The South African Communist Party is considering forming a “progressive movement” in the event of another African National Congress split after next year’s elections to choose President Jacob Zuma’s replacement.

The party’s first deputy general secretary Jeremy Cronin said the division over Zuma’s successor may lead to another split‚ which would necessitate the formation new movement.

However‚ Cronin said the SACP would work hard to prevent such a split.

“Since we are in a [politically] fluid period‚ there is a chance that the ANC could split but of course‚ as the SACP‚ we will work hard to make sure that does not happen. But we are cognizant that if the ANC fragments‚ we will have to rebuild [another] broader progressive movement‚” Cronin told reporters on the sidelines of the party’s augmented central committee meeting.

The ANC succession is expected to dominate discussions at the meeting. Although the SACP was yet to publicly pronounce on its preferred candidate‚ it is believed the party is likely to throw its weight behind deputy president Cyril Ramaphosa. The party has been very critical of the pro-Zuma lobby group‚ known as the premier league‚ that is campaigning for African Union Commission chairperson Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma to succeed Zuma.

Party general secretary Blade Nzimande‚ who serves in Zuma’s cabinet as higher education minister‚ last weekend slammed Zuma and said he was not afraid of being fired from government.

The SACP has been under pressure from some of its structures‚ especially in Mpumalanga and KwaZulu-Natal‚ to contest elections on its own.

But Cronin said although the discussion was on the table‚ the SACP was not ready to give up on the ANC yet.

“We are not aware of any discussions within the SACP of leaving the alliance... There is a strong view to contest elections but not in the context of leaving the alliance. Even if we break away from the alliance‚ we will always seek to build alliances with like-minded organisations‚” said Cronin.

Cronin again reiterated the party’s stance that it would not shy away from honestly reflecting on the challenges within the ANC even if it meant SACP members serving in President Zuma’s cabinet could be recalled as a result.

He said: “We don’t know of any [cabinet] reshuffle but we cannot allow ourselves to be intimidated from speaking the truth. We’ve had high-level bilateral meetings with the ANC and in those discussions‚ the party has been forthright about the lack of leadership in the ANC. There has been serious lapses of leadership in the ANC.”