‘No-one wanted this’ – SACP’s Blade Nzimande on GNU as crucial congress begins

‘Comrades, we’re now in a situation where we have a government of national unity. No one bargained for this, no one wanted this,” said Blade Nzimande, the national chairperson of the South African Communist Party (SACP) on Wednesday, 11 December, while delivering the opening address of the party’s special national congress in Boksburg, Gauteng.

Nzimande, who serves as minister of science, technology and innovation in the very same Government of National Unity (GNU), said “that is where we are now” and it was important for the SACP to provide direction and work towards mapping a way forward “given the realities we are facing”. 

Wednesday kicked off the party’s 5th Special National Congress, which sits from 11-14 December 2024 under the theme, “Consolidate and Build a Powerful, Socialist Movement of the Workers and Poor”. 

The party will also discuss its plans to contest the 2026 local government elections. The party plans to run independently of the African National Congress (ANC) after its members have previously been included in the ANC’s lists. The SACP is a member of the Tripartite Alliance, along with the ANC and Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu). 

Read more: SACP conference will decide how to contest elections independently while staying in ANC alliance

Speaking on the next steps for the communists, Nzimande said: “We had always insisted and we still do, as our general secretary will outline in his political report, that we are committed to the alliance.” 

“We need this alliance. Perhaps we need this alliance more than we needed it before.”

Nzimande, a veteran politician who was SACP general secretary from 1998 to 2022, added: “It is therefore important that we do not take each other for granted as allies, but we know that we are all together as one. That is very critical, comrades, but it’s important also that we listen to each other.”

Nzimande said the party did not want to “sound as if we are complaining as the SACP” but the party had long called for a reconfigured alliance. He said the reasoning behind this was to understand “our role as an alliance in [these] post-1994 realities”.

The SACP and Cosatu have for years wanted a stronger role in their alliance with the ANC, which they have accused of ignoring their policy ideas to benefit the working class and failing to consult them on key decisions in government.

Nzimande said while the party welcomed the ANC’s renewal efforts, he asked, “But how can the ANC just renew itself without actually looking at its own allies, without looking at the alliance as to what is happening in the alliance as a result?”

Read more: Red Alert — will the SACP disappear into insignificance without the ANC?

Nzimande called on members to “use this opportunity for what it is worth”. 

“Let’s not squander it… Let’s debate, let’s be robust, but let’s respect each other. Let’s not throw stones or insults at each other. That’s not the behaviour of a communist party. This is going to be very important.”

“Also, let’s not be tempted to do things that may leave the Communist Party deeply scarred,” said Nzimande, “We must avoid that at all times.” 

In the audience was former president Thabo Mbeki, Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi (who will on Thursday give a speech in support as the premier of the host province) as well as Limpho Hani, the former activist, MP and widow of assassinated SACP leader Chris Hani. 

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