SACP Political Bureau Statement
A scheduled SACP Political Bureau meeting was convened in Johannesburg on Friday 1 April. Meeting on the day after the important Constitutional Court unanimous judgement on the Nkandla matter, the Politburo naturally devoted most attention to the implications of the judgement and the collective responsibilities that ensue from it. The judgement and yesterday’s public apology to the country by President Zuma were important moments in the re-affirmation and consolidation of constitutionality and the rule of law in our still relatively young democracy.
The SACP knows all too well from the history of many other post-colonial and post-independence third world societies that, where a democratic constitution and the rule of law are eroded by parasitic and comprador elements, often in the fictitious name of fighting “imperialism”, then it is the workers and poor, along with left-wing political formations that quickly become the key victims.
The brutal suppression of mass communist parties at the hands of parasitic nationalist strata from within independence movements in Sudan, Iraq, Egypt, Indonesia and elsewhere in the second half of the 20th century should never be forgotten.
Thursday’s Concourt judgement and the evident popular acclamation it received from the widest array of South Africans should be a clear warning signal to the ANC, to our ANC-led alliance, and to the ANC-led government. Decisive action is now imperative, otherwise the continuing loss of moral authority, political paralysis and fragmentation of our movement will continue. For these reasons, the SACP will seek an urgent meeting with the officials of the ANC and, of course, a commitment to ongoing engagement.
President Zuma’s apology and his undertaking to implement to the full the remedial actions proposed by the Public Protector, and now upheld as enforceable by the Concourt, are important beginnings.