Young communists, parent body part ways on Masualle
ON THE same day the SACP refused to take sides in the ANC’s July provincial elective battle, its youth wing hitched its wagon to Phumulo Masualle’s star.
SACP provincial spokesperson Siyabonga Mdodi said the party had resolved in its provincial executive committee’s plenary session last weekend to sit on the fence as the race for ANC chairman position heats up between frontrunners Phumulo Masualle and Oscar Mabuyane.
But the Eastern Cape Young Communist League (YCL) was having none of it. Its provincial secretary, Andile Mosha, said they wanted Masualle to remain as party chairman, an office that puts its incumbent in pole position to be Eastern Cape premier in 2019 should the ANC win the election.
This the YCL resolved at its provincial committee meeting, also held last weekend.
While the parent body cited a wish to remain outside factional politics, Mosha said the YCL believed Masualle had brought stability to the ruling party since he became premier in 2009 at the Riverpark Conference.
Said Mosha: “We also believe that the collective leadership led by comrade Phumulo Masualle has made a lot of effort and amassed considerable gains both politically and organisationally, including stabilisation of the provincial administration for the benefit of the masses of our people in the province, although we remain among the poorest areas in this country.
“We will continue to work to influence the ANC and alliance to support views that comrade Phumulo Masualle be elected with the collective as chairperson of the ANC in the next provincial conference.”
But Mdodi maintained the parent body would not go this route. “It is our view that those who want to lead the movement and the people must demonstrate that they are committed to serve the people and the ANC that is biased towards the working class, and must act as a disciplined force of the left, as the working class is the core constituency of the ANC,” said Mdodi. “We would like to see an ANC leadership, post the conference, that is more focused on uniting the ANC, the movement and the people and to serving the people rather than self-enrichment.” —