The SA Communist Party on Friday defended its general secretary, Jeremy Cronin, after ANC Youth League president Julius Malema's lambasted the former's stance on nationalising the mines.

"We find it very strange and politically dishonest that whilst on the one hand the ANCYL calls for a debate on the question of nationalisation, yet, on the other hand, it throws insults on those who are taking up the debate," the SACP said in a statement.

It condemned "in the strongest possible terms" the insults hurled at Cronin by Malema in a response to a SACP article on mine nationalisation.

Malema described the piece, penned by Cronin, as "openly reactionary".

Cronin provided an analysis of the issues surrounding the nationalisation of the mines.

Missing the bigger systemic picture

In it, he criticised Malema and the league's calling for nationalisation, saying: "Comrade Malema hasn't always helped his case with off-the-wall sound-bytes. The impression of a policy being made on the hoof, individualistically, is reinforced by the fact that we are yet to see any serious attempt at a collective policy document on this matter from the ANCYL."

"I suspect that comrade Malema and others are missing this bigger systemic picture because when they speak of mineral beneficiation they are thinking of bling ... sorry, jewellery," he adds.

Malema responded to the piece, describing it as reactionary "clothed in quasi-Marxist rhetoric, with potential to make a sorry and sad reflection of the true character of the SACP's ideological steadfastness."

White political messiahs

He said he did "not need the permission of white political messiahs to think".

Malema described it as "sad" that Cronin "decided to isolate me" from a league resolution in which it outlines its stance on nationalisation: ".... the State should be custodian of the people in its ownership, extraction, production and trade of mineral wealth beneath the soil, monopoly industries and banks".

On mineral beneficiation Malema said Cronin reduced the league's call for this to an "obsession with bling".

"It is sad that previously, those who look like us were considered intellectually inferior by the white supremacists, and today Comrade Jeremy reflects the same sentiment, even before he interacts with the views of the ANC YL," Malema said.

The SACP called on Malema to discuss the issue in a "principled and comradely manner without resorting to the Mbeki era type of insults against the leaders of our party".

It said it had invited the league to take part in its political school last month, where it discussed nationalisation, but the league did not attend.

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