Going it alone: The ANC is not happy with the decision by the SACP to contest elections independently of its alliance partner. Photo: File
The relationship between the ANC and its alliance partner, the South African Communist Party, showed further signs of strain this week after the SACP snubbed meetings aimed at dissuading it from going ahead with plans to contest elections independently.
Sources in the SACP said the party’s refusal to meet and heal the fractured alliance had seen tensions with the ANC reach boiling point. The SACP has increasingly felt overlooked in the tripartite alliance, which includes labour federation Cosatu.
“We have been open to the ANC, and to talks about the alliance to find each other before elections, but they have continued to show us that we do not matter, so we are going forward with our conference resolutions to contest alone,” one SACP insider said.
On Wednesday, ANC secretary general Fikile Mbalula told reporters that the party had “finally accepted” that it could not persuade the SACP to reverse course on its decision.
Mbalula reiterated that dual ANC-SACP membership is technically still allowed, but said an actual split in election campaigning would force members to have to choose sides.
“Technically, dual membership doesn’t fall away. But practically, once a decision to contest is implemented, members will be required to choose between the ANC and the SACP,” Mbalula said, warning that the move would undermine the ruling alliance’s common programme.
“We believe, as the ANC, that it will weaken the national democratic revolution,” he added.
The ANC, SACP and Cosatu have been in the political alliance since 1990, based on their common ideological goals rooted in the national democratic revolution, a political and social theory on transformation aimed at a non-racial, non-sexist, democratic and united society.
Mbalula’s remarks this week followed an ANC national executive committee (NEC) meeting last weekend in which top leaders discussed the implications of the SACP’s election breakaway plans. Mbalula said the party had “recognised the SACP’s right as an independent organisation to chart its own electoral path”, but voiced “profound disagreement with this decision”.
The NEC said the move has “far-reaching implications for the strategy and programme of the national democratic revolution”.
Mbalula added that moving apart would require reviewing “a lot of things we share”, including joint candidate training and selection.
ANC president Cyril Ramaphosa had similarly expressed serious concern in his closing remarks to the NEC on Monday, reaffirming that the SACP was free to contest on its own terms but warning that this threatened the alliance.
“As we have indicated to the SACP, our ally, we disagree with the decision. We believe that this decision has fundamental implications for the strategy and programme of the national democratic revolution and the [tripartite] alliance,” he said, adding that the ANC would “continue to engage with the SACP” on how to manage the elections.
The SACP has defended its course, with party leader Solly Mapaila arguing that it was simply fulfilling the resolutions of its fifth special national congress held last December.
An SACP insider who spoke on condition of anonymity said that “folding to the ANC’s demands” was not an option and that people with dual membership of both parties, especially those in the cabinet, were free to choose their path.
“There cannot be a faction. Individuals are free to choose whether they respect the decision of the party or take a different route, but the mandate is clear,” the SACP source said.
“We know an independent campaign will be challenging. The road is not lined with rose petals. It comes with thorns, but we must face them.”
The SACP’s election decision has been accompanied by grassroots campaigning. In June, the party launched the “People’s Red Caravan”, a mobile initiative aimed at connecting with people in rural areas as part of the party’s plan to spread its wings out of the ANC’s shadow. The caravan was introduced in June with an event in North West. In July it went to Matibidi village in Mpumalanga.
Last week, Mapaila it was no longer a question of if, or when, the SACP would decide on campaigning, but the process had started in earnest for next year’s elections. He accused Ramaphosa of taking a “take-it-or-leave-it” approach towards his party.
“The ANC became arrogant with power, they are even arrogant to us as the communist party,” he said.
“I am tired of meaningless meetings with the ANC. If you go to meetings with people you know will not implement what you agreed upon, there is something wrong with you.”
But some in the SACP have expressed concern about the party’s go-it-alone stance and being potentially forced to take sides, which could see some possibly losing their perks as cabinet ministers.
SACP leaders in government include Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation Blade Nzimande, Higher Education Minister Buti Manamela and Deputy Finance Minister David Masondo, who might have to choose party affiliation if ties break.
“The ministers are part of the SACP collective, and the decision to contest in 2026 is a result of democratic processes, flowing from previous congresses, and the latest 5th special national congress, of which they formed a part,” one senior SACP official said.
“There cannot be a faction, because, ultimately, individuals remain free to choose whether they respect the decision of the party or take a different route.”