By Sibusiso Ngalwa and Xolani Mbanjwa
SA Communist Party chairman Gwede Mantashe has taken the fight to the ANC, of which he is the secretary general, telling his communist colleagues not to allow themselves to be relegated to second-class members in the ruling party.
Speaking at the opening of the SACP's special congress in Polokwane, Limpopo, on Thursday morning, he said: "We are not serving in the ANC at the mercy of some members. We are not here to serve any strong lobby group. We must make the difference."
He told communists not to become "pseudo communists" who sit on the periphery of debate in the alliance, and criticised ANC Youth League president Julius Malema as "politically immature" for insulting Jeremy Cronin, the SACP deputy general secretary.
"When people call Jeremy a white messiah... We must... elevate the debate, that is our duty," he said.