SACP general secretary Solly Mapaila says the party has briefed “relevant authorities” about the possibility that he could be a marked man.
Mapaila’s revelations, in a Sunday World Engage interview this week, come just a fortnight after this paper reported that security around him has been beefed up following a breach at his home.
The politician also hinted that his family was living in fear as a result of the security breach which, among others, compromised his communication system.
Sunday World understands that issues brought to the authorities’ attention include identified risks, threats and harassment.
Mapaila could not be drawn into shedding more light on where the matter was reported but hinted that his family was living in fear as a result of the threats.
He said he finds solace in the support of ordinary South Africans.
“The threats and everything else are terrible when they reach your family because everyone gets scared. But I receive good prayers from the -people of SA. At the filling stations, old ladies say, ‘mtanam, siyakuthandazela,” he said.
Drawing inspiration from the past, Mapaila invoked the legacy of fallen SACP leaders like Hani. “They thought that they killed Chris Hani, but they were only generating more. That’s why we are living this legacy, and we are continuing with that particular legacy.”
He also paid tribute to other icons of the national democratic revolution. “It is also the legacy of those who led before him, like Moses Kotane, JB Marks, Joe Slovo, and others. They were clear about where the national democratic revolution should go.” Mapaila said he had lived under threats over the years.
“A life of threats. All the time. Since democracy, I have always been threatened under ANC leadership processes. I just don’t know why; maybe because of expressing our own political opinions independently. And that will continue. No one will stop that,” Mapaila declared.
SACP spokesperson Dr Alex Mashilo confirmed that the authorities had been alerted about Mapaila’s security threats, but discretion remained key.
“The matter has been brought to the attention of the relevant authorities. At the moment, we are going at the right pace in our interactions,” Mashilo noted.
Balancing caution with vigilance, Mashilo said the “authorities’ approach is over and above our own mechanisms. We have our own mechanisms, and that is why we are able to know these things.
“But we do not want to generate paranoia, and we also do not want to compromise these processes that we are following. But also, we do not want to downplay what we are dealing with because we may regret it.
“We are dealing with threats, and we are the only organisation in this country whose
leader was assassinated. That is fresh in our minds,” Mashilo said, in reference to late SACP leader Chris Hani.
Hani was shot and killed in his driveway in Dawn Park, Ekurhuleni in April 1993, by Polish immigrant Janusz Waluz as part of a plot by rightwing elements that included Clive Derby-Lewis.
“That history [Hani’s assassination] makes us very sensitive when it comes to the security of our leaders. We do not want anything to happen, then someone says, ‘You comrades downplayed this; now history repeats itself’,” Mashilo emphasised.
He also said the party was treading carefully around the emotional toll on Mapaila’s
family. “If you generate paranoia, you will plunge the family into a state of restlessness,” Mashilo cautioned.
He said the SACP was facing sophisticated adversaries. “People who do these things are also monitoring your response to what they are doing to test how much you know. Once you unpack, then you are giving away what you may or may not know.”
