The SA Communist Party general secretary Solly Mapaila has urged the new ANC cabinet ministers in the Government of National Unity (GNU) not to entertain the “bujwa” interest of the DA. Picture: Matthews Baloyi
The SA Communist Party general secretary Solly Mapaila has urged the new ANC cabinet ministers in the Government of National Unity (GNU) not to entertain the “bourgeoisie” interest of the Democractic Alliance.
According to Mapaila, the DA worked in the interest of the whites and not for the country.
“They must not go down to this bourgeoisie interest of the DA, the DA remains largely a party of white interest and not for the people of this country, not at all,” he said.
Mapaila made the remarks in a press briefing in Johannesburg on Monday.
This is after President Cyril Ramaphosa announced his new inclusive GNU cabinet on Sunday night.
In his cabinet, the DA scored 12 portfolios, six ministers and six deputy ministers in different departments. In comparison, only Science Minister Blade Nzimande and Higher Education deputy minister Buti Manamela were appointed from the SACP core of the ANC.
Other SACP leaders such as former labour minister Thulas Nxesi did not make the cut.
Mapaila said if it was not in their case, they would not even prefer to work with the DA, “at all.”
"At the moment, one may say we have reached a point of stalemate. In other words, a party with 20% election results can have great sway in the general political posture of government.
“That is why we believe we should not even have considered them, we could have pulled together a different coordination but certainly the reality of politics was that the ANC was faced with a situation with all these other parties we have called for to participate in a minority government with the ANC, absent,” he said.
He also called on the working class to defend the democratic gains and commendable social advances.
The National Health Insurance (NHI) and the universal basic grant are some of the things that Mapaila said should be implemented.
During the briefing, he wished the new cabinet members the best in their respective ministries, urging them to stand their ground.
“They are now operating in different environments and they have to duplicate their efforts than before because they are much more weakened by other forces working with and some will be working literally against their interests.
“We have given them more responsibility and we wish them the best in this regard and hope they will live up to the tasks,” he said.
He also thanked all the ANC ministers who featured in the 6th administration for their efforts to bring about a better government for the people.
Furthermore, Mapaila maintained that the ANC should now focus on getting better, stressing that this was a difficult period and it required a massive turnaround as urgent as possible by the ANC to respond to the situation.
He said this would reverse the possibility of a rightward shift in their direction.
But he said this was largely a consequence and reflection of the shifting balance of forces flowing from the May 29 election results.
kamogelo.moichela@iol.co.za
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