SACP won’t punish leaders who campaign for ANC, says Mapaila

Simon Nare

The South African Communist Party will allow some of its senior leaders to campaign for the ANC in the upcoming local government elections, without repercussions, despite resolving to contest for state power independently.

SACP general secretary Solly Mapaila said in a television interview with the SABC on Sunday that senior members — some of them cabinet ministers — would not be punished if they chose to campaign for the ANC.

“We expect all our members to campaign for the SACP, that is the bottom line. Of course, understanding this dual role within the ANC, we also expect some of them to take decisions to stand with the ANC, and we won’t punish them for that. We have said it publicly, we have said it to our structures.

“So, we don’t understand what this brouhaha is about…we want to redirect the National Democratic Revolution (NDR) to respond to the