The election of the SACP's new general secretary, Solly Mapaila, is breath of fresh air into South African politics. He is known to be a true believer of the working class emancipation and this will make him gain respect from the left.

With the current political climate and economic crisis that the country is facing, we need leaders who will lead campaigns against any developments which seeks to undermine the prospect of economic emancipation of the poor. Mapaila must make his mark by focusing on exactly that and not harbour ambitions for blue lights.

The current left movement is weak, Cosatu is no longer taken seriously. Socialists parties in the country are almost non-existent. It is the SACP which still has the sober voice in the politics of the country, but this voice needs to be louder if it needs to be heard. The working class will be making a mistake by following parties who claim to represent the poor, parties who sing Marxism while their leaders are living large at the expense of the poor.

The SACP is known to be a campaigning party and Mapaila is the right candidate to lead these campaigns. The cost of living as the result of growing inflation is taking its toll on all of us and this is an opportune moment for the new general secretary of the SACP to make his mark.

Tom Mhlanga, Braamfontein, Johannesburg