The South African Communist Party (SACP), an alliance partner of the ruling African National Congress, on Friday expressed displeasure with ANC’s tendency to display factionalism at national events like gatherings and conferences.
The ANC must end this tendency for the good and unity of the country, the partner party said in a statement issued ahead of the ANC’s 109th anniversary on Friday.
“The SACP calls upon the ANC and the whole of the alliance to stop using important gatherings like conferences and congresses as battlegrounds for factions,” the party said.
It added: “Neither should we begin to attach names and surnames to the resolutions of our movement as if they were adopted to target certain individuals.”
The SACP’s statement was in apparent reference to current tensions in the ANC between a faction supporting President Cyril Ramaphosa and a group behind former president Jacob Zuma and ANC secretary general Ace Magashule.
Magashule, who is on bail following his arrest late last year on corruption charges stemming from alleged corrupt tenders he awarded when he was premier of Free State Province, has refused to step down from his ANC post following the accusations.
“As things stand, the greatest enemy to our movement is not from outside but from inside,” the SACP said, adding that organisational renewal and unity was much-needed within the ANC.
It said the renewal process should “include the unity and reconfiguration of the ANC-headed alliance to function optimally.”
“While the alliance remains strategically important, we expect the ANC to lead the protecting and nurturing of this alliance,” the SACP said, noting that it was ready to make a contribution towards the unity of the ANC.
NM/jn/APA