/ 16 December 2009

Manamela: SACP not trying to take over ANC

The SACP is not trying to take over the ANC, said Young Communist League leader Buti Manamela on Wednesday.

The South African Communist Party (SACP) is not trying to take over the African National Congress (ANC), said Young Communist League leader Buti Manamela on Wednesday.

”There is no intention to try and take over the ANC. It has never been a mandate or a discussion that Blade Nzimande [SACP general secretary] should be deputy president of the country,” Manamela told Talk Radio 702.

He said these were allegations intended at fuelling war against the alliance partners.

Manamela said the alliance partners would always seek to influence each other from time to time but the ”ANC always decides with the understanding that it leads”.

He said the booing of ANC members, including ANC Youth League president Julius Malema, at the SACP conference last week was wrong and should not have happened.

”It doesn’t matter how much we disagree, nobody deserves to be booed. That was the lowest form of action in politics, we prefer to engage people on ideas. The incident was unfortunate.”

Manamela admitted that he may also have played a role in fuelling the ”war talk” between ANC and the SACP and it was time to take responsibility because it was not benefiting anybody.

”And I myself am not innocent … It’s time to act responsible (sic) for all of us — admit that we played a role — because the war talk is not benefiting nobody but our detractors.”

After Malema was booed at conference, he described that SACP as ”greedy yellow communists” who were trying to control the ruling party. — Sapa