Solly Mapaila is a South African politician who is the incumbent General Secretary of the South African Communist Party, he was elected unopposed on the 15th of July 2022 in his current position at the SACP National Congress. Solly Mapaila has been the Second Deputy General Secretary of the

South African Communist Party The South African Communist Party (SACP) is a communist party in South Africa. It was founded in 1921 as the Communist Party of South Africa (CPSA), tactically dissolved itself in 1950 in the face of being declared illegal by the governing Na ...

since 2012.

Activism

Mapaila was a member of Umkhonto weSizwe and operated outside of South Africa prior to 1994. On returning to South Africa in 1994 he was integrated into the

South African Defence Force The South African Defence Force (SADF) (Afrikaans: ''Suid-Afrikaanse Weermag'') comprised the armed forces of South Africa from 1957 until 1994. Shortly before the state reconstituted itself as a republic in 1961, the former Union Defence F ...

and stationed at Thaba Tshwane.

Work

He is a forceful and determined critic of corruption within the

African National Congress The African National Congress (ANC) is a Social democracy, social-democratic political party in Republic of South Africa, South Africa. A liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid, it has governed the country since 1994, when ...

and the South African government, and of the leadership of South African president

Jacob Zuma Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma (; born 12 April 1942) is a South African politician who served as the fourth president of South Africa from 2009 to 2018. He is also referred to by his initials JZ and clan name Msholozi, and was a former anti-aparth ...

. The group of president Zuma supporters threaten him to open criminal charges against him if he continues to say that president is corrupt Mapaila has directly questioned the purported intelligence report titled "Operation Checkmate" used by President

to fire the former Minister of Finance.

Pravin Gordhan Pravin Jamnadas Gordhan (born 12 April 1949) is a politician and anti-apartheid activist who has held various ministerial posts in the Cabinet of South Africa. He served as Minister of Finance from 2009 until 2014 and again from 2015 until 2017, ...

He has led calls from within the

Tripartite Alliance The Tripartite Alliance is an alliance between the African National Congress (ANC), the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) and the South African Communist Party (SACP). The ANC holds a majority in the South African parliament, while ...

for the resignation of President

. Mapaila is considered a leading candidate to succeed

Blade Nzimande Bonginkosi Emmanuel "Blade" Nzimande (born 14 April 1958 in Edendale near Pietermaritzburg) is a South African politician, sociologist, philosopher, educator, anti-apartheid activist and Minister of Higher Education, Science and Technology. H ...

as general secretary of the SACP when the party holds leadership elections in 2017.

References

Living people People from Msunduzi Local Municipality South African Communist Party politicians African National Congress politicians Year of birth missing (living people) {{SouthAfrica-politician-stub