SACP reiterates its call for Zuma to not campaign for ANC

The South African Communist Party (SACP) has reiterated its call for the ANC to not allow former president Jacob Zuma to campaign for the governing party ahead of next year’s general elections.

Addressing a memorial lecture on Sunday in honour of late struggle icon Chris Hani in Mdantsane, Eastern Cape, SACP first deputy general-secretary Solly Mapaila said the party would not campaign for the ANC should Zuma continue to be involved in its election campaign.

Last month, Zuma was spotted campaigning for the ANC in his home province, KwaZulu-Natal, during the electoral commission’s voter registration drive across the country. At the time, the ANC’s head of elections, Fikile Mbalula, said the former president had told the party he would volunteer his assistance.

Mapaila said if the ANC was serious about correcting its past mistakes during Zuma’s tenure as its leader, the party should not allow Zuma to campaign for it.

“We do not divide ourselves, we unit ourselves but we do not align ourselves with corrupt elements and criminals in the name of unity. We deal with the criminals and they are isolated form the core of the movement,” Mapaila said, according to a video clip aired by SABC News.

“That is why, for instance, we have made it very clear to the ANC [that] we find it difficult to campaign with Zuma on the same platform as the communist party,” he added.

Mapaila has called on ANC leaders who have brought the party into disrepute by being implicated in corruption and state capture to do self-introspection.

“I was not necessarily referring to comrade Ace [Magashule], but all comrades must begin to self-critic when there are allegations against them. Even he must ask himself if he is doing the party good or putting it into bad light.”

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