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The South African Communist Party in Moses Mabhida province was not shocked to read at the utterances of the ANC Youth League in their media briefing but we were surprised at the depth of anti-communist stance that was demonstrated by the ANC Youth League leadership clique.

ON SACP NOT ADDING VALUE TO THE ANC
The characterization of the SACP not adding value to the ANC is not surprising taking into account that the ANC Youth League leadership clique is still young and new in the ANC itself and the Congress movement as a whole, the utterances of the Youth League leadership clique need to be taken in context. There is a massive contestation of the liberation movement, the ANC by the working class and the capital. The current generation of the youth is being influenced to align itself with capital hence seeing the value of the working class as no longer of value. Since the SACP is considered as a political Party of the working class they therefore consider it to be of no value in the current conjuncture going forward because they cannot bring nor distribute capital and tenders to them.

As the SACP we are forced to conclude that the KZN ANCYL leadership clique is defining itself outside the broader congress movement and there is also an element of kingdom mentality. The importance and relevance of the alliance of the SACP and the ANC is confirmed by all except the KZN ANCYL leadership clique that seem to be introducing a new and foreign culture in the alliance. The declaration of the recent Alliance Summit sums this up when it says...

In the alliance summit declaration held recently the National leadership structures of the ANC, SACP, COSATU and SANCO highlighted the importance of the alliance which include the SACP contrary to what the ANCYL in KZN is saying. The Summit was reminded of what Oliver Tambo said about the importance of the alliance“this alliance was forged in the trenches of struggle and it remains a critical force to ensure that the goals of the freedom charter and the NDR are achieved.” This is the reason why the SACP remains committed to the alliance.

The problem of the ANCYL leadership clique of KZN is that they always define themselves outside the ANC and its alliance collective. A recent example has been its repudiation by the ANC NEC on its pronouncement of its leadership preference. To quote from the ANC NEC Statement “the NEC further express itself strongly against the unbecoming and divisive tendencies of the ANCYL Leadership clique in KZN where the League has made unmandated public statements on decisions of the ANC and sown divisions through pronouncements against or for certain leaders in the province” (statement of ANC following the NEC meeting held on the 18th-20th September 2015, issued on 21st September 2015 through the Secretary General Cde Gwede Mantashe).

The above clearly demonstrate the characters we are dealing with in this instance. They alleged that we need to engage with them politically, how can we engage them when they defy their own principals. That is why we agree with the National Office of the Party statement which states that the SACP does not have time to engage in factional and childish politics.

ON SACP REFRAINING FROM SPEAKING ABOUT LEADERSHIP DISCUSSION
We would like to educate the ANCLY Leadership clique through an extract from former ANC President Cde Oliver Tambo in his speech at the 60th Anniversary of the SACP. “Our organisations have been able to agree on fundamental strategies and tactical positions, whilst retaining our separate identities. For though we are united in struggle, as you have already pointed out Comrade Chairman, we are not the same. Our history has shown that we are a powerful force because our organisations are mutually reinforcing. It is often claimed by our detractors that the ANC`s association with the SACP means that the ANC is being influenced by the SACP. That is not our experience. Our experience is that the two influence each other. The ANC is quite capable of influencing, and is liable to be influenced by others. There has been the evolution of strategy which reflects this two way process. In fact the ANC was quite within its rights to tell the SACP that we are sorry we cannot release Comrade Moses Mabhida from his tasks in the ANC - find another comrade to be General Secretary. Yet we agreed he would make a good General Secretary for the SACP. He was not grabbed.

This kind of relationship constitutes a feature of the South African liberation movement, a revolutionary movement, a feature of the SACP which helps to reinforce the alliance and to make it work as it is working. It is a tribute to the leadership of the SACP.”

It is not the first time that the two organization consult and discuss leadership. We can also quote many other examples other than this one but time and space do not allow us. The Party was the first to lead the struggle against the victimization of Cde Jacob Zuma which involved organising successful night vigils when other people were supporting in shells. The SACP played an open and significant role in discussing issues of leadership of which we pride ourselves about the outcome of Polokwane. That was hugely covered by the media and should be in the media archives. The SACP has always been invited by the ANC and consulted on shaping the leadership in Provincial and National conferences. The list of those caucuses is endless if we can be tempted to start counting them.

THE ANTI COMMUNIST CRUSADE
In the recent bilateral we had with the ANC, the SACP made a lengthy presentation and amongst the things we said is the following
“ But what we are now certain of, is that, there is a coterie of leaders who are peddling an unfortunate gospel of an SACP that wants to take over the ANC. Apparently this SACP that is in the minds of these people is applying a tactic of entrysm. As far as we know entrysm can be explained as a political strategy in which an organization or state encourages its members or supporters to join another, usually a larger organization in an attempt to change its principles, policies and programmes, instead of forming a new party. In situations where the organization being “entered” is hostile to entrysm, the entryst may engage in a degree of subterfuge to hide the fact that they are an organization in their own right.”

“The above mentioned allegations have become a cause for concern within the SACP particularly since such allegations have got an historical trace in the relationship of the ANC and the Party. They are the allegations that can be traced right back to the split of the PAC from the ANC; in the imperialist warnings to the leadership of the ANC of the communist takeover of the ANC and also in the Rooi-Gevaar and communist under the bed of the apartheid regime. Whilst these anti-communist agitations have never been successful but they have always left unwanted scars in the relationship of the two organizations. The current attack directed at the African National Congress, the alliance and its leaders can eventually be traced to anti-communist sentiments. There are some comrades who believe that if the ANC is not in Alliance with the Party it would not have been subjected to such brutal attacks, and hence the Party is seen as an albatross around the neck of the African National Congress.”

We have addressed this matter with the ANC so we believe that any recycling of this matter is nothing else but political bickering and point scoring but we must say that the ANCYL in KwaZulu Natal leadership click is now known as the anti-communist crusaders.

ON THE PERSONAL ATTACK ON THE PROVINCIAL SECRETARY
The leadership of the SACP wants to put it categorically that all the engagements and decisions of the SACP are of the SACP not the individual leader. It cannot be correct that the decisions and position of the SACP are said to be the decisions of the individual leader. The SACP believes in collective leadership. We view this as an insult to the organization and to our Provincial Secretary. This tendency we know that it is aimed at weakening the Secretary as well isolating him from the rest of the leadership. The main goal is to weaken the Party. This is an old tactic of divide and rule which is done with the hope that if the leader is attacked and weakened the organization will be weakened too. As the communist party we say hands off our Provincial Secretary. We also want to remind the public that the Party renewed its mandate in January 2015 where our Provincial Secretary Comrade Mthembu was elected because we still have trust in his leadership. The main worry to these people is that under the leadership of Comrade Mthembu the Party has grown in leaps and bounds and its presence is felt everywhere through the programmes and campaigns that are closer to the working class and this has become a threat to the tenderpreneurs. For record purposes our SACP Provincial Secretary is a member of the ANC in his own right and he has got every right to involve himself in a debate of the ANC leadership, it is not a preservative of the elite. ON DENIAL OF EXISTENCE OF THE 'PREMIER LEAGUE' We take note of the ANCYL KZN Leadership clique on their denial of the existence of the so called premier league. Although they would like apportion this labelling to the Party because of their hatred of communists, we like to put it on record that the Party has nothing to do on the naming of the premier league. This name came up during factional campaigns leading towards the women' and youth's leagues national conferences But we are not surprised by such denialism. It was the same with 1996 class project, new tendency and the existence of HIV and AIDS. We would like to draw everyone to the speech of the Chairperson of the Eastern Cape where he had this to say; "no force outside the ruling party was capable of destroying the ANC. We the members, in many ways, are hard at work consciously or not, blunting the ability of this glorious movement to serve the society better. Over the last two years we have painstakingly emphasized the necessity of unity …. As a condition to unite society behind the programme of the ANC. We have emphasized the respect for collective decisions of our structures from the NEC right to our lowest organs. The newest incarnation of factionalism within the organization was the so called Premier League. Like any other faction this is self-serving. It is not in the best interest of the organization. As members of the organization, we must isolate, expose and condemn any such tendencies as the NEC has also began to do so."

We are the ANC like any other members of the ANC, we will fight for the ANC as our leader of the alliance and our ruling party in government and the leader of the society. We are always going to wholeheartedly campaign for the overwhelming victory of the ANC in all elections without demanding percentage representation. The SACP is the most united and stable organisation within the alliance and that was acknowledged in the recently held alliance summit. We have a very stable YCL with not apparent but visible branches focusing on matters affecting the youth on the ground.

Lastly we want to reiterate our position that the ANC remains the leader of the society and as part of the society we have interest on who leads us. We are jealous of the ANC. We continue to call for unity in the ANC and we are convinced that at this trying time the status quo would provide a solution.

Issued by South African Communist Party, Moses Mabhida Province