SACP in the doldrums
I AM interested in the issue the South African Communist Party (SACP) will be taking to their congress pertaining as to who they will support for the presidency of the ANC at the forthcoming electoral congress.
The party has publicly denounced the current ANC president, Jacob Zuma, saying he should step down as president of the country and have barred him from speaking at their congress.
The question ever on my mind is whether the SACP of today is able to give political direction to the ANC as the Communist Party did in the 50’s? Do we still have comrades in the party who can give substance to our political landscape by writing papers for discussion?
I bring history into this debate because those comrades of the 50s were really political gurus who used to communicate with the Communist Party of Russia etc and they would bring up very interesting political debates.
Now people say the Communist Party of today is toothless and just a camouflage for capitalism. The party members who have served as Cabinet ministers are the weakest links and do not deliver.
Another accusation is that the leadership of the party has overstayed. As a result they end up “owning” their positions and democracy does not prevail in the party.
People also think that if we have a state president from the party we will end up having a life president with no elections taking place and a one-party state.
I also think the party should have played an important and critical role at the ANC policy conference by adding socialist content to the ANC policies, but in my view they were just barking while standing next to the touchline whereas they were supposed to be players.
The party must be able to align itself with the policies of our trading partners in BRICS and other institutions of the world.
The party should re-establish itself as more relevant and vibrant in this present political era in order to take us to the next phase of the struggle – to realise economic emancipation. — Mzwandile aka Pepe Nkomombini, Eastern Cape