ANC dishonest in making GNU deal with DA, says SACP

The ANC, including president Cyril, has displayed dishonesty about the dealings with the DA towards the signing of their cooperation deal.

This is the view of South African Communist Party (SACP) general secretary Solly Mapaila.

He said the ANC kept the SACP in the dark about its agreements with the DA, but cheated the party to believe that in fact the ANC was interested in entering into an alternative arrangement with the EFF and other black parties, which was what the SACP was busy with.

ANC kept SACP in the dark about DA agreements

Mapaila, in an interaction with journalists in Johannesburg on Monday night, said he personally advised Ramaphosa not to hurry to appoint his Cabinet but to take time so that he could select the best executive.

Although Ramaphosa agreed to the advice, Mapaila was surprised to get a message soon thereafter inviting him and others to Mahlamba Ndlopfu presidential residence in Pretoria where Ramaphosa was to announce the Cabinet without consulting the ANC alliance partners.

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He said prior to the signing of statement of intent to establish the government of national unity (GNU), the SACP had been working behind the scenes to bring the ANC and the EFF together to hold talks that would culminate in the establishment of a pro-people government of national unity on which the EFF was keen.

Mapaila personally facilitated the ANC-EFF dialogue, but it did not materialise because the ANC sabotaged the process.

He said they realised the ANC had embarked on a parallel process with the DA, which precipitated the statement of intent, that was not the product of the alliance, but the result of an ANC-DA secret deal.

Secret deal

Mapaila was in no doubt that the deal was the brainchild of big business, that was behind Ramaphosa and the GNU.

This despite the fact that the SACP participated in drafting the initial coalition deal that excluded the DA and its allies.

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But, Mapaila said, the document was swept away and replaced with the DA-led statement of intent that was designed for the DA to dominate the GNU.

He said the SACP preferred a coalition comprising the ANC, EFF and small parties such as the Al Jama-ah, PAC, United Democratic Movement and Patriotic Alliance.

Mapaila said the DA was not only neoliberal that pursues its ultimate goal of capitalism, but it was an offshoot of racist white parties from the apartheid era, including the National Party.

SACP criticises DA

Mapaila’s view was echoed by party national treasurer and former parliamentarian Joyce Moloi-Moropa, who said there was no way that the SACP could work with the DA because they were ideological enemies. The SACP pursued socialism which was in contradiction to capitalism, which the DA pursued.

The SACP decision to contest the upcoming local government elections was not an easy one. It had caused tension and hostility between the two parties. But he stressed the SACP was not going to serve divorce papers to the ANC and would remain in the alliance.

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SACP’s first deputy general secretary Madala Masuku said they would approach the 2026 elections with a clear understanding that they could lose and be humbled by voters.

But that would send a clear message and a lesson for the party which would help it to strategise on how it would approach future elections, he said.

“We will deal with the consequences of our decision,” Mapaila said.

‘We will deal with the consequences’

Mapaila, Masuku and party national spokesperson Alex Mashilo were firm in their view that the SACP decision to stand alone in the polls would strengthen the party’s call for the reconfiguration of the tripartite alliance.

They said the reconfiguration was designed to give it an equal voice in decision-making among the alliance partners. But the idea was never entertained by the ANC for a number of years.

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Mashilo said by contesting the polls, the SACP was reasserting its independence from the ANC.

The SACP begins its special national congress in Boksburg today.