ANC’s secretary general Fikile Mbalula has slammed SACP secretary general Solly Mapaila’s remarks on the ANC-DA alliance in government of national unity. File Picture: Phando Jikelo/ Independent Newspapers
The African National Congress’ (ANC) secretary general Fikile Mbalula has SA Communist Party (SACP) general secretary Solly Mapaila for his “unfortunate” remarks regarding the Government of National Unity (GNU), which includes the Democratic Alliance (DA), branding the remarks as an insult.
Mapaila has expressed concern with the ANC and GNU last week, during an interview on the SMWX podcast, hosted by Sizwe Mpufo-Walsh.
When asked how he feels about the GNU, and particularly with the ANC partnering with its “biggest enemy,” the DA, Mapaila expressed that he is deeply disappointed and troubled by the idea.
Among other parties in the GNU, include the Patriotic Alliance (PA), Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP), Good Party, Pan Africanist Congress of Azania (PAC), Freedom Front Plus (FF+), United Democratic Movement (UDM), Al Jama-ah, Rise Mzansi and the United Africans Transformation (UAT).
Mapaila said that the ANC has betrayed and sold out people of this country by joining forces with the DA.
“I'm very stressed by the situation. It is giving me sleepless nights. Every time I reflect on this, I get deeply disappointed, first by the political choice the ANC made,” he said.
Mapaila said that the ANC made a “gross-error” by going into the GNU with the DA.
“It is a gross-error and a serious mistake, and I believe it’s a political choice because there were other possibilities for the ANC not to collaborate with the DA.”
He added that the DA is a party that represents the white minority and has no interest in serving black people.
“The DA has inherited the colonial regimes interest, imperial regimes interest and apartheid regimes interest. It is not intended (in) any measure to bring our country together and unite South Africa.”
He said the ANC would be harshly judged by history for betraying black people.
Responding to Mapaila’s remarks, Mbalula said his comments are unfortunate and an insult to the ANC.
“GNUs in their very nature and coalitions are constituted world wide by ideological aligned political parties, sometimes it is not far right and the centre left that comes together or all round, so South Africa is not a unique position,” he said in an interview with eNCA.
Mbalula said they had informed all alliance partners, including the SACP about the decision to form the GNU which included the DA.
However, Mapaila responded back to Mbalula’s comments and said that there’s nothing untruthful about his remarks.
He said they were informed, but consulted the GNU and they rejected the decision for the ANC to work with the DA.
“We rejected that position from the beginning, and we had our own propositions to this, in which there were not sufficient discussions in the framework of the alliance to engage in this.
“Only secretariat of the alliance and even the secretariat of the alliance together with the Cosatu, we did not agree to this notion of GNU”.
Mapaila has said he stands by his remarks, citing that the ANC is a sell out and its partnership with the DA it’s a worst decision.
IOL Politics
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