Wednesday 6 January 2016 20:12
Angela Bolowana
The SACP was marking 21 years since Joe Slovo`s death at his grave in the Avalon cemetery in Soweto.(ANC Archives)
Deepening tensions within the tripartite alliance played out at the commemoration of South African Communist Party (SACP) and African National Congress (ANC) stalwart, Joe Slovo. The SACP was marking 21 years since Slovo`s death at his grave in the Avalon cemetery in Soweto on Wednesday.
The SACP and Congress of the South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) gave a stern warning to the ruling party that they are no junior partners and they say unless the ANC confronts the current divisions it will not be business as usual.
Newly elected Cosatu President Sdumo Dlamini spoke of the tensions in the ANC. Tension has been simmering within the alliance with Cosatu and the SACP unhappy with the ANC dominance, and feeling side-lined on some major decisions.
This concern was exacerbated by President Jacob Zuma`s handling of the finance portfolio last month when the country had three finance ministers within five days.
The alliance is still smarting from that, with SACP secretary general Blade Nzimande also emphasising the importance of equal partnership.
"We think that the alliance is still relevant but some of the modalities need to be improved. The question of how do we improve consultation in the alliance? How do we improve and manage better the issues of deployment? How do we management better the issue of implementation of resolutions and polices we agreed upon?" says Nzimande.
He says the SACP feels that there are things that need to be revisited and be a bit more tightened because the party is in a different environment now.
Dlamini warned the ANC not to take the current challenges for granted. " Let us not take those divisions for granted let the leadership stand up and be bold and confront the reality that we are faced with divisions that are informed by latest new tendencies that are foreign to our organisation."
Meanwhile, Nzimande says they will forge ahead with debating their continued role in the alliance. He decried the rise of what he calls self-styled kingmakers in the ANC. The tone indicates that the alliance could be in for a rough year as they approach the local government elections.