In a thinly veiled attack on the disbanded KwaZulu-Natal SACP leadership, the party’s Central Committee and Politburo member Yunus Carrim has warned that no province will reverse the party’s decision to contest next year’s local government elections.
Speaking on the sidelines during the funeral of the Struggle veteran Sunny Singh on Tuesday, Carrim, who is also from the province, said that a decision to contest the next year’s election was taken after 15 years of discussion, which was finally approved by the congress; therefore, no province will undo that.
“Well, obviously, we have taken a decision as a communist party to take part in the elections that are coming up in local government independently, which took 15 years of discussion, so we can’t go back on that decision because it was shaped by the congress. The Central Committee, the province, or Politburo can undo that decision,” said Carrim.
He stated that the only option was for the SACP structures to find ways to implement the decision in a manner that would not undermine the ANC and give the other parties votes.
The disbanded SACP provincial leadership, under Themba Mthembu, as secretary, is at loggerheads with the national leadership, under the fiery Solly Mapaila, over the disbandment.
The news of the disbandment surfaced earlier this month when media inquired from Mthembu’s leadership about it; however, he denied knowledge and questioned the national leadership about it.
Mthembu, who was also at the funeral, said his provincial structure was still in control as it did not recognise the disbandment decision.
He stated that he and his provincial executive were preparing to go to the national Central Committee meeting over the weekend to argue against their disbandment.
“I am going to that meeting at the weekend, so if they block me, so be it,” said Mthembu.
The tension between the province and the national leadership is said to date back to 2023 after the congress took a resolution to contest the next year’s local election. The province was reportedly not in favour of the decision.
After several requests for meetings between the two, the national leadership finally came down to Durban in August and met with the province.
After engagement, the province handed a memorandum containing its grievances to the national leadership. The agreement was that the issues would be discussed in the meeting taking place at the weekend.
Mthembu stated that, to their surprise, he got a call from a journalist asking about the disbandment of the province.
“I followed up with the national head office to find out whether it was true and asked for a letter of disbandment if there was any. I did not get an answer or letter; instead, we were asked as the provincial leadership to attend a virtual meeting with the head office on the same day, but because of short notice, the meeting did not quorate,” said Mthembu.
He stated that the letter finally came two weeks ago, informing them that the Politburo had taken a decision to disband the province.
He said the province does not recognise the disbandment, and the new interim structure was appointed. It is not clear which structure will be allowed to participate in the Central Committee meeting this weekend.
SACP national spokesperson Mbulelo Mandlana said the national leadership has heard in the news that the disbanded provincial executive members are going around claiming that they are still in power.
He stated that the only recognised structure in KwaZulu-Natal is the interim one under Sikhumbuzo Mdlalose.
“Under the KZN name, we are expecting Mdlalose as the interim chairperson and his interim secretary, so anyone who comes here from that province except the two would not be allowed to enter,” said Mandlana
