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The South African Communist Party and the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) in Gauteng have affirmed their support for Premier David Makhura, amid claims that he has been using his office to fight ANC leadership battles.
The two organisations held a media briefing in Braamfontein on Monday following a bilateral meeting on Sunday, where they discussed the tripartite alliance in the province and the upcoming general elections next year.
"We are deeply concerned that Gupta-type forces have hijacked and therefore dressed themselves in a revolutionary costume known as generational mix," said the SACP’s provincial secretary Jacob Mamabolo.
Mamabolo said there was a need to dismantle the networks of the Gupta-led capture of the state. The Gupta family has been accused of looting the state through having undue influence over former president Jacob Zuma, his executive and the operations of some state-owned enterprises.
Mamabolo was reacting to calls being made for the ANC in the province to elect younger people to its leadership collective when it goes to its elective conference next month.
Read: 'Time to let the young govern' - Emfuleni mayor
Makhura is at the helm of the provincial ANC in an acting capacity since the ascension of Paul Mashatile to national treasurer general during the party’s watershed December conference.
Although it is widely expected that Makhura will be elected chairperson, different factions disagree on who should be the province’s number 2.
"We are convinced that any electoral implosion in our province will mark a serious and devastating setback for the National Democratic Revolution led by the revolutionary alliance, and hence our principled call to close ranks against Guptarisation," emphasised Mamabolo.
Also read: It's youth vs 'old' ahead of the ANC Gauteng conference
The two organisations also vowed to defend the leader of the tripartite alliance against the "Guptarised generational mix".
"We welcome the intervention in the Emfuleni Local Municipality as part of the effort to consolidate, advance and take forward the prevailing mood of 'Thuma Mina', led in our province by Premier David Makhura," whom Mamabolo described as the "renowned champion and shop steward of clean, moral and ethical administration".
The Gauteng SACP secretary also announced that they would launch a joint election campaign on July 7 as part of their celebrations of late president Nelson Mandela's centenary and the bi-centenary of Karl Marx.
