If South African Communist Party (SACP) leaders are not elected for top positions in government during the upcoming elective conference, the party is ready to contest the 2019 elections, general secretary Blade Nzimande warned on Sunday.

Speaking at the party's Red October rally in Durban, Nzimande did not mince his words, warning the African National Congress (ANC) that kicking out communist party leaders from government positions would not be taken lightly.

"To be honest, as the ANC, did you think we would campaign for you until Jesus comes? Especially after we have suffered so much under the ANC? We are kicked out of council because we are communist and our names are left out of branch lists because you say we are communists but you expect us to campaign, no."

Nzimande was fired by President Jacob Zuma during his second surprise Cabinet reshuffle this year, in October. His axing was seen as a show of force and clamping down on dissent in his Cabinet.

Relations between Zuma and Nzimande have been described to be at an all time low, as the SACP that had propelled him to power, had turned out to be one of his biggest critics.

The party, which is in a tripartite alliance with the ANC and Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu), has called for Zuma to step down and has banned him from addressing its events. Zuma has also been banned from addressing Cosatu events.

Nzimande told SACP members on Sunday to start laying groundwork at branches for a possible split in the alliance and looming likelihood to contest the national elections. 

"As communist you have a lot of work to do. Go and build on the ground... because if the ANC makes a mistake in December and comes out with muddled decisions and leaders we don't approve of, it means we will have a lot of work to do."

He reminded his former boss, Zuma that it was in fact the alliance which had helped him ascend to the highest office in the land.

"There is a man who wakes up and changes the Cabinet as if he was the only one who was campaigning. We campaigned, not him alone. There is no election that the ANC has campaigned for alone. We have campaigned together so therefore we must all make decisions," he ended.