TheSouth African Communist Party(SACP) has publicly defied efforts by the ANC to reverse its decision to contest the 2026local government electionsindependently, with the deepening rupture within the tripartite alliance that was laid bare at this week’s commemoration of Joe Slovo’s death. SACP general secretary Solly Mapaila used the platform of the 31st anniversary on Tuesday to confirm that the party would proceed with preparations to go it alone, announcing that a manifesto conference would be held in March to finalise its local government election programme. He said this in the presence of ANC president Cyril Ramaphosa and despite sustained pressure from ANC leadership structures urging the SACP to abandon its plan to contest elections outside the tripartite alliance framework which also includes labour federation Cosatu.
Mapaila said the manifesto conference would bring together communities, trade unions, informal traders, youth, women, faith-based activists and other working-class formations to determine a “people’s manifesto” for municipalities, drawing applause from SACP supporters gathered at Avalon Cemetery in Soweto. “Where we contest and where we govern, our approach will be clear: insourcing of workers rather than labour broking; participatory budgeting; land release for housing, agriculture and co-operatives; public employment programmes linked to social needs; support for co-operatives and township enterprises; firm action against corruption; and socially just responses to energy insecurity,” Mapaila said in his speech. “Our commitment to the alliance remains firm.
We recognise the historic unity forged in struggle between the SACP, ANC and Cosatu. But unity must be principled. We defend the alliance best when we defend the working class and advance socialist-oriented transformation.” The SACP decision comes despite multiple pleas by the ANC for its support and warnings that a refusal could weaken the alliance and fragment its support base ahead of the 2026 polls.
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The ANC says the SACP’s independent electoral participation would confuse voters, undermine alliance cohesion and dilute the liberation movement vote, particularly in already fragile municipal councils. At its national general council (NGC) last month — which Mapaila did not attend — the ANC resolved that SACP-deployed representatives would be barred from participating in its election strategy meetings, citing the party’s new status as a political competitor. The ANC’s national executive committee (NEC), its highest decision-making body between conferences, has also resolved to stop allowing dual membership of both parties, a long-standing feature of alliance politics.
“How do you contest against the ANC while also being part of the Communist Party?” ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula told journalists at the time. “In the past, we did not have any problems with dual membership. Now, if you contest on your own, the issue of dual membership is definitely on the agenda.”
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