10 August 2007
The SACP in North West held a Special PEC on the 8th August 2007, which discussed amongst others the Sunday newspaper reports and the SAFM interview with Mr Willie Madisha, who confirmed the accusations by the Sunday newspapers but refused to declare as to who he gave the money to.
We regard the allegations against our General Secretary as being part of the broader attack directed to certain individual leaders within the Alliance and an agenda to tear apart and discredit the South African Communist Party. We were however very happy that whilst an undisclosed reliable source attempted to discredit the General Secretary of COSATU before the COSATU 9th Congress, the attempts to discredit the SACP and its 12th Congress Central Committee are publicly and openly led by its former 11th Congress Central Committee members Mr Willie Madisha (as he said in SAFM) and the suspended former National Treasurer (Mr Phillip Dexter).
We wish to state our unqualified support and confidence in our General Secretary, comrade Blade Nzimande and the 12th Congress Central Committee of the SACP. Our view as the province is that the forthcoming Central Committee must discuss deeper into the current allegations but of course respect the investigations by the Police on the accusations of R500 000.00(in a garbage bag). As the province we felt that there are areas that the public must be clarified on because media`s reporting has already taken its conclusion. The following are few issues to be clarified:
The rule and the norm in the Communist Party is that on the assessment of the Congress, donations are reflected under the names of individual CC Members who had fundraised those amounts. This means that if comrade Madisha did fundraise an amount of R500 000.00 for the 11th Congress, this amount should have reflected under his name and if it did not reflect- Mr Madisha should have raised this as a possible omission, why did he not do so in the Central Committee? Why does comrade Willie has a bad tendency of not raising matters in the Central Committee but raises them outside party meetings?
The suspended National Treasurer failed to submit, nor attend, a report to the last plenary session of the 11th Congress Central Committee, held in May this year, where all the Congress reports were tabled and approved, thus a full sitting of the CC was left with no option but to receive the report in Congress.
When the report was presented in the special CC at Congress, the CC resolved that the Fincom (which includes Provincial Treasurers) should discuss the report in details and nominate one comrade to present the report to congress. On reporting back to the Special CC meeting, Fincom presented a structure of the report to be presented to Congress and the suggestion, which the CC accepted, that comrade Gwede Mantashe (the current National Chairperson) should present the report. After presentation of the report to Congress, the report was adopted with many suggestions on how best to improve our financial systems and accountability. Surprisingly Mr Madisha was present in all these meetings and did not raise any misrepresentation or non- reflection of the donation that he publicly confirmed to have received in garbage bags, put on the boot of his car and delivered to where it was supposed to go. To us the reason for this is very simple- that at this time he was still looking at the nominations report to assess possibilities of his re-election and unfortunately the contrary happened.
We are so disappointed and indeed have lost confidence on comrade Madisha, a senior member and former PB member of the SACP, that he is not ashamed of his actions (taking something claimed to be money, confirmed to be R500 000.00 and to be a donation to the SACP in garbage bag and transporting it in the boot of the car to somebody and not to the bank).
This indeed is an indirect disgrace to COSATU on the character of the President that they have, a President who is willing to transport R500 000.00, an action that even ordinary members of COSATU know that the law of the land does not permit/allow.
On the basis of the above and the report on page 2 and 3 of the Mail and Guardian (10 August 2007), we are convinced as a Province that comrades take their fundraising actions for the Communist Party as campaign tickets for their election in the Central Committee. Our view is that members of the SACP should refuse any form of blackmail on the basis of election outcome.
The PEC also discussed the current tensions in the ANC and the Alliance in North West. Our conclusion as the SACP PEC is that the Eradication of Popo Molefe`s legacy, as outlined in the so called Taliban`s document and the silent declaration of an anti-communist Province as argued on the Dual membership debate in the ANC PGC early this year), are the integral focus areas on deployment, employment and recall of the members of the ANC in various deployment or employment areas.
This version is clearer when we assess what have been our experiences in the deployment of councillors (Mayors, Speakers, MMC`s and Chief Whips), deployment and removal of Municipal Managers (consistent attempts to remove high performing Municipal Manager) and the current situation in Ventersdorp Municipality where 51 contract employees were dismissed despite the agreement between the Municipality and SAMWU. Subsequent to the dismissals, 52 posts were advertised and few from those previously dismissed hired again. Ironically, all those that have not been re-employed are members and leaders of the SACP including the suspended Municipal Manager.
The implementation of this programme has now entered the legislature, PCO co-ordinators/administrators and cancellation of business deals for business individuals sympathetic and donating to the SACP (perhaps its because they are not delivering the money in black garbage bags).
The current removal of the Deputy Minister of Health, comrade Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge, by the President of the Republic is once again an indication of the high level of intolerance on different views by the President but also a sign on how the President is prepared to implement and adhere to prerogatives even when the ANC policy conference had overwhelmingly rejected the dictatorship of individuals and favoured the dictatorship of structures on deployment and removal of ANC deployees. But this is an indirect indication to comrade Nozizwe by the ANC President for her unwanted action to accept nomination and election in the Central Committee of the SACP (welcome to the Alliance led by individuals who are anti-communists but they themselves had been communists and led the same Communist Party).
As the PEC we wish to call on the Presidency and the Alliance to make an immediate intervention to the situation of the boundary dispute by the Merafong/Khutsong residents. We are really not convinced as to if indeed South Africa is not a federal but unitary state what makes it difficult for the ANC led government for the sake of peace and development in the area to allow Merafong to be demarcated in Gauteng as per the majority demand.
Issued on behalf of SACP, North West Province.
Contact: Madoda Sambatha
Provincial Secretary
072 360 6861