SACP Northern Cape Media Statement

3 May 2011

"We do not, under any circumstances, support the DA or any of its affiliates in any election, now and in the future"

The South African Communist Party in the Northern Cape has noted recent media reports, particularly the Business Day of Wednesday 4th May 2011, in which it has been reported that the SACP in the Northern Cape and the Young Communist League (YCL) have decided to support the Democratic Alliance in the upcoming local government elections. We would like to place the following facts on record regarding the purported support for the Democratic Alliance as the SACP in the Northern Cape:

• The SACP has never engaged in a process to discuss and/or proclaim its support for any candidate from the ranks of the Democratic Alliance

• We believe that the Democratic Alliance and its surrogate structures are an extension of monopoly white capital that has no interest of serving the interests of the working class and poor of our country and indeed the people of the Northern Cape. We therefore would not, under any circumstances, support the DA or any of its affiliates in any election, now and in the future.

• Furthermore, we would like to point out that we have noted a consistent trend within the media of those persons who purport to be members of the Party speaking on behalf of the Party. We would like to point out the following, that the SACP has a protocol that it strictly adheres to with respect to our media relations. We would also like to point out that the Party does not have a branch in Britstown and therefore will not have a Branch Executive Committee in this area.

• A review of our membership records does not in any way reflect the membership of both Mr. Booi Welkom and Mr. Xolile Oliphant and therefore they could not have been speaking on behalf of the SACP in the Northern Cape thus rendering the article by the Business Day both misleading in the least and mischievous at best. We would have expected any self respecting media house to would have had the journalistic responsibility and integrity of determining the veracity of the claims by the impersonators.

• We have communicated to our District Leadership in the Joe Slovo District (De Aar area) to investigate the above matters and report these impersonations to both the Independent Electoral Commission and the South African Police Service.

The manner in which the article was handled and ultimately thrown into the public discourse reaffirms our believe that the notion of self regulation by the media in South Africa is by its very nature a fallacy. If the journalist had bothered to determine the veracity of the claims being made by the impersonators it would have led to a proper and factual article. We would be approaching the press ombud to investigate the manner in which the Business Day handled this report.

Comrade Norman Shushu
Provincial Secretary
SACP Northern Cape
0835793189