The South African Communist Party (SACP) says it is deeply concerned by the latest developments following the recent national general elections and the propping up of an imperialist foreign agenda to remove the ANC from political power. Picture: Itumeleng English/ Independent Newspapers
The SACP says it is deeply concerned by the latest developments following the May 29 national general elections and the propping up of an imperialist foreign agenda to remove the ANC from political power.
The SACP’s media briefing on Monday came a just day after President Cyril Ramaphosa announced his new Cabinet of the Government of National Unity (GNU) which is dominated by ANC and DA representatives.
SACP general secretary Solly Mapaila said the SACP - and ally of the ANC within the tripartite alliance - is seriously disturbed by alleged foreign interference in the national and provincial elections which took the ANC’s support to just 40% for the first time since the dawn of democracy in 1994.
This, after the party’s Central Committee claimed interference and meddling by US and European forces in the country’s democratic revolution.
Mapaila said on Monday: “On the experience of the May 2024 elections, dominant factions of capital both foreign and domestic actively contested political terrain with the intention of removing the ANC from power by uniting right-wing parties into a single force through a pact or charter, and by propping up these and popcorn parties to form part of the imperialist-backed anti-ANC regime change agenda.
“For instance, towards our 2024 elections, both the so-called democrats and republicans in the United States of America endorsed a bill in their House of Representatives, through their Foreign Affairs Committee, against ‘the ANC-led South African government.
“South Africa’s progressive international relations, co-operation and solidarity policy, especially, but not limited to, the ANC-led government’s support for the Palestinian people against the genocide by the apartheid Israeli settler state, deepening participation in the growing BRICS Plus community of countries and refusal to toe the Nato line in the Nato-provoked war in Ukraine are among the issues that have irked the United States imperialist bipartisan aggressors against ‘The ANC-led South African Government’.”
According to the SACP, the elections were filled with inconsistencies and happened under a veil of complex national and international challenges.
The SACP has also called for a thorough investigation into these allegations, particularly focusing on the technology used by the Electoral Commission of SA (IEC) during the elections.
The party also expressed its reservations about technological glitches that marked the elections after the digital dashboard went black for more than two hours.
This led to voting delays and disruptions in the counting process.
“The investigation must also include examining where the IEC sourced the technology it used. If it was sourced from another country, the investigation must assess that country’s attitude and its relations with ours at the time of the May 2024 elections and the implications that attitude may have had,” said Mapaila.
Following the establishment of the GNU with the DA accused of dictating terms and making outlandish demands on the ANC, Mapaila said no political party would be allowed to reverse the gains of democracy.
“We want to be clear, as far as these Cabinet ministers from other parties are concerned, this is a Government of National Unity. We will hold the entire government accountable, even against mass mobilisation that we have outlined here.
“We dare say there shall be no minister who thinks that they can reverse the gains of our democracy and that they will be left unchallenged by the Communist Party. We will never allow that thing to happen,” he said.
Attempts to get comment from the UK and US embassies were unsuccessful at the time of going to print.
However, last month, reacting to President Cyril Ramaphosa’s re-election, US President Joe Biden said: “I congratulate Cyril Ramaphosa on his re-election as president of the Republic of South Africa, and commend all the political parties for working together to form a Government of National Unity.
“This year - as South Africa celebrates 30 years of all citizens having the right to vote - they have demonstrated the enduring power of government of the people, by the people, and for the people. I look forward to the United States and South Africa continuing our work together, to expand economic opportunity, invest in clean energy solutions, and demonstrate that democracy delivers.”
The Star
siyabonga.sithole@inl.co.za
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