RAMAPHOSA: ‘AFRICAN COMMUNIST JOURNAL’ SHOULD CONTINUE TO BE CRITICAL OF ANC

The political magazine was first published in 1959 by the South African Communist Party.

President Cyril Ramaphosa at the 60th anniversary of the SACP’s ‘African Communist Journal’ on 21 October 2019 at Liliesleaf in Sandton. Picture: @SACP1921/Twitter

Thando Kubheka
Eyewitness News

JOHANNESBURG - President Cyril Ramaphosa on Monday called on the African Communist Journal to continue being critical of the African National Congress (ANC).

Ramaphosa was speaking at the 60th anniversary of the publication which was held at Liliesleaf in Sandton.

The political magazine was first published in 1959 by the South African Communist Party.

Ramaphosa said the journal should continue calling on the governing party to take accountability.

“It propagated ideas that compelled us to achieve our liberation, it now needs to continue calling us into action to address all these challenges that our revolution faces,” Ramaphosa said.

The president lauded the journal and described it as a critical platform for healthy and necessary debates in society.

He said the journal played a critical part in South Africa’s liberation.

“It exposed what you’d call narrow African chauvinism as opposed to progressive nationalism. The journal also played a very important role in sharpening our understanding of non-racialism.”