The South African Communist Party (SACP) said President Jacob Zuma’s apology to the nation and his undertaking to implement the remedial actions proposed by the Public Protector – which were recently upheld as enforceable by the Constitutional Court (ConCourt) – were important beginnings.

The ConCourt had ordered National Treasury to determine a reasonable portion that Zuma must pay for five nonsecurity items at his private home and report back to the court within 60 days.

SACP spokesperson, Alex Mashilo, tells Polity that last week’s judgment and Zuma’s apology were important moments in the reaffirmation and consolidation of constitutionality and the rule of law in the country’s “still relatively young democracy”.

The party has called for a Parliamentary caucus with SACP members who serve as African National Congress (ANC) MPs to conduct “serious and collective soul searching”.

He urged them not to be narrowly defensive because there were lessons to be learned from the judgment.

Mashilo also suggested that those who had called for Zuma to step down approach the ANC structures.

An urgent meeting has been requested by the SACP to discuss the matter further.

Mashilo said the SACP hoped to meet with the ANC to enter into a process of reflecting on the wider implications of the judgment and to arrive at its own solutions, separate from those of opposition parties. The Democratic Alliance was

“We believe that of all South African political parties that are to be found [on the] ballot, the ANC had the capacity to lead our struggle for the national democratic revolution,”  Mashilo said. 

The SACP said last week’s ConCourt judgment and the evident popular acclamation it received from the widest array of South Africans should be a clear warning to the ruling party, to their ANC-led alliance, and to the ANC-led government.