‘A party only in name’: SACP could be embarrased if they go it alone

With the ANC emerging from last year’s bruising national polls, having garnered 40.1% of the votes, the SA Communist Party’s (SACP) decision to go it alone in the 2026 local government elections will erode the governing party’s support base, political experts warned yesterday.

They also maintained that the SACP strategy could backfire on its influence within ANC decision-making structures.

Their comments followed remarks made this week by SACP general secretary Solly Mapaila during the 30th commemoration in Soweto of the death of anti-apartheid struggle stalwart Joe Slovo.

While President Cyril Ramaphosa cautioned that the SACP stance would weaken the tripartite alliance and derail the national democratic revolution (NDR) programme, Mapaila reiterated the SACP would fight the polls alone.

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How much power should be shared?

Political analyst Dr Ongama Mtimka, of Nelson Mandela University’s department of democratisation and state transformation, said the ANC could not afford to lose any of its members, “given that it is a party already well below 50%, in terms of its share of national elections”.

Mtimka said the SACP could be “disappointed by the election result, something set to weaken its negotiating position within the ANC”.

“The nature of relations among alliance partners has been a major issue of debate since the emergence of the so-called class project of 1996,” he said.

“The key issue is how much authority should be shared among the alliance partners.”

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SACP an electoral asset?

While concurring that the ANC faced the prospect of lower voter support, political expert Daniel Silke said the SACP was “seeking to gain leverage towards 2029 – trying to assess the level of support, independent of the ANC”.

“If the SACP can muster a decent turnout, they can argue that they are an electoral asset – something to be taken seriously.

“The SACP is likely to campaign on an anti-DA government of national unity [GNU] ticket – undermining the broader GNU and creating instability for the ANC,” he said.

‘Lack of leadership in the ANC’

Independent political analyst Sandile Swana said the SACP’s stance showed “the lack of leadership in the ANC”.

“The Congress of SA Trade Unions and the SACP are saying the left should represent itself – becoming an ideological and moral compass for the ANC.

“This cannot be achieved in the current alliance configuration – spanning the past 24 years.

“Ramaphosa has no successful history of uniting or reconfiguring the tripartite alliance and uniting the ANC.

ALSO READ: ANC must change tactics after poll decline, says Ramaphosa

“Ramaphosa and Jacob Zuma will go down in history as people who divided the ANC more than anyone else.

“The EFF, Congress of the People and the MK party were created by them, with their personality cult being dominant.

“The reconfiguration of the alliance is well-supported, the idea being that the SACP must get its own parliamentary seats on its own terms,” said Swana.

‘Strategic blunder’ for the SACP

University of KwaZulu-Natal politics lecturer Zakhele Ndlovu was less optimistic about the SACP having a good showing in next year’s polls.

He said the ANC had “nothing to lose because the SACP does not enjoy much support”.

“I bet the SACP’s numbers stand at less than 3 000 and most of its members hold a dual membership – making the SACP only Kid’s play exist in name. I still think the SACP will reverse its decision to contest the 2026 elections, because it will be badly exposed.

“The National Union of Metalworkers of SA could not win even one seat when Numsa general secretary Irvin Jim contested elections. This is simply a symbolic relationship,” said Ndlovu.

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He described the SACP decision to contest elections as “a strategic blunder”.

“For the ANC, the future is not looking good. It is dying a slow and painful death. We are going to see ANC cadres fighting for positions ahead of the local government elections,” he said.

The alliance, he said, was “like a marriage that exists in name only”.

“This alliance has been dead for the past six years. “Similarly, the NDR is just rhetoric that sounds nice in the ears of the impoverished masses,” added Ndlovu

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