SACP alliance with ruling party solid‚ despite exclusion from KZN meeting

While the South African Communist Party (SACP) maintains that its alliance with the ANC is in good standing‚ the party was excluded from an ANC branch general meeting in Inchanga‚ KwaZulu-Natal on Sunday.

Speaking at a media briefing in Durban on Monday‚ SACP provincial secretary Themba Mthembu said that while the party was very "disappointed" by President Jacob Zuma's decision to axe higher education and training minister and SACP general secretary Blade Nzimande during his recent cabinet reshuffle‚ their alliance was not in jeopardy.

Mthembu said: "The PEC is very disappointed by the release of Comrade Blade Nzimande‚ because it strongly believes that the general secretary was released because of a fall-out in the personal relationship with the president due to political differences generated by the factions in the ANC‚ and his part [in the] attack on the Guptas and state capture."

He added‚ however‚ that the SACP does not regret the decision the party took to back Zuma during the ANC's December conference in 2007.

"We weren't part of it [Zuma’s appointment in 2007] – we were in the forefront. We don’t regret our decision‚ because back then we didn't know things would change. At the time we were doing what we thought was correct."

However‚ the party confirmed that they were not informed of‚ or invited to‚ the ANC's BGM in Inchanga on Sunday. Addressing the matter‚ SACP provincial chair James Nxumalo said: "We weren’t invited or told about the BGM. Whoever said we were invited‚ he or she is lying. We are very disappointed‚ because we are members in good standing and were not invited." Nxumalo said the party's members will still meet to discuss whether they will formally challenge the sitting of the BGM.