Bickering ‘but strong’: ANC alliance here to stay

Expect no blood on the floor and for the tripartite alliance to remain intact despite the worsening relations between ANC and the SA Communist Party (SACP), an expert said on Sunday.

He said the alliance would not disintegrate because the ANC alliance partners, SACP and Cosatu, will never leave as they are also compromised by serving on the same government of national unity (GNU) they oppose.

Fight between ANC and SACP ‘seasonal’

Political analyst and emerging scholar at the North-West University Mahikeng campus, Dominic Maphaka, said South Africa should expect no drama in the ensuing feud because it was a seasonal brotherly fight that was going nowhere.

“The tensions are just a seasonal and short-lived development that faces each ANC president, dating back to Thabo Mbeki’s tenure. You will recall that similar developments happened during the Mbeki and Jacob Zuma presidencies,” Maphaka said.

“It will never result in the breakup of the alliance for a number of reasons. Firstly, the SACP and Cosatu are ideologically and structurally compromised to the extent that some of their members serve in the GNU ministerial portfolios.

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

“This deepens the masses’ apathy towards the SACP, which has been demonstrated in the past when the organisation contested elections. The tensions are a reflection of the collective position taken by the SACP,” he said.

Tension over the DA in the GNU

At the centre of the tension between the two struggle-era allies are their differences over the participation of the DA in the GNU at the ANC’s invitation. The SACP claims the DA was its ideological enemy that pursued neoliberal policies with an ultimate goal to implement capitalism.

The tripartite alliance was established as a strategic tool to fight the apartheid regime and to achieve the objectives of the national democratic revolution. But lately the ANC and SACP have been at each other’s throats.

The public spat has resulted in the SACP opting to contest the 2026 local government elections separately, instead of under the ANC umbrella, as has been the practice since 1994.

SACP general secretary Solly Mapaila stressed recently that despite its opposition to the GNU and its plan to contest the elections, the SACP would not leave the alliance.

ALSO READ: Nxesi denies SACP’s 2026 election bid is a ‘Mapaila move’

Cosatu has maintained a low profile in the battle. While the union federation has objected to the ANC-DA collaboration, it expressed confidence in the ANC at the weekend. Cosatu president Zingiswa Losi, addressing the ANC’s 113th birthday anniversary celebrations in Cape Town on Saturday, attributed the post-1994 workers’ gains to the ANC government.

She hailed the implementation of the national minimum wage and paid parental and maternity leave as the ANC’s work.

“Some ask why is Cosatu still in the alliance with the ANC and the SACP? It is this alliance that led the struggle to defeat apartheid and liberate our people from the most brutal forms of oppression. Soon we will celebrate 31 years of freedom and democracy, Losi said.

“It is the struggle led by the ANC that today ensures 60% of the government’s budget is invested in working class communities, from social grants for 27 million people to Nsfas [financial aid], public housing, health care, transport and no fee schools.”

President Cyril Ramaphosa, in his address at the event, did not indicate that the alliance was close to disappearing. Instead he described it as “one of the best examples of the success of united front politics in today’s world”.

NOW READ: ANC’s grip loosens, but Ramaphosa declares: ‘We’re still in charge’