SACP regrets supporting Zuma, lambasts him as ‘counter-revolutionary’
Once one of his staunchest supporters, the SACP claimed Jacob Zuma pioneered State capture and allowed for government corruption to thrive during his tenure.
The SACP's Solly Mapaila deliverng the Joe Slovo Memorial Lecture in Mpumalanga on 11 January 2024. Picture: Katlego Jiyane/Eyewitness News
MBOMBELA - Years after backing former President Jacob Zuma's successful bid to take over the Union Buildings, the South African Communist Party (SACP) said it regretted supporting his bid to become South Africa's head of State.
The SACP went from being an ally to his biggest critics, as they decried the rise of corruption and attempted capture of the country by a parasitic network.
The party's general secretary, Solly Mapaila, told Eyewitness News that Zuma pioneered State capture and allowed for corrupt politicians to infiltrate government entities.
Mapaila was speaking in Mpumalanga on Thursday, where he delivered the Joe Slovo Memorial Lecture.
READ: uMkhonto weSizwe's real founders turning in their graves: SACP on Zuma, MK party
Towards the end of Zuma's tenure, the SACP became his most vocal critic.
The party, which once supported Zuma, is now again leading the charge of lambasting the former leader, but this time over his role in the uMkhonto weSizwe party where he is the face of its election campaign.
Mapaila said Zuma is a counter-revolutionary: “What he has embarked upon, particularly mobilising former soldiers of uMkhonto weSizwe, is a counter-revolutionary act. We must say it for what it is, there's nothing other than that.”
Mapaila said Zuma disrespected the former liberation party's roots by using its armed wing to show his disapproval of the African National Congress' current leadership.