The SA Communist Party (SACP) will not call for President Jacob Zuma to step down but it has expressed concern about the leadership paralysis in the ANC which is affecting the alliance‚ first deputy general secretary Jeremy Cronin said on Wednesday.

“The decision of the recall of leaders are ANC decisions‚ but we are saying that the ANC‚ whether it is the ANC NEC [national executive committee] or the broader ANC at conferences... has to take full responsibility for the matter‚” he told reporters on the sidelines of the SACP’s three-day augmented central committee meeting in Johannesburg.

“So we are not specifically calling for any individual to be recalled or resign but we’ve made it very clear that we know that there’s been serious leadership lapses at the highest level in government and in the ANC.”

Cronin said the SACP had been forthright with the ANC on this matter during bilateral meetings with its alliance partner.

The SACP‚ which was once upon a time one of Zuma’s biggest supporters‚ has become critical of the ANC under his leadership.

Cronin said the party believed there were divisions at the highest level of the ANC which made it difficult for the alliance to function.

This would be discussed during the political report to be presented at the meeting.

The SACP would also reflect on its own leadership and functioning‚ but Cronin said at this stage the party was the most stable out of the alliance partners.

“There are some dynamic debates going on in the party but those are not factional debates. We’ve got a stable leadership... and it means we have a responsibility in this particular period not just for the ANC alliance but our country.”

Cronin‚ who is also the deputy minister of public works‚ spoke about reports of those within the executive possibly being reshuffled for speaking out against the president during the recent NEC meeting.

However‚ he said SACP members in the executive would not be intimidated into keeping quite when they believed things were wrong.

 TMG Digital/BusinessLIVE