The relationship between the ANC and the SACP can be characterised as one that is a state of critical and unstable.
Or better yet in marriage terms, it could be likened to a husband and wife who, by all accounts, have separated but both remain in denial and live under the same roof owing to attachment issues.
Parallel media briefings
This became evident on Thursday when the secretariats of both political formations separately addressed the media about their separation but stated different reasons.
The media briefings came following ANC decisions to make dual members with the SACP state in writing no later than May 3 who between the two they will be campaigning for in the upcoming local government elections.
Finger-pointing
While the ANC explains the decision as one that seeks to end confusion among dual members, the SACP has fingered its alliance partner for being aloof and drunk with neoliberalism.
The ANC has, for the first time, escalated to threaten the livelihoods of ANC deployees who are also SACP leaders.
ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula did not mince his words, stating categorically that those who do not choose the ANC in the next ten days might face removal from their positions in government.
“Should you decide to ignore this communication and you are found to be campaigning for any other political party outside the ANC, we will take steps to safeguard the constitution of the ANC,” said Mbalula, speaking from Luthuli House in Joburg CBD almost with a threatening voice.
“If you are in the executive, at local government, or serving in any position of influence, including deployment, we will take steps, including the removal from those particular positions, with immediate effect, removal means recall, because you will be doing activities that are not consistent with the ANC.”
SACP tells dual members to chill
Meanwhile, SACP general secretary Solly Mapaila has sternly told all dual members to ignore the ANC directive and continue with their political work.
He vowed that the SACP will defend its members from intimidation by ANC and calling for all dual members to remain calm and trust in the Communist Party to show its experience of more than 100 years wherein it never lost a political fight.
“The SACP calls on all members to understand the gravity of the moment but also to reject panic, confusion and demoralisation. This is not the time for retreat. It is not the time for individual improvisation. It is not the time for public emotionalism. It is the time for disciplined collective conduct,” said Mapaila speaking from Cosatu House in Braamfontein.
“The line of march is clear. Every SACP member must remain calm, organised and politically focused. No disciplined comrade must act individually under pressure or improvisation. No comrade must submit to intimidation and ultimatums, make unilateral declarations, tender resignations, or take strategic decisions affecting SACP membership and responsibilities without consultation with the Party.
“The SACP will not accede to ultimatums from another organisation. Matters arising from this ANC maneouvre must be handled collectively, politically and through SACP structures.”
‘I Am Voting SACP’
Mapaila, who was donning a brand-new T-shirt printed with “I Am Voting SACP“, accused the ANC of dishonesty and historical revisionism, saying the manner in which the former liberation movement had drifted to the right over the past decade was evident for all to see.
According to Mapaila, the SACP did not take the decision to contest the upcoming polls independently from the ANC lightly.
In his view, the ANC had long stopped taking the tripartite alliance seriously and this could among other things be demonstrated by the fact that there had been no Alliance Political Summit since 2015 and added that the ANC had not discussed the 2024 elections drubbing results with alliance partners for their perspective.
SACP accused of lying
Mbalula’s deputy Nomvula Mokonyane rubbished this, saying it was pure lies. She said there had been many meetings with the SACP post the 2024 national and provincial elections which she personally chaired.
“It is factually incorrect for the South African Communist Party to brief members of the media and say, we have never come together to reflect on the elections post the closure of the counting and the announcement of the results, we convened a national elections team. We met here in Luthuli House, the South African Communist Party was present,” said Mokonyane.
“I was chairing the meeting. We then went to meet further with the national officials of the ANC, before we went to meet with the National Working Committee. And in that post the NEC, there was communication with the Party (SACP), where the Communist Party came back to the ANC and said, ‘go and do everything to protect state power’.”
ANC ‘on neo-liberal path’
Mapaila said the ANC has sadly chosen to embark on a neo-liberal path that the SACP will never support as the vanguard of the working class and leading force for socialism in the troubled alliance.
Among other things other than the GNU that are signs of an ANC gone rogue, Mapaila accused Operation Vulindlela in the Presidency as another form of state capture.
He attacked the government of the day for privatising critical state assets, pointing among other SOEs at Eskom which he believes was privatised under the guise of being unbundled for the benefit of “family members of those in state power”.
In what could be seen as an SACP preparing for a future outside the ANC, the reds are convening a “Conference of the Left” late next month where they have invited the likes of EFF, Azapo and MK Party among others.
Mapaila admittedly said that their soured relations with the ANC were so bad that they agreed easier on issues with the forces of the left they have invited to the inaugural Conference of the Left with whom they are not alliance partners with for more than 100 years.
- The ANC and SACP relationship is critically unstable, akin to a separated couple living under the same roof, revealed during separate media briefings about their separation.
- ANC requires dual members to declare by May 3 which party they will campaign for in upcoming local elections, threatening removal from government positions for those choosing SACP.
- The SACP counters ANC's directive, urging dual members to remain calm, resist intimidation, and continue political work, emphasizing collective decision-making.
- SACP accuses ANC of drifting towards neoliberalism, neglecting the alliance, and failing to engage post-2024 election, while ANC denies these claims.
- Preparing for a possible future outside the ANC, the SACP is convening a "Conference of the Left" with other leftist parties, signaling deepening rifts.
Or better yet in marriage terms, it could be likened to a husband and wife who, by all accounts, have separated but both remain in denial and live under the same roof owing to attachment issues.
While the ANC explains the decision as one that seeks to end confusion among dual members, the SACP has fingered its alliance partner for being aloof and drunk with neoliberalism.
ANC secretary-general Fikile
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"If you are in the executive, at local government, or serving in any position of influence, including deployment, we will take steps, including the removal from those particular positions, with immediate effect, removal means recall, because you will be doing activities that are not consistent with the ANC."
Meanwhile, SACP general secretary Solly Mapaila has sternly told all dual members to ignore the ANC directive and continue with their political work.
He vowed that the SACP will defend its members from intimidation by ANC and calling for all dual members to remain calm and trust in the Communist Party to show its experience of more than 100 years wherein it never lost a political fight.
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Mapaila, who was donning a brand-new T-shirt printed with "I Am
In his view, the ANC had long stopped taking the tripartite alliance seriously and this could among other things be demonstrated by the fact that there had been no Alliance Political Summit since 2015 and added that the ANC had not discussed the 2024 elections drubbing results with alliance partners for their perspective.
"It is factually incorrect for the
"I was chairing the meeting. We then went to meet further with the national officials of the ANC, before we went to meet with the National
Mapaila said the ANC has sadly chosen to embark on a neo-liberal path that the SACP will never support as the vanguard of the working class and leading force for socialism in the troubled alliance.
He attacked the government of the day for privatising critical state assets, pointing among other SOEs at Eskom which he believes was privatised under the guise of being unbundled for the benefit of "family members of those in state power".
In what could be seen as an SACP preparing for a future outside the ANC, the reds are convening a "Conference of the Left" late next month where they have invited the likes of EFF, Azapo and MK Party among others.
Mapaila admittedly said that their soured relations with the ANC were so bad that they agreed easier on issues with the forces of the left they have invited to the inaugural Conference of the Left with whom they are not alliance partners with for more than 100 years.
