Nzimande slams corruption and state capture

SACP general secretary Blade Nzimande has labelled state capture as counter-revolutionary in a veiled attack on President Jacob Zuma.

Nzimande said this yesterday and accused the Guptas of undermining the capacity of government to change the lives of South Africans for the better. He was speaking at the launch of the party's Red October campaign in Johannesburg.

"This phenomenon of state capture must be characterised properly. It is in fact a counter-revolution, and we must treat it as such. Public entities such as the SABC, SAA, Eskom, PretroSA, Prasa, Transnet and Telkom were being forced into crisis by looting, governance decay and corporate state capture.

"The investigative and prosecutorial authorities that must act appear to have been lulled into passivity and turning a blind eye to the rot. Look at the Gupta e-mail leaks."

The row over state capture has angered the SACP and Cosatu. Nzimande vowed that the party would continue to speak about the ANC, saying the governing party does not belong to those who lead it.

Cosatu president Sdumo Dlamini warned of another strike against corruption and state capture.

He said workers under the banner of Cosatu will fight tooth and nail against state capture.

Last month, Cosatu embarked on a nationwide strike against corruption and state capture. Dlamini also said the federation wanted a leadership which is capable of uniting the ANC. He also said there was no aspiration of Cosatu turning itself into a political party.

Young Communist League (YCL) secretary Mluleki Dlelanga said, the YCL has joined the fight against corruption.

"Corruption is a threat to our revolution," Dlelanga said.