I won't resign, minister declares

SOUTH African Communist Party secretary-general Blade Nzimande says he is not going to resign from his cabinet post as Minister of Higher Education and Training.

This follows pressure from certain members of Cosatu and some SACP members, who want him to relinquish his position as cabinet minister so that he can focus on his duties as secretary-general of the SACP.

But Nzimande did not mince his words yesterday.

"The issue of deployment of SACP people to government positions was taken a long time ago by the SACP, so I don't know why I should resign when the party took a decision on the deployment.

"I can't resign because certain people want to shine in the media by making such statements," Nzimande said.

The SACP will hold its elective congress in July and it is expected that this matter will be robustly discussed.

An SACP member from KwaZulu-Natal, who asked to remain anonymous, said they were not surprised that there were people who now wanted Nzimande to be recalled.

"We are not surprised because such statements arise every time we go to elections. The SACP has been clear on this. We took sober decisions to deploy our members to government, and we will not be influenced to change our resolutions simply because some people want us to. The members of the party are the ones who will decide on the future of the leaders during the conference."

Nzimande criticised people who, when they have problems with the ANC, use the workers' struggle to fight their battles in the organisation.

"People who have problems with the ANC or want to attack President (Jacob) Zuma's administration must not use the workers' plight to fight their wars."