Sechaba ka’Nkosi
An African National Congress task team headed by Minister of Welfare and Population Development Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi to investigate a “communist plot” at its national congress last year has ignited a bitter internal wrangle between two factions of t he South African Communist Party.
As the SACP prepares for its 10th national conference in July – probably the most important since its unbanning eight years ago – two powerful camps, defined as a conservative old guard and a radical new left, have emerged.
The old guard is said to consist of senior Cabinet ministers, deputy ministers and members of Parliament, while the radicals are based in the trade unions and among former youth and student activists of the 1980s.
The new left openly criticised the ANC investigation as a backlash by senior leaders against the young cadreship.
They say while they are not opposed to the probe, they are concerned that it indicates the tripartite alliance leadership is unable to tolerate criticism within its ranks.
Said one: “We did not come to the conference as SACP members exclusively, we are also ANC activists in our branches.
“Now, to say ANC members were not intelligent enough to elect those they preferred into leadership positions is an insult to the democratic movement which we will never accept.
“The way in which this investigation is being handled so far questions the integrity of the ANC conference and the democratic processes that took place.”
The young turks say they are also angered by the fact that people perceived to hold right-wing tendencies within the SACP have been assigned to lead the investigation.
Fraser-Moleketi is assisted by fellow SACP central executive members Minister of Safety and Security Sydney Mufamadi, national treasurer Kay Moonsamy, KwaZulu-Natal stalwart Ben Martins and the general secretary of the Congress of South African Trade Uni ons (Cosatu), Sam Shilowa.
The young turks charge that Fraser-Moleketi, Mufamadi and Shilowa, together with the minister in the office of the deputy president, Essop Pahad, and Deputy Minister of Defence Ronnie Kasrils, are among those who betrayed the working class in its war aga inst the government’s growth, employment and redistribution strategy (Gear).
They say there are only two anti-Gear voices in Parliament: those of MPs Blade Nzimande and Phillip Dexter.
So divided are the two factions that insiders believe elections for the SACP’s central executive committee in July will be a hotly contested race, and the side that wins will determine the party’s long-term relationship with the ANC and Cosatu.
At present, the radical left does not occupy positions of influence in the SACP.
However, most of its members have indicated they will avail themselves for election to ensure that the “right-wing” agenda within the ANC is neutralised.
SACP representative Jeremy Cronin this week denied there are factions within the party.
He argued that as it now has a membership which stretches from the Cabinet to the factory floor, there are bound to be debates on its direction.
“That there are two streams within the party is simply not true. Yes, there are debates, but those do not centre around individuals,” he said.
Yet sources say Mufamadi tried to oppose the appointment of the task team during an SACP politburo meeting in January, because of possible implications for the party.
He argued instead that a letter should be written to the ANC denying the existence of a controversial SACP list at the Mafikeng conference.
Sources say Mufamadi was overruled by Gauteng MEC for Finance and Economics Jabu Moleketi, who had initiated the debate on the “communist plot”.
This, say members of the young left, is a strong indication that the investigation could be a strategy to crack down on those who have dared to voice their disagreement on major ANC policy issues.
Said an SACP source who refused to be named: “The ANC is traditionally a left-wing organisation, with varying degrees of leftism within itself, so the outcome of the conference reflects the understanding of the electorate of all the issues at stake in th e movement.”
Those counted as possible targets of the investigation include Nzimande and Dexter, Shilowa’s deputy, Zwelinzima Vavi, Mbuyi Ngwenda of the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa and SACP national co-ordinator Langa Zita.
Insiders say the bitter feud in the SACP was sparked two years ago by senior party members in government positions after they failed to derail Gear.
As a result, the young left launched its first major offensive at the ANC conference by ignoring the SACP’s official position, and instead ensured that candidates perceived to be loyal to the socialist agenda were represented in the ANC’s top six positio ns and the national working committee.
The group spent hours lobbying for votes, which resulted in former Free State premier “Terror” Lekota winning a decisive vote as ANC chair. They also take credit for orchestrating the election of Thenjiwe Mtintso as deputy secretary general.
The appointment of the Fraser-Moleketi investigating task team – an idea first mooted at the ANC’s first national executive meeting this year – exacerbated tensions between the two camps in the SACP.
A few weeks later, the SACP adopted a resolution backing the initiative after a lengthy debate in the politburo and, in Cronin’s own words, “to ascertain whether there was any form of indiscipline by party leaders on the [alternative] list”.
The task team is expected to report back to the ANC leadership on its findings. No date has been set for its report-back.