SACP general secretary Blade Nzimande has warned the party was tired of being used by ANC factions and then get dumped.
Speaking at the party’s 4th special Congress at the Destiny Hotel in Kempton Park, east of Johannesburg, yesterday Nzimande warned their support for President Cyril Ramaphosa was not a blank cheque.
We support the leadership of President Ramaphosa, not as a blank cheque, because he is committed to fighting corruption
Nzimande also warned against the privitisation of state-owned enterprises, charging neo-liberal policies had led to a fallout between the party and former President Thabo Mbeki.
“When the ANC goes to conference we get canvassed as allies by factions. So we decide to support one faction, it wins the conference, works together for a while and dumps us. Next time we are fed up with this faction they dumped us, now we are going with this faction, it wins elections, works with us for a year or two and then dump us,” he said.
“We support the leadership of President Ramaphosa, not as a blank cheque, because he is committed to fighting corruption. We said we going to support and work with this leadership. If it becomes another leadership that changes from that direction, we retain our right to review that,” he said.
Nzimande delivered the political report of the party’s central committee.
He said the party would not allow for the privitisation of SOEs.
He also slammed Finance Minister Tito Mboweni’s paper on economic reform, saying it was undermining the sovereignty of the country, as it suggestions come from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
He also added Mboweni had compiled the report without consulting ANC allies, SACP and Cosatu.
Nzimande also took a swipe at his detractors, saying they wanted to use the special Congress to give him an ultimatum that he should be fulltime in the party or Cabinet. He said he was prepared to go if asked to do so.
By George Matlala
