SACP set on 'divorcing' the ANC

The communist party has rejected overtures from its alliance partner and will contest the 2026 local government elections independently

- Mandisa Nyathi

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.