The ANC national working committee (NWC) call for the SACP to be summoned to the national executive committee (NEC) this week is reported to have aggravated its allies in the party.
According to insiders who attended the meeting, ANC leaders believed the SACP should come to the NEC to account for its public criticism of the ANC.
ANC leaders are said to have expressed anger over SACP general secretary Solly Mapaila’s recent public utterances about its decision to go into a government of national unity (GNU) with the DA and Freedom Front Plus (FF+).
Mapaila criticised the ANC during the Nehawu national political school earlier in July, saying it had got into bed with neoliberal and colonial parties.
Mapaila said this was because the dominant faction in the ANC was now neoliberal and in favour of austerity measures.
“In the ANC there’s always been a neoliberal faction, which is the dominant faction today. So it’s a class battle to push that neoliberal faction inside the ANC. Because its orientation will always go towards the DA. That is why the murmurings even during the campaign were that there were negotiations between the ANC and the DA. People denied this, but it’s now coming to fruition,” said Mapaila.
He said the alliance tried to negotiate for an EFF coalition with the ANC, but the ANC rejected it, claiming the EFF did not respect the party.
“I did not give up. The first day I went to meet Floyd [Shivambu] was the day after I had buried my brother. I lost my brother when I was at the Siyanqoba rally. I went to see him [Shivambu] and said, ‘Comrade, you can’t continue this way.’
Two ANC insiders said the NWC lambasted the SACP, saying it failed to campaign for the ANC in the elections.
“Some [asked] why does it not get encouragement to stand on its own in the next elections,” one ANC leader said.
“If you are not responsible to anyone and are not responsible for winning elections, it is easy to be clever about everything. It has annoyed a lot of comrades,” the second NWC member said.
The NWC was of the view that the SACP had moved away from its historical role to intervene and assist the ANC in the right direction.
“The SACP’s role has never been to shout loud in the streets about their criticism of the ANC. How do you attack the ANC for not working with the MK party? What is MK? We should work with it because they are black? Do people not understand the word progressive?” one NWC leader said.
They said it was the overwhelming view of the NWC that the MK party had proven it did not hold progressive views. NWC members are said to have raised former president Jacob Zuma’s public utterances that teenage pregnancy was a disease.
Zuma said young pregnant girls should be housed on Robben Island and educated to curb teenage pregnancies.
The NWC also took issue with the MK party, saying it wanted to do away with constitutional democracy and enforce parliamentary democracy.
“Parliamentary democracy means an uncountable government. This country was helped by the constitution in the worst of times. The view was that they must present their views to the NEC and educate us. Because they are an ally, we can listen to them. We know they will be found wanting. It’s well and good to shout about something when you don’t have a clear direction,” one NWC member said.
Cosatu president Zingiswa Losi also criticised Mapaila in a previous interview with TimesLIVE.
Losi said there was nothing left about the EFF. She said alliance leaders were “obsessed” with characterising the EFF as a leftist party it could work with.
“What is left about the EFF? They voted against the National Health Insurance [NHI], they voted against progressive bills in parliament that Cosatu expected the left to vote in favour of. So at what point did you say this is a leftist party you can then rely upon? By the way, even the ANC, we say it is biased towards the left — but it’s not left.”
She said there was an obsession in believing the EFF was the only option for an ANC coalition. However, she said the EFF continued to vote with the DA in municipalities but placed conditions on working with the ANC.
Meanwhile, the NWC is said to have welcomed the decision by its national disciplinary committee for Zuma’s expulsion.
One NWC member said it was unanimous that the decision had been the correct one to take the party forward.
The NEC is expected to dissect its recent losses in the polls during its six-day meeting that starts on Thursday.
This meeting will also craft a strategy to have its government deployees, including premiers and cabinet ministers, become more visible to communities to counter the DA’s powerful communications machinery.
Government deployees of the sixth administration were criticised for the lack of visibility in the lead-up to the May elections.
TimesLIVE
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