'The meeting with the communists was bad'

The bilateral meeting between the ANC and the SACP on Monday fell flat as the former liberation movement's attempts to dissuade the party from contesting elections were outrightly rejected.

- By Mawande AmaShabalala

ANC leaders who attended the meeting described its outcome as a sign that “the silver cup is broken”, signalling the end of the road in the historic political relationship between the two formations.

The two parties, part of the so-called tripartite alliance, which includes trade union federation Cosatu, have been involved in mutually beneficial political relations that span decades.

But in December 2024, at its national special congress, the SACP broke ranks and decided to contest elections independently from the ANC.

The resolution sent shockwaves through Luthuli House, whose bosses’ initial strategy, to frame the decision as a one-man resolution, pinning it on SACP general secretary Solly Mapaila, failed. A change of strategy to a much softer approach of begging the SACP by arguing that its decision would erode ANC electoral support also did not yield positive results.

Even an attempt to convince the SACP to reverse the decision by one of their own, chairperson Blade Nzimande, who penned a paper slamming the decision, flopped.