26 May 2016 at 14:36pm
By:Kgopi Mabotja
Police Minister Nathi Nhleko briefs the media. Picture: Phill Magakoe
Durban - The public spat between the SACP and Police Minister Nathi Nhleko escalated on Wednesday, with the party accusing the minister of demonising communists in the country.
SACP second deputy secretary, Solly Mapaila, accused Nhleko of abusing state institutions.
"We can't have such an individual having state apparatus and abusing them. He (Nhleko) wants to attack us by hiding behind the police," Mapaila said.
"We are being condemned for stopping the fraction of state institutions," said Mapaila, speaking during the 94th anniversary of the Young Communist League (YCL) in Johannesburg last night.
Nhleko had, on Tuesday, lashed out at the SACP for its attack on Hawks head Lieutenant-General Berning Ntlemeza, after the party threw its weight behind Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan.
The minister had slated what he called an "unfair, malicious, critical statement" recently issued by the SACP, in which it likened an investigation into Gordhan to "apartheid era tactics".
Nhleko went on to say he found it puzzling that the party was criticising others based on rumours.
On Wednesday night Mapaila hit back at Nhleko, saying there was an orchestrated plan to harass communists and to render them an "endangered species".
"We must question the statement by the minister; He created the impression that we hate the police, which is not the case."
Mapaila said the SACP had a working relationship with the police and prisoners. "When we talk about these issues they say we must be disciplined, we are not going to be disciplined when the rule of law is being undermined," he said, adding that the SACP was pursuing legal action against Ntlemeza.
Mapaila warned YCL members to be vigilant against third forces as they were out to destabilise the SACP. He cited the recent #FeesMustFall movement, which he said was targeted at SACP secretary Blade Nzimande, who is also Higher Education Minister.
"When things went out of control and when we exposed the funders (of #FeesMustFall), they retreated. It was part of a bigger agenda. It was about #BladeMustFall, it was about #ZumaMustFall.He then turned on the DA, saying the young communists must defend the gains of democracy by fighting the official opposition party, which he said was displaying attributes of a "right-wing" party.
He called on the league to defend the big metros, Nelson Mandela Bay and Johannesburg, which the DA had set its sights on for the local government elections on August 3.
"The DA wants to win Nelson Mandela Bay; YCL must launch a special project to defend that metro. (The DA's Johannesburg mayoral candidate) Herman Mashaba must forget."
He said the YCL must "fight those who wanted to hand over the gains of demo-cracy to the Guptas and the Ruperts. He also took a swipe at the EFF, saying they were "demagogues and anarchists" who hijacked the nationalisation agenda and presented it as their own.
YCL national secretary, Mluleki Dlelanga, said they sought to rebrand the league into an organisation that resonated with young people's issues. "We must raise issues of education, jobs and class consciousness among our members. But we should not fall into this trap of wanting to fill up stadiums; We might not be a lot but we need to raise a crop of communists who understand our ideology."
Daily News
http://www.iol.co.za/news/crime-courts/police-minister-demonising-sacp-2026758