ANC Minister Blade Nzimande Claims To Disagree With National Unity Government

• Cabinet minister Blade Nzimande expressed his and the South African Communist Party's stance on a GNU
• He said at the communist party's 5th congress in Johannesburg that the SACP was diametrically opposed to the DA
• Nzimande said he would continue in his role as Science, Technology and Innovation Minister despite his aversion

JOHANNESBURG — Science, Technology, and Innovation Minister and South African Communist Party (SACP) chairperson Blade Nzimande has expressed his frank stance on the National Unity Government (GNU).

His utterances came as the SACP held its 5th Special National Congress in Boksburg, Johannesburg, on Wednesday, 11 December 2024.

Nzimande claims to disagree with GNU

Then, the African National Congress (ANC) member categorically stated that he disagreed with the formation of the multi-party government.

This was more so because the Democratic Alliance (DA) was "diametrically opposed" to the values of the SACP and the ANC.

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Despite that, Nzimande said he would not resign from his job as the minister.

"What do I do in the GNU? I do the work I've been given, and I do it to the best of my ability," said Nzimande.

"I'm where I am, not just on my own. As an SACP member and leader, I take the decisions the SACP makes as decisions by which we're all bound.

"The party's dissatisfaction of a GNU with the DA [in it] is the party's position which we're all bound by because of what the DA stands for, which we regard as diametrically opposed to us."

He said it was not lost on the SACP that the ANC had lost the majority.

"We're not blind to the fact that the ANC got 40% of the vote, or that we don't care about that [and] it doesn't mean anything. Of course, it does. It's a huge setback.

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"It's something that we hope we can engage with the ANC [on] going forward. [That is], under these conditions, what is the best [way] to go forward in a manner that unites the alliance."

After announcing its intention to contest the 2026 local government elections outside of its alliance with the ANC, the communist party said members would rally together to raise funds for the campaign.

SACP Treasurer General Joyce Moloi-Moropa said the party needed to raise the funds to ensure it contests successfully.

"The party doesn't normally have lots of money. But we have ways to ensure the party's members fund it. Even if we're socialist, we're operating under a capitalist cloud, where it is sometimes complicated to make money."

Mantashe says no party can collapse GNU

In related news, Briefly News reported that ANC chairperson Gwede Mantashe had a scathing reply for DA Federal Chair Helen Zille in the wake of her insistence the GNU would collapse should her party exit.

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It comes after Zille claimed in a previous Face the Nation interview on SABC that the country's economy would collapse in a week under an exclusively ANC, EFF and uMkhonto Wesizwe (MK) Party coalition.

Source: Briefly News