SACP elects new leadership

The South African Communist Party (SACP) has elected its new office bearers with most of the leaders re-elected.

The new leaders were elected at the party’s 14th National Congress in Boksburg.

SACP general secretary Blade Nzimande retained his position. He has been the party’s secretary general for more than 18 years.

Other office bearers elected include Senzeni Zokwana as the chairperson, Thulas Nxesi as deputy chairperson, Joyce Moropa as treasurer, Solly Mapaila as the first deputy secretary, Chris Mathlako as the second deputy secretary.

The SACP will, from tomorrow deliberate on whether it should contest elections in 2019 separate from the ANC or remain as part of the ruling party. It is expected to most definitely pronounce a strong resolution on state capture and reiterate its call for President Jacob Zuma to step down.

Earlier on Wednesday Mapaila said Zuma had failed to rise beyond the factionalism within the governing African National Congress and unite the tri-partite alliance.

”We raised this matter with leaders of our movement…we even confronted this confidentially with the president [Jacob Zuma] and told him he must come above the factions and unite the movement…play that role as the leader,” Mapaila told delegates during presentation of the organisational report.

“If a leader of a movement cannot do that, we’ll be riddled with problems. We reported specific things even in the secretariat of the alliance and those things have not been attended to.”

He said the tri-partite alliance partners have not held a single meeting following the SACP’s decision to ask Zuma to step down. The alliance has since become dysfunctional, said Mapaila.

“[The Congress of South African Trade Unions] Cosatu further took the same decision, and since then, there has not been a single meeting between us, Cosatu, ANC and [the SA National Civic Organisation] Sanco. This shows the level of paralysis in our movement, there should be a sense of urgency to deal with these issues, but the alliance is incapacitated and cannot do so.”

He said despite the deepening crisis, communists should not give up on the ANC.

”Our main aim now is to save the national democratic revolution, and so we cannot give up on the ANC, the working class must not give up on the ANC. Hence we say in our relations with the ANC, there must be a proper reconfiguration of the alliance.”

The SACP, along with Cosatu, have banned Zuma from participating in their events.