those who broadly agree with us to join our ranks.

The tasks before us are immense, but so too is the potential power of a united, organised working class and oppressed majority. As ZASO, we recommit ourselves to building that power. We pledge uncompromising struggles against all forms of exploitation, oppression, and ecological destruction, and to work tirelessly towards a society that puts people and the planet before profit – for freedom, dignity, and justice.