Alliance tension in KZN rises
While acknowledging the infighting between it and its alliance partners, the ANC in KwaZulu-Natal yesterday moved to dispel notions of instability and disunity between it and the South African Communist Party. It refused to be drawn into a public spat with the SACP."As the leader of the alliance, the ANC refuses to be drawn into a public spat which can only serve to harm the image and integrity of the revolutionary alliance," said ANC provincial secretary Super Zuma.The ANC briefed media at its provincial headquarters following the party's three-day lekgotla.The lekgotla was held amid rising tensions between ANC members and SACP supporters following the murders of Phillip Dlamini , 68, and Handsome Hlatshwayo, 38, in Inchanga last week.The situation became so serious that SACP general secretary Blade Nzimande left an NEC meeting to deal with Inchanga tensions.The SACP eventually announced at a press briefing that it was withdrawing all of its members from local government election preparation committees, which are made up of the alliance partners.The nominations list committees at regional and provincial level have six ANC leaders, one from the ANC Youth League, one from the ANC Women's League, one each from Cosatu, the SACP and the South African National Civic Organisation.Yesterday Zuma said the relationship between the ANC and SACP had stood the test of time and SACP members would still be participating as ANC members in all of the election processes."We know challenges caused by the current processes will be resolved amicably," said Zuma.Zuma said the secretariat of the ANC, SACP and Cosatu in KwaZulu-Natal had already met to iron out the issues."To us the unity of the alliance is strong. Building unity is not an event but a process, and in the process there are difficulties you must overcome to find each other. So our discussion has been a good one," he said.Zuma called on all the party structures and the Tripartite Alliance to close ranks."It is our considered view that the success of our struggle has always been dependent upon the maximum unity of the forces at the helm of change," he said.The SACP didn't respond to queries...
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