THE African National Congress (ANC) President Cyril Ramaphosa has assured the party’s Tripartite Alliance partners, the South African Communist Party (SACP) and the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu), that the governing party will conclude discussions on the reconfiguration of the alliance.
Ramaphosa was speaking during the SACP’s 15th national congress in Johannesburg, where he acknowledged that there was significant anxiety within the SACP and Cosatu that the ANC had not fully concluded its own discussions.
“I can say that as President of the ANC I do support that we should have a thorough ongoing discussion on the reconfiguration of the alliance. We must discuss in depth precisely what our roles, what our responsibilities are as we chart the way forward. So we are going to devote time to conclude that discussion,” he said.
Ramaphosa told the delegates at the congress that the ANC remained firmly committed to its alliance with the SACP and remained convinced that the role of the SACP in advancing the fundamental transformation of the country’s economy and society was key to the future of the country.
“We have an interest in the organisationally character of COSATU and now the SACP as it holds its congress.We urge the SACP as members off the ANC to be actively involved the renewal of the ANC. Don’t bystanders and spectators.”
“The challenges of late of the ANC have also impacted the Alliance. we have issues of credentials of late. Solly [Mapaila] boastfully says we adopted credentials in less than 15 minutes.”
Turning the focus on corruption, Ramaphosa said the governing party will not let the beneficiaries of State Capture get away corruption.
“I want to do my work and I will not allow to be distracted. I will work alongside all our leaders to end corruption and patronage,” said Ramaphosa.
“We have seen the acts on our institutions to want to render them useless. The attempts of July last year was to put a popular insurrection but it fails. The attack on our democracy continues. We must defeat the efforts to derail the National Democratic Revolution (NDR).”
Ramaphosa also commended SACP general-secretary Blade Nzimande, who is stepping down from the helm after 24 years.
“The party has grown in membership, it has also grown in strength and indeed it has also grown in influence. We applaud you [Nzimande] because by growing the party you have contributed to strengthening the democratic progressive movement in our country. I think you are to be applauded for continuing to lead the party over the many years and you have seen it grow into the organisation that it is today. I take off my hat to you and applaud you for the excellent work that you have done,” said Ramaphosa.
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