Nzimande's warning to the ANC: Kick us out and we will take you on
13 November 2017
Johannesburg - If 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 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.