The tripartite alliance cannot afford to break up, South African Communist Party (SACP) general secretary Blade Nzimande said on Tuesday.

The kind of challenges the country faces requires the maximum unity of the alliance, he told the Congress of South African Trade Unions' (Cosatu's) 12th National Congress in Midrand, Johannesburg.

"We’re not going to resolve those by going our separate ways.

"We get worried when some of our own comrades say the SACP and Cosatu no longer add any value to our alliance. In other words this is beginning to say... the working class is not of any value during this period of our revolution."

Some former African National Congress (ANC) leaders, such as former deputy president Kgalema Motlanthe, have said the alliance is dead.

There have been calls from some in the SACP for the party to reconsider its position in the alliance.

The ANC Youth League in KwaZulu-Natal has said the communist party adds no value to the ruling party.

The relevance of the alliance between the ANC, SACP and Cosatu has been a recurring theme at the congress.

Alliance ‘still relevant’

On Monday evening President Jacob Zuma told the congress the alliance is as relevant today as it was during the struggle.

Nzimande said the SACP and Cosatu had to unite and together "wage a relentless struggle" against factionalism.

There were those who were preoccupied with the ANC's 2017 succession debate, which Nzimande said was dangerous and irresponsible, especially so close to next year's local government elections.

He said the SACP and Cosatu needed to grow and swell its ranks.

He called on the trade union federation to help the communist party to grow.

"Our primary focus is to build a larger SACP through the recruitment of workers, especially those workers organised in the trade union movement, with members of Cosatu affiliates being a priority focus.

"Recruiting more workers from the organised trade union movement will also serve to deepen and strengthen the relationship between our two formations."

News24.com