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Mthatha - The South African Communist Party (SACP) second deputy general secretary Solly Mapaila says the party had started its negotiations with President Jacob Zuma in terms of his resignation as early as 2013.
He said they had started the negotiations when they realised that the Gupta family was taking over the running of the country through their relationship with Zuma, the Mthatha Express reported.
Mapaila was delivering the keynote address at a Chris Hani memorial lecture organised by the King Sabata municipality in Mthatha. People in the packed Mthatha town hall cheered every time speakers mentioned Zuma's resignation.
Mapaila said he himself was among the SACP members who were tasked with meeting Zuma to beg him to distance himself from the Guptas, but "he does not listen".
"He's not accountable to the organisation or the people of South Africa. We have deployed him to lead our government; he led the government to the Guptas, how do we trust him? How do we trust a comrade that has completely sold out our revolution?" said Mapaila.
"He has donated the independence of South Africa to the Guptas. The Guptas are now in charge, that is the fact," said Mapaila.
ANC wrath
He said they couldn't allow one man to enrich himself and his family at the expense of poor South Africans. He said the SACP was not ashamed of calling for Zuma to step down.
The deputy secretary general has faced the wrath of some African National Congress members for speaking out against Zuma.
The SACP has also since reported that there was an assassination attempt on Mapaila after he spoke at an event commemorating Hani earlier this month.
The South African National Civic Organisation (Sanco) in the Eastern Cape also urged ANC members to remove Zuma.
SACP chair in the Eastern Cape Zukile Luyenge said the ANC must not rely on party members to vote (in the vote of no confidence) to remove Zuma but must remove him themselves.
