Blade: Alliance leaders 'buying votes with blood money'

Higher Education Minister Blade Nzimande, the general secretary of the South African Communist Party, has accused the country’s ruling tripartite alliance of using “blood money” to buy votes in its leadership elections.

Nzimande told Business Day that the African National Congress, the Congress of South African Trade Unions and the SACP were using money to sway votes.

“It is blood money, often gotten corruptly. They go around buying delegates ...

we have to kill that phenomenon,” he said.

“If those people can capture our government they will sell this country to the highest bidder.”

Nzimande said members of the alliance were focused on the succession debate, and this prevented government from carrying out its duties.

“They want to buy the organisations for wrong things, for purposes of narrow personal accumulation,” he said.

Last month, Cosatu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi said the overlap between leadership and business interests was one of the biggest threats to the ANC.

He said the fear of the ANC being “captured” by people with money had influenced policy debate in the party.—Sapa