SOUTH AFRICAN Communist Party (SACP) general secretary Blade Nzimande claimed yesterday that “factionalism is destroying the alliance” with the ruling ANC.

Speaking at the annual memorial lecture for late ANC president-in-exile Oliver Tambo, he called for a debate on whether to stand separately from the ruling party in elections at the SACP’s July congress.

“We are an independent political party,” said Mr Nzimande, who serves as Higher Education Minister in President Jacob Zuma’s government.