19 March 2019
The South African Communist Party (SACP) in the Province of the Free State is shocked and disappointed by the unfortunate utterances attributed to the ANC Treasurer-General, Cde Paul Mashatile, making rounds in the media in the form of an audio recording. The utterances are said to have been made last week in Sasolburg, Metsimaholo Local Municipality.
In the audio recording, a voice attributed to that of Mashatile is heard claiming that: 1) the SACP must choose whether it is part of the alliance or is an opposition, 2) he did not see the SACP councillors in an ANC campaign in the area and 3) consequently these comrades are not SACP members but something else. These ignorant utterances are reckless and drive a wedge between the ANC and the SACP in the Metsimaholo Local Municipal areas. In addition the utterances reflect a lack of appreciation of the internal workings of the alliance. The SACP in the Free State Province rejects the utterances with contempt.
The fact is that as recent as March the 10th 2019 the SACP hosted an International Working Women’s Day in Metsimaholo and started the event with a massive election blitz campaigning for the ANC in accordance with our alliance relations. Furthermore a team of the SACP Central Committee members, ANC National Executive Committee members and the respective Free State provincial executive committees, as well as Cosatu, held a joint meeting in Metsimaholo Local Municipality to resolve challenges facing our people and the ANC-headed movement.
Cognisant of the organisational and political challenges that the alliance has been faced with for a while in the Province of the State, it is imperative for all alliance leaders to seek clarity from relevant structures where they have a misunderstanding, unite the alliance and avoid spreading ill-informed and divisive views. We have to stop it here because it is not our intention to use this statement to list all our election campaign activities and political efforts to unite the alliance. Our focus is on deepening these principled and programmatic efforts to reconfigure the alliance so that it functions optimally and more effectively and in this regard to also ensure that the ANC-headed alliance wins the forthcoming May 8th general election decisively.
This response was absolutely compelled by the questioning of the bona fides of the SACP which we could not leave unattended in the media. We accordingly refer Mashatile as a senior alliance leader to the central leadership of the SACP and proper alliance procedures and protocols.
Issued by the SACP Free State Province
Contact:
Bheke Stofile – SACP Free State Provincial Secretary
Mobile: 071 600 4899
Phillip Kganyago – SACP Free State Provincial Spokesperson
Mobile: 071 896 0157
ISSUED BY THE SOUTH AFRICAN COMMUNIST PARTY | SACP
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