The ANC is making a last-ditch effort to convince its long-time ally, the South African Communist Party (SACP), not to contest the 2026 local government elections independently.
ANC Secretary General Fikile Mbalula has been leading the charge, saying both sides must “find each other” and work together.
“We are ready to engage with our alliance partners, and we are going to find each other,” Mbalula said.
“We have to convince the SACP that we are an alliance and we should find each other,” he said.
Senior leaders of both parties were engaged in a bilateral meeting at Luthuli House in Johannesburg on Monday.
The SACP has been a key ally of the ANC since the apartheid struggle, but tensions have been rising in recent years.
SACP Secretary General Solly Mapaila had expressed frustration with the ANC’s decision to form a Government of National Unity (GNU) with the Democratic Alliance (DA), and has accused the ANC of failing to implement radical economic transformation.
In December 2024, the SACP’s Fifth Special National Congress resolved to contest the 2026 local government elections independently, citing the need for “working-class representation” in the country’s economic, social, and political systems.
Mapaila has maintained that the party is ready to contest the elections independently, saying that the ANC’s “moral and political decay” has made it uncertain whether the party will be able to form a government in the future.
Despite the tensions, Mbalula remains hopeful the two sides can work together.
“We are an alliance, and we should find each other,” he said. “We will engage with our alliance partners, and we will find a way forward.”
Monday’s ANC and SACP meeting is seen as a crucial step in determining the alliance’s future.
Dr. Alex Mashilo, Central Committee member and SACP national spokesperson, said the party’s decision to contest the elections independently was not taken lightly.
“We have been trying to reconfigure the alliance for over 17 years, but it has not produced meaningful results,” Mashilo said.
“We need to take a different approach to achieve working-class representation in the country’s economic, social, and political systems,” Mashilo said.
A source close to the two parties said that the SACP could not afford to go into elections without the ANC.
“The SACP’s significance has disappeared in recent years and will not survive without the ANC. They are merely threatening the ANC just to get their way with government posts. I don’t think they will go to the elections on their own,” the source said.
The SACP has also submitted its representation to remain as a registered political party on the Independent Electoral Commission’s (IEC) roll, after the IEC issued a notice to de-register it and 191 other political parties.
The SACP said it made its submission a few days after receiving the commission’s notice on February 21, 2025.
“The Party’s prompt and decisive representation to the Independent Electoral Commission aligns with its resolutions from the Fifteenth National Congress in July 2022, the Augmented Central Committee Plenary in March and April 2023, and the Fifth Special National Congress in December 2024 to contest elections,” the SACP said.
