SACP shuns Zuma at congress
Party rejects president as speaker in an attempt to avert chaos
The South African Communist Party (SACP) does not want President Jacob Zuma to address its congress, which starts on Tuesday, where it will discuss contesting national elections independently. The party has relayed the message to its alliance partner, the ANC. The SACP, along with Cosatu, helped bring Zuma to power in 2007. Now, however, both have asked him to resign, saying he is not the best person to run the country and the ANC. Zuma was booed and heckled at Cosatu’s May Day rally in Bloemfontein, forcing the trade union federation to cancel all his addresses at its events. This was the first time an ANC president had been prevented from addressing an alliance partner rally. SACP second general secretary Solly Mapaila said on Monday that the party had invited the ANC to address its congress but had left the decision of who to send up to the governing party. The SACP had then written to the ANC indicating it would prefer someone other than Zuma to address its congress. "We had ini...
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