The Zimbabwe Communist Party (ZCP) is pleased that it is gaining recognition from other fraternal organisations in its cause to champion for the rights of workers and vulnerable people.
The party recently held its maiden congress in Bulawayo last December, whose focus for the coming years would be building and strengthening party structures.
ZCP was formed over two years ago and is yet to contest in the country’s polls but is starting to gain notice from other like-minded organisations.
While delivering a keynote address at the Joe Slovo 25th memorial in Soweto, Johannesburg, South African Communist Party – General Secretary, Blade Nzimande praised ZCP for holding its first-ever congress.
“Slovo gained his first fighting experience as an internationalist, long before the founding of the Mkhonto Wesizwe, in the Second World War against the forces of Adolf Hitler and fascism. We take this opportunity, in memory of Slovo, to congratulate the Zimbabwe Communist Party for holding its first Congress in December 2019,” Nzimande said.
In response, South African based ZCP general secretary, Nicholas Ngqabutho Mabhena, said it was good to receive support for their cause to liberate workers and others living in poverty.
“SACP is an established organisation and its congratulations for us on holding our first congress indicates that we are moving in the right direction. We are pleased international communists like the SACP and other parties that sent us solidarity messages are offering practical support. As the ZCP we appreciate the solidarity given to us. We hope the working class in Zimbabwe will unite behind their party, which is the ZCP,” he noted.
Mabhena said their maiden congress came at a time when Zimbabwe was going through an economic and political crisis, whose brunt was felt by ordinary people.
“The ordinary populace are the ones experiencing the brutality of the state on union leaders on daily basis, coupled by the malfunctioning public institutions such as hospitals and massive corruption in state entities. All these have dented the rights of workers and vulnerable people” noted the general secretary.
Meanwhile, the SACP at the Joe Slovo 25th memorial also offered support to the people of Swaziland in their struggle for democracy and called on Morocco to unconditionally end its occupation of Western Sahara while pledging solidarity with the Saharawi people in their struggle for self-determination.
“We congratulate the Sudanese people for their overthrow of Omar al-Bashir and pledge our support for their struggle for democracy. We strongly condemn the apartheid regime of Israel for its human rights violations in Palestine and pledge our revolutionary solidarity with the Palestinian people.
“We congratulate the people of Cuba for the milestone of the 61st anniversary of the 1 January 1959 Cuban revolution. We condemn the imperialist regime of the United States for its blockade of Cuba and history of atrocities in Cuba, Latin America and the rest of the world.
“We call upon the United States to unconditionally end its illegal blockade of Cuba, occupation of Cuban territory of Guantanamo Bay, and aggression and destabilisation in Latin America broadly.
“In particular, we pledge our solidarity with the people of Cuba, Nicaragua, Venezuela and Chile, among others, who have continued to suffer the US imperialist offensive. We strongly condemn the racist, right-wing and imperialist backed coup in Bolivia and pledge our solidarity with resistance led by President Evo Morales,” said Nzimande.
