SOUTH African Communist Party criticism of the government’s macro-economic framework has come under fire in the African National Congress’s national executive committee (NEC) — from no less a person than President Nelson Mandela himself.
Although he did not mention him by name, it was widely understood that Mandela was referring to SACP deputy secretary general Jeremy Cronin when he laid down the line in an ANC NEC meeting.
Mandela’s ire was apparently stoked by a reference Cronin had made — in a paper critiquing the new framework delivered at a party seminar — to the danger of the ANC-led government becoming an induna state if it found itself in the position of keeping workers in line on behalf of capital.
One source said Mandela was “very upset” about party members criticising the ANC and the government, “and putting on the ANC hat when it suits them”.
Some party members believe Mandela had not read the document but acted on the basis of a briefing: they feel he may have been misinformed.
“It was mischievous — someone trying to cause trouble between the party and the ANC,” said a source. “But this is not the first time there have been crossed wires and tensions around the relationship. It’s about an issue, not the relationship between the alliance.”
Said another source: “There is no doubt several senior comrades in the ANC want to ensure the party is not a viable opposition — they are trying to silence the voice of the left within the alliance.
“The party has mass sympathy and legitimacy and this presents problems for the ANC.”
The SACP was relatively muted in its response to the framework when it was first unveiled by the government, saying it approved of its objectives but that the detail had to be scrutinised. But ANC and alliance structures were not fully briefed ahead of the Cabinet’s decision to endorse the framework and this led to questions being asked about internal democracy.
“The government had adopted the framework but not the structures of the ANC or the alliance. The ANC did not take the decision, cabinet did. As an NEC member, Cronin had a legitimate right to discuss strategy,” said a source. “If they didn’t take it to ANC structures first, that’s their fault — they run ahead of their constituencies and that causes problems.”
Members were concerned that the culture of debate was under threat.
“If the culture of debate is quashed it’s more likely the ANC will lose touch with its constituency. The macro-economic framework was badly managed — it was thrust on people, alliance members were confronted with it,” said one source.
Another source said the question of open debate was “not only an issue at NEC level — at the regional and provincial level people are being told to get in line and shut up. As soon as the NEC endorsed the macro-economic framework the line came down to branches.
“The tragedy of it all is that the kind of critical questions being raised [about the framework] have to do with whether it is capable of meeting the objectives of the RDP, which is a cornerstone of ANC policy.”