November 17, 2015 Africa
JOHANNESBURG. - South Africa Communist Party secretary-general Blade Nzimande says rules should be developed to better manage the ANC's leadership transitions. He was speaking in Durban at the SACP's KwaZulu-Natal provincial council. Nzimande warned that the ANC risks a threat of more breakaways if it continues to have ructions in the build up to leadership transitions.
He says divisions and problems similar to the run up to 2007 have started to emerge ahead of the 2017 ANC National Elective Conference. All is not well in the tripartite alliance. The SACP says the 2017 leadership race is the cause of many of the problems. Nzimande says the tripartite alliance needs to rebuild loyalty to the revolution and its goals if they are to move forward.
He says they will continue to defend their independence and right to fight for a socialist society. But he says those who think the alliance is no longer relevant are mistaken. “Be loyal to the revolution and its goals. Loyalty, loyalty comrades is one of the most important things comrades because if you do not have that you betray the revolution.” Nzimande raised concerns that the leadership race that has started in earnest is causing divisions in the alliance
Many senior SACP leaders joined President Jacob Zuma's administration in 2009, while others went into parliament and in councils. But strained relations between the SACP and the ANC are raising serious questions among some. Nzimande called on members to begin to evaluate the SACP's participation in government in the build up to the 14th congress in 2017.
He told party members not to fear the process, saying it was never a permanent arrangement.
“Let's constantly evaluate our participation in government. Let's do this as a task in the lead up to our 14 congress in 2017. Let's evaluate what are the good things, what are the negative things, what are the dangers, what are the possibilities. And this must also be part of our own continuation on our debate on the relationship between the SACP and state power.”
The SACP's 14th congress will coincide with the ANC's national elective conference in 2017. Nzimande raised concerns that the leadership race that has started in earnest is causing divisions in the alliance. Nzimande called on the ANC leadership to act in a manner that will unite the party and the alliance.
He says they cannot afford to continue to have ructions whenever there's going to be a transition from one president to another. Nzimande says rules should be developed to better manage the leadership transition in the ANC. “There are people who have told themselves that they are going to be king-makers already, who are factionalising us, because now there is going to be a new president in 2017 and the new president of the country in 2019 and it affects all of us. No one must tell us we have no right to talk about this. We have a right to talk about this because it affects all of us. It sours alliance relations. That is exactly what happened in 2005 in the lead up to the Polokwane conference in 2007. We can't afford that each time there is going to be a transition there are ructions in the organisation.”
He warned that divisions will continue to result in breakaway parties, if not dealt with.
“If you are not careful these breakaways are going to seriously eat into the organisation, something to us that is very serious because we can't go back to prior 1994, because that would be tantamount to that. So we are saying all of us should find a way to handle this better because we are not succeeding.” - SABC.