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Ekurhuleni – The South African Communist Party has ended its 14th congress by resolving to contest elections.

The party has campaigned with the African National Congress since 1994, but announced that it would effectively stand on its own in future elections.

“We have resolved that, while the SACP will definitely contest elections, the exact modality in which we do so, needs to be determined by a way of concrete analysis of the concrete reality and through the process of  active engagement with worker and progressive formations,” read newly elected 2nd deputy general secretary Chris Mathlako.

This formed part of the declarations adopted from the congress, where delegates had been singing songs about wanting state power.

News24 understands all commissions resolved to contest the elections.

“This is the dominant view, we want state power. The leadership has been reluctant, but its time,” said one delegate.

“We have now resolved on the issue of the SACP and its electoral options by building on the resolutions of the 12th and 13th congresses of our party,” said SACP general secretary Blade Nzimande.

He said the party would still meet with its alliance partners to discuss the resolutions adopted at the congress.

Nzimande also said the alliance remained strategic, but that the “mode” in which it functioned was outdated.

“The alliance mode of operation is incapable of holding together the alliance any further,” he said.

He added that the alliance – which is made of the SACP, Cosatu and Sanco – would disintegrate, with serious consequences.

“[You] can’t come here sing about state power, take a resolution, then go and sit back and not raise funds for the congress,” said Nzimande.

He urged party members to go out and raise funds for the SACP.

“But please do not take any money from the Guptas,” he added.

JOHANNESBURG – African National Congress (ANC) Member of Parliament (MP), Makhosi Khoza has received death threats telling her she has 21 days to live. 

Using an app called TrueCaller, the number from which the death threats were sent is identified as belonging to someone called “Blf.”

According to TrueCaller, the data that identifies a person’s name on the app “is crowd-sourced from the millions of users who have downloaded the TrueCaller app on their smart phones. As part of the end user agreement, the TrueCaller app asks the user to allow access to the user’s address book/contacts on the smart phone.” This means either the person using the number in question identified themselves as “Blf”, or someone saved them as a contact under that name. As TrueCaller explains, “everyone who has installed the app has surrendered his phone book.”

The number in question was off on Saturday afternoon when eNCA called it – it does not have a voice message function, although one can send SMS notifications asking the person to return the call. Black First Land First (BLF) president Andile Mngxitama has reportedly denied that a BLF member was behind the threats‚ saying “there must be a white person trying to cause s**t for BLF”.

Khoza has been in the firing line for saying ANC MPs should in fact vote according to their conscience when the debate on the vote of no confidence in President Jacob Zuma takes places in Parliament on 8 August. She was speaking on the side-lines of the ANC National Policy Conference (NPC), even thought Police Minister Fikile Mbalula said MPs who support the no confidence vote will be disciplined. 

READ – Makhosi Khoza says she will not be ANC’s ‘sacrificial lamb’

In an interview with eNCA, Khoza said: “If upholding the Constitution is synonymous with being a suicide bomber, that statement to me is actually frightening.” Following her statements, ANC Chief Whip Jackson Mthembu accused her of extreme ill-discipline and said the organisation should act against her.

READ – Secret ballot: Mbalula slammed for threat to MPs

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