It was hard not to draw the conclusion that this might be a punishment for the outcome of the previous weekend's ANC provincial general councils nominations processes, he said.

"In the middle of the night, without the courtesy of a letter or even phone-call, the (South African Police Service) protection was hastily withdrawn.

"This happened, notwithstanding a recent SAPS threat analysis that raised concerns and called for an increase in protection," said Cronin "Do some of our colleagues in high places actually share the same delusion as the apartheid regime that communists are behind all of their misfortunes?" he asked.

"We are making the abrupt withdrawal of SAPS protection from Comrade Nzimande's home public not without some concern. We hope that this step will prompt an immediate reversal of the move."

Cronin said that while the SACP was now taking its own measures to ensure the safety of Nzimande and other SACP leaders "public safety is properly the responsibility of the state". Nzimande said he had been under protection since 1992, while he was based in KwaZulu-Natal.

National police spokesman Senior Superintendent Vish Naidoo said he could not give a reason for the withdrawal of the police protection. He said Cabinet Ministers and other prominent politician made applications for police protection, but these did expire and were subject to review.