The SACP has beefed up security for its general secretary, Solly Mapaila – an ardent critic of the ANC/DA-led government of national unity (GNU) – in response to a cyber attack aimed at intercepting his communication and compromising his privacy.
The “security concern” was brought to the attention of the party’s decision-making central executive committee meeting last weekend, and SACP treasurer Joyce Moloi-Moropa was tasked with reinforcing Mapaila’s security measures.
SACP spokesperson Alex Mashilo said: “I can confirm that there are security concerns. We adopted a process to attend to those security concerns. It is not an event to address everything; that is why I am using the word process. And the most important thing to say is that we are dealing with the process.”
Mashilo said the party’s security systems enabled them to detect imminent threats to its leaders, “and we are responding to that”.
“When it comes to security issues, you do not downplay any piece of information that you come across; you also do not exaggerate. How you address security concerns is to move in a measured way, looking at adequacy.
“Any exaggeration would cause restlessness, but if anything happens as a result of downplaying facts, it would be a serious problem. So we are striking a balance. Unfortunately, I’m not able to say exactly what the details are because that would compromise the measures in place.”
Asked whether Mapaila and the SACP’s posture towards the GNU could be a contributing factor to the security threats, Mashilo said that “when security information comes, it does not come with reasons why the risks were identified”.
“You receive a risk assessment. The assessment shows you when there are steps that need to be taken. To get to know the reasons is something different altogether. We are responding to a risk, and we cannot just come up with our own reasons behind the risk.”
But, he added, the party was also capable of analysing the environment within which the threats emanated. “We can say that these things happen within certain political, economic, social, environmental and technological situations. You receive the risk, and then you look at the surrounding context.”
The SACP doubled down on its criticism of the GNU at a press briefing last Sunday, following the meeting of the central executive committee. It also condemned “the conduct of ANC national officials, who, in seeking to justify their embrace of the right wing and neoliberal DA in the GNU coalition arrangement”, started misinterpreting facts about the party and Mapaila, seeking to isolate him from the SACP.
“For the record, Mapaila is not the so-called lone voice: as our general secretary, he correctly led the charge in advancing our stance as the SACP regarding the right-wing, including the GNU coalition arrangement. In addition, there are many other South Africans beyond the SACP who share similar views as the SACP. We will not allow any person, regardless of their position, to export their factional opinions or conduct to the SACP,” read the party’s statement.
Mashilo explained that the party’s gripe with the GNU was the inclusion of the DA as well as the exclusion of its representatives in the technical team that drafted the statement of intent and the negotiating team. On two occasions, he said, the SACP had an agreement with the ANC that their members would be taken on board.
For the technical team, the SACP had put forward Mashilo’s name and former minister Thulas Nxesi for the negotiating team. To exacerbate the situation, the SACP added its suggestions to the final statement of intent the night before it was signed and shared them with the ANC, only to have these ignored.
Mashilo said the calls for the SACP to recall its leaders who are deployed in the GNU executive were misplaced because “the party cannot abandon the votes that it campaigned for and surrender the space for parties like the DA to occupy”.
He said that for as long as the SACP participated in the ANC’s election campaigns, including the drafting of the manifesto, the party would insist on having a voice inside the administration.
Mapaila and other senior SACP officials were the targets of multiple assaults in 2021, necessitating the deployment of extra security personnel. During that time, balaclava-clad gangs of armed men seemed to be targeting the homes of party officials across the nation.
Subsequently, the SACP characterised the assaults as “professional and well-coordinated,” with at least seven balaclava-wearing individuals involved. The plan involved barging into the politician’s houses, standing and surveying their properties from the gate with a getaway car idling on the street.
Occasionally, the assailants plundered the properties, taking shoes and apparel with them. Laptops, memory sticks, and other electronic equipment were the primary targets of their theft in each occurrence.
