The General Secretary of the South African Communist Party (SACP), Solly Mapaila says those who are calling for Police Minister Bheki Cele to resign need to come up with a different solution to the high rate of crime in the country.
This follows mounting calls for Cele to step down or be fired by President Cyril Ramaphosa.
Mapaila was delivering the inaugural annual memorial lecture of the late struggle icon Ruth First at the Johannesburg City Hall on Sunday afternoon.
Crime a societal problem
Mapaila says the issue of crime in the country is societal crisis and must not be made to revolve around an individual.
SACP members gather at the Johannesburg City Hall for the inaugural memorial lecture of one their own, Ruth First. It’ll be delivered by the SACPs Solly Mapaila. #SABCNews pic.twitter.com/CyRgTxxjwD
— Abongile Dumako (@AbongileDumako) August 21, 2022
“Those who are saying Bheki Cele must go have never provided any solution to the table. Let them put the tangible solution on the table. We want to organize our communities to defend themselves. We want austerity measures to ensure that the police can have enough resources to protect our communities. Where does the individual come in there,” says Mapaila.
Mapaila also called on party members to guard against the continued trend of capitalism in the country.
He explains, “We are a revolutionary movement leading a society that is bedeviled by the crisis of the system of capitalism that has then replicated its crisis into society. The greediness of capitalism is such that, all its problems, it transfers them to the people. It never owns its own problems.”
SACP holds inaugural annual memorial lecture
