MBOMBELA – The South African Communist Party (SACP) in the province has joined the chorus calling for the heads of the ANC’s national executive committee (NEC).
Provincial chairman, Mr Bonakele Majuba, commended ANC chief whip in parliament, Mr Jackson Mthembu last week.
Majuba said Mthembu displayed exemplary leadership and deserved applause for stating two weeks ago that all members of the ANC NEC, including the president, Mr Jacob Zuma and his deputy, Mr Cyril Ramaphosa, should resign.
Also read: Provincial ANC slams Mthembu for resignation remarks
“It is a sign of a leader who is prepared to put the interest of the organisation before his own. He risked his own job for the sake of saving the organisation. For that he should be commended, that’s leadership,” Majuba said.
He agreed with Mthembu that the NEC had to take collective responsibility for the party’s poor performance in the local government elections.
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Majuba officially reconciled with ANC provincial chairman, Mr David Mabuza, earlier this year, following violent clashes between the two’s supporters at a SACP memorial lecture Dr Mathews Phosa was supposed to address in KaNyamazane in January 2015.
Also read: More clashes after ANC vs SACP violence
The party’s provincial structures have since resolved to contest the next general elections.
Also read: SACP to go head-to-head with the ANC in the upcoming elections
Mthembu has come under harsh criticism from his own organisation, but following the release of the Public Protector’s “State Capture” report on Wednesday, the call for Zuma to resign grew louder to include not only party elders, civic organisations and oppositions parties, but also an increasing number of the ANC’s rank and file.
The report implicates Zuma in activities related to the favourable treatment of the Gupta family. According to Majuba, corruption and factionalism contributed to the party’s electoral support in the recent local government elections.
The SACP said it was also disappointed that other NEC member from the province who were supposed to raise issues in the decision-making body, were failing to do so.
He slammed the party for being inconsistent over discipline. “Who had mandated Collen Maine to say the MK must start a war? Why wasn’t he disciplined for that? People must not come up with selective statements to suit their arguments,” he said.
Majuba likened Mthembu’s rare kind of courage and honesty to that of slain communist, Chris Hani.
He added that the SACP respected the provincial ANC for its take on the Mthembu debacle, but, “We believe that what he did was a display of being fed up about issues that are happening within the ANC. He had enough,” Majuba said.
