The Young Communist League believes the South African Communist Party may vote at a special conference next month to go it alone in this year’s local elections .
Young Communist League secretary general Buti Manamela said: ”As far as we know, the dominant position in the party is that we should contest power through elections.”
This follows the publication of two position papers reflecting the views of SACP leaders, which argue that it would be unwise for the SACP to mount an election campaign in opposition to its ally, the African National Congress.
The SACP is due to decide on the issue at a special conference in Durban next month, which was called to consider how the party can maximise its influence on policymaking.
There is also a groundswell, highlighted at provincial conferences last year, in favour of separate communist election campaigns within provincial structures, notably the Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, Gauteng, Free State, Western Cape and Mpumalanga.
At a media conference in Johannesburg this week, SACP secretary general Blade Nzimande said only ”a significant minority” was agitating for a separate election campaign.
Later, he refused to discuss which view was likely to prevail at the conference, saying he did not want to stifle debate.
In discussion documents drafted for the congress, the party leadership argues that saying power is not always gained through electoral contest, and questions whether it has the means to undertake an election campaign.
Although it concedes that its influence on the ANC has waned over the past 15 years — because of ”changed global realities and the new emergent class realities” — it argues that maintaining the tripartite alliance is the best way for the SACP to realise its goals.
This involves continuing to strengthen the ANC and strive for ideological hegemony within the alliance.
Currently SACP members are drafted on to ANC lists and are expected to perform according to the ANC electoral mandate.
The discussion paper notes: ”We are not seeking to transform the ANC into a crypto-communist organisation. We already have the SACP, why have a second communist organisation?
”We recognise that ideological and class diversity is precisely why the ANC is a useful terrain to contest for the hegemony [as opposed to the unilateral dominance of the working class].”
Nzimande said the SACP now had to rely on mass mobilisation and campaigns to exert influence, as it had fewer members in the ANC than previously. ”The resonance of our campaign has been huge. The SACP voice has been heard in boardrooms, in legislation and in parastatals.”
A senior SACP and ANC leader said that the ANC, instead of fearing SACP independence, was encouraging communists to debate the issue and to close space that could be occupied by ”other forces”.
”This will allow the ANC to cover its left flank. The worry is that if the issue is not debated now it could explode in future, with damaging consequences. You could have a situation where some SACP elements could move to break the alliance itself,” the official explained.
The discussion paper calls for SACP activists to participate in reviving ANC structures, which it describes as moribund. ”The organisational life of the ANC branches and regions has often been reduced to an annual scramble for a quorum, and branches are affected by gatekeeping, career positioning, the migration of professionals to former white suburbs and many other realities, linked paradoxically to the advances we have made in the last decade. Outside of elections, the ANC has struggled to lead and sustain popular mobilisation campaigns.”