IT IS DIFFICULT for the SACP to accept the breaking of the bond between them and their ally, the ANC. The SACP leaders do not agree that those who trust them are forced to choose between going with the ANC or going with the Communists in the next election.
The SACP leaders said they want to hold talks with the ANC where this issue will be discussed. They said it in a statement they issued after the executive council meeting. ANC leaders, including President Cyril Ramaphosa and Secretary General, Mr. Fikile Mbalula, have clearly shown that there will be an end to bullying.
When they spoke at the weekend, they both said that they will get into trouble with ANC members who will campaign for the SACP in the upcoming elections.
Ramaphosa and Mbalula said that the next meeting of the ANC’s executive committee will give direction on this issue.
SACP spokesperson, Mr. Mbulelo Mandlana, said they want ANC and SACP members to be allowed to vote. Mandlana said the policies of the SACP and ANC allow members to be quiet.
“The issue of how the right of people who choose to be members of the SACP and the ANC will be protected as the elections are coming. The policies of both parties allow members to trust each other.”
He said: “We are concerned that some leaders of the ANC are showing arrogance and threatening people who trust them. The worst thing is that this is being done by leaders who hold high positions in the ANC. We want this issue to be properly discussed. The leaders of the ANC are the ones who choose to allow their members to be members of the SACP.”
It will be the first time that the SACP contests elections independently as it used to campaign for the ANC when there were elections. Mandlana said they want them to discuss with ANC leaders how they will work together as they will be contesting the elections.
“We should have these discussions soon as the election is in Mome and the competition is big in other areas.”
The SACP has already started to feel the water in the mouth by contesting the by-election. However, the SACP often receives small votes in the by-elections it has contested. Despite this, Mandlana praised the courage and determination of SACP members when they contested the by-elections in the Eastern Cape and Western Cape provinces.