SACP says it’s not scared to spilt from ANC

The South African Communist Party (SACP) is not mincing its words on its growing frustration with decisions taken by the African National Congress (ANC), saying it’s not scared to break away from the tripartite alliance and contest elections on its own in 2019.

The party has been highly critical of a lack of action by the ruling party to fire Social Development Minister Bathabile Dlamini over the debacle in the payment of social grants by the SA Social Security Agency (Sassa), among other issues it disagrees with the ANC over the last few months.

On Monday the SACP’s second deputy general secretary Solly Mapaila told EWN the party needed to reconfigure its alliance with the ANC because it hasn’t changed since the ANC gained political power in 1994.

Mapaila said the SACP is prepared to take drastic action if necessary as a way of reconfiguring its alliance with the party.

“It means that we will force the reconfiguration of the alliance in different forms than through the talks that we then feel have no consequences – we can just hold good meetings [but] there is no action taken against wrongdoers.

“We are not scared to go at it alone. We will go at it alone at the appropriate time. What is of major consideration for us is to strengthen our revolution together with the alliance component,” he said.

He also said the way the ANC has failed to remove Dlamini from Cabinet is proof of major problems within the party that point to the presence of factions.

“Because we are protecting one of our own within a factional framework, instead of saying you are putting the majority of our people in doubt of the credibility of our movement, and therefore you cannot be in this particular position.”

On Sunday, speaking in Kwazulu-Natal SACP general secretary and Higher Education Minister Blade Nzimande said the party’s members needed to send delegates to its July conference, who were not afraid to be bold while making decisions.

The City Press reported at the weekend that during a bilateral meeting with the ANC last week, the SACP reportedly left the governing party with three options; to revoke the Guptas’ citizenship, recall former Eskom CEO Brian Molefe from Parliament and investigate Sassa, or the party would mount a campaign for President Jacob Zuma to step down.

The alliance partners are set to meet again next week Monday after the meeting was postponed to much disappointment of the SACP which wanted to engage with the ANC’s top leadership on its criticisms of the party.

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