ANC, SACP to discuss booing

2010-03-10 22:21

Johannesburg - The ANC and alliance partner the SA Communist Party will meet for bilateral talks in Cape Town, the party said on Wednesday.

On Thursday the two would discuss events which led to an ANC delegation being booed at the special SACP conference in December, ANC spokesperson Jackson Mthembu said.

Relations between the alliance partners have been strained in recent months, particularly after senior ANC members including ANC Youth League president Julius Malema and national executive committee member Billy Masetlha, were booed.

Malema condemned ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe - who is also SACP chairperson - for failing to defend party leaders.

The booing added to tension between the league and the SACP after disagreement between Malema and communist party deputy general secretary Jeremy Cronin over the nationalisation of mines.

The league then accused communist party general secretary Blade Nzimande of being a "master character assassinator" by trying to damage Malema's character. It said Cronin suffered from a "superiority complex".

The league believed the ANC's 2012 succession race was at the root of the animosity Malema was met with.

Mantashe was also the target of criticism by ANC NEC member Tokyo Sexwale, who blamed him for failing to contain tensions in the alliance.

Sexwale submitted a report to the ANC's NEC during a lekgotla on the booing incident.

In the report Sexwale reportedly called on President Jacob Zuma to unite the alliance before the ruling party imploded. He also chastised Nzimande and Mantashe for not acting firmly against the delegates responsible.

However, Mantashe told a media briefing after the lekgotla that Sexwale's report held no status with the party.

He said the document was "retrieved and referred for processing". Other input by the delegates at the SACP conference would also be obtained and a "composite report" compiled.

This report would form part of Thursday's talks.
 

- SAPA