Cronin bows out as a leader

South African Communist Party (SACP) first deputy general secretary, Jeremy Cronin, pictured, yesterday announced that he was unavailable for re-election to the party’s leadership, saying that he had served his time in the party.

The SACP is holding its 14th National Congress this week where it will elect new leaders for the next five years.

Cronin said it was a “difficult choice” in a bid to strike a balance between injecting fresh blood into the party and its continued stability.

He said that he was proud to be leaving the party when its leadership was “easily unified and most stable”, unlike its alliance partners.

“Let me state upfront that I am not available to return to my current position, so we can categorically say that whatever is the fate of other comrades, there’s at least one non-availability. It’s been a very difficult choice for me and for every one of us,” Cronin said.

“All of us recognise at least three different imperatives. It’s important for any political party to have renewal and that we bring in fresh blood, and what is encouraging, having been a member of the communist party since 1968, is that it’s very important to have a degree of continuity. Secondly, stability is very important.”

Most other SACP national office bearers only indicated that any change to leadership must be necessary. general secretary Blade Nzimande said he wished he was joining Cronin, but “do you change leadership when the truck is going downhill at a speed?

“We are in a very difficult political situation in this country. The next six months are extremely unpredictable. We do not know who will be left standing after all these Gupta leaks.” – ANA