BARNEY MTHOMBOTHI: The tripartite alliance has outlived its usefulness
Should the SACP and Cosatu decide to chuck it, I don’t think many South Africans would shed a tear for the alliance. Good riddance, they’d say
Extract
Cosatu and the SACP have both expressed their unhappiness with the ANC and have threatened to leave the alliance should it fail to address their grievances. These are empty threats, of course. We’ve been here before. They will never leave. They have too much to lose. But should they decide to chuck it, I don’t think many South Africans would shed a tear for the alliance. Good riddance, they’d say.
The SACP is nothing but a lame appendage of the ANC. It’s doubtful whether it could exist without riding on the ANC’s coat-tails. A political party in a truly democratic environment being so enthralled with the paraphernalia of power — to the extent of having its members serve as ministers in the government — yet unwilling to take part in elections must be a new phenomenon. It wants to enjoy fruits it is unwilling to work for. What kind of lunacy is that? The SACP is nothing but a vehicle for Blade Nzimande and his cronies to access power and privileges that they otherwise could not. They sit at the top table wearing two hats. In other words, they have more rights than an ordinary member of the ANC. They can speak from either side of their mouths and criticise ANC decisions they have been party to without being hauled over the coals. For instance, Nzimande came out of a recent SACP meeting to lay out conditions for the restructuring of Eskom and blamed independent power producers fo...
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