Outgoing SACP general secretary Blade Nzimande has absolved the party of wrongdoing during the state capture years under former president Jacob Zuma.
This despite the SACP’s spirited support for Zuma before the 2007 and 2012 ANC national elective conferences that elected the Nkandla pensioner.
Nzimande was addressing the media on the state of readiness for the SACP’s 15th national congress convened at the Birchwood Hotel, Boksburg.
According to Nzimande, the SACP backed Zuma because it believed he was the right man to lead the country against a neoliberal offensive under his predecessor Thabo Mbeki.
However, he charged, it was also the SACP that “were first” to call out Zuma’s ANC for allowing the Gupta family to ransack government departments and public companies.
We are very proud that we were the first and only political party that called for a commission of inquiry into state capture. The term state capture was coined by the SACP
— Blade Nzimande, SACP general-secretary
For this and successes achieved under Zuma’s administration in his first term, Nzimande gave credit to the SACP but said they would not take the fall with him for state capture crimes, despite the majority of SACP central committee members, including Nzimande, serving in Zuma’s cabinet.
“We are very proud that we were the first and only political party that called for a commission of inquiry into state capture. The term state capture was coined by the SACP,” charged Nzimande.
“We do need to now go deeper and ask why did SA go through such a shameful period. This period of state capture was a shame and blow to what has otherwise been a heroic national liberation struggle.”
Nzimande, who is also serving in the current administration as minister responsible for higher education and innovation, sang the praises of incumbent head of state Cyril Ramaphosa.
According to him, Ramaphosa’s efforts to clean up were well on track and the SACP was fully behind the president.
“The SACP supports the efforts led by President Matamela Ramaphosa for the renewal of the ANC and the struggle he is leading against corruption.
“The SACP is part of that struggle because we have to place our country where we would like it to be.”
Nzimande said he was looking forward to a congress that will prioritise content over popularity contests of leaders.
Such content, he said, should include discussions on all challenges facing the country at this time, a period he defined as the “most difficult” since the 1994 democratic breakthrough.
“The SACP will seek to provide the intellectual direction for the ANC-led government on how to resolve the unemployment and power supply crisis it is faced with.”
These two challenges, said Nzimande, are a “ticking time-bomb” if left without a solution for too long — and that, he added, is where the SACP comes in.
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