Bheki Mtolo, the firebrand KwaZulu-Natal ANC secretary, has not sparred the rod for SACP general secretary Solly Mapaila, labelling him a “confused” individual.
Mtolo was delivering a lecture on Friday in the ANC’s region of Nokuhamba Nyawo, covering areas under the King Cetshwayo district, northern KZN. This includes the rural towns of Umtubatuba, Jozini, uMkhuze and Hlabisa.
“Not only some comrades in the ANC are confused about the GNU; even some within the alliance are confused. Especially the general secretary of the SACP, Solly Mapaila, he is the most confused one,” Mtolo lashed out.
What Mapaila described as a sellout posture by the party lies at the heart of the schism pitting the ANC against its main alliance partner.
This relates to the decision by the ANC to get into bed with the DA and other parties to form the GNU after the party’s national support dwindled to under 50% during the recent general elections.
The SACP preferred the EFF but the ANC’s top brass had other ideas.
“Those of us who are old enough, we ask ourselves: if comrade Joe Slovo were alive today, would he be as confused as Solly Mapaila?
“The only answer we can get is that comrade Joe Slovo wasn’t going to be as confused as Mapaila,” said Mtolo.
He also went on a tirade defending the GNU, saying struggle icon Slovo would have backed the move. Mtolo also blamed his comrades in the ANC for not understanding the arrangement.
“The GNU is not all and sundry, it has its positives but negatives as well.
“The GNU is a technical retreat to reorganise ourselves towards the National Democratic Revolution,” Mtolo said.
Despite facing criticism from ANC top brass for referring to the GNU as an unholy alliance, Mapaila has remained unapologetic.
He said instead of the DA, the ANC should have approached the Jacob Zuma-led MK Party for a potential governing pact.
“I’m very stressed by the situation. It is giving me sleepless nights.
“Every time I reflect on this, I get deeply disappointed, first by the political choice the ANC made,” he said, describing the marriage as a gross error.
The GNU includes the Patriotic Alliance, IFP, Good Party, PAC, Freedom Front Plus, UDM, Al Jama-ah, Rise Mzansi, and the United African Transformation.
