Minister of Public Service and Administration Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi looks set to be replaced as deputy chairperson of the South African Communist Party, when the party elects its new leadership in July.
The other upset being touted is the removal of Minister in the Office of the President, the “bullying” Essop Pahad, from the party’s central committee.
Nominations from the provinces for the SACP’s leadership and its central committee started filtering through this week, kicking off with the Free State.
The Eastern Cape, Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal are expected to send their nominations next week. The SACP national conference takes place from July 24 to 28 in Rustenburg.
Sources said a replacement is being considered for Fraser-Moleketi, as she has not been giving sufficient time to her duties as deputy chairperson.
“She has not been doing any party work,” said a source. She is likely to be replaced with a rising star, SACP politburo and central committee member Dipuo Mvelase.
Mvelase is currently the head of the stautory body, the Universal Service Agency, set up to promote access to information, communication and technology services. A former Umkhonto weSizwe (MK) member, she served as a major in the South African National Defence Force.
Also a member of the African National Congress, she was part of the team that reviewed the role of MK in the new dispensation. Mvelase was a member of the ANC and SACP team at the Codesa multi-party negotiations.
Pahad, a close aide of President Thabo Mbeki, was removed from the SACP’s policy-making politburo by its central committee members in the last election in 1998, because of his “confrontational” manner. Pahad is believed to be losing ground in ANC structures as well.
Party sources explained that although other central committee members, such as Minister of Public Enterprises Jeff Radebe, Minister of Provincial and Local Government Sydney Mufamadi and Fraser-Moleketi have been responsible for pushing the government’s privatisation plans, Pahad had been more confrontational on the issue.
“The other ministers at least try to engage you and talk constructively,” said a party member.
Current chairperson Charles Nqa-kula, recently appointed as Minister of Safety and Security, is likely to be re-elected, as will general secretary Blade Nzimande and his deputy Jeremy Cronin. However, national treasurer Thaba Mufamadi, who replaced Kay Moonsamy in the last election, seems to have lost his popularity.
Discussions about the nominations for the central committee members have yet to start in earnest, but communists at the grassroots do not expect any major changes.
On policy issues, the SACP is expected to consider for the first time strategies to “influence the national democratic revolution away from heading for post-apartheid capitalism towards socialism,” said party sources.
In the past the party had restricted itself to discussing socialism and related issues in the country. “Now we are going to think of strategies to advance the socialist agenda,” said another party source.