South African Communist Party (SACP) general secretary Solly Mapaila has delivered a blistering message to ANC president Cyril Ramaphosa, framing the party’s decision to independently pursue an electoral mandate as a mission to save “the revolution” from being hollowed out by power.
Mapaila spoke moments after Ramaphosa stepped down from the podium at Heroes’ Acre in Avalon Cemetery, Soweto, on Tuesday.
With little room for diplomacy, Mapaila declared that the era of ANC comrades viewing SACP members as junior partners was over.
Rupture now in manifestation
The rupture between the two alliance partners, notably excluding the third pillar, Congress of South African Trade Unions, has now moved from murmurs to manifestation. The SACP has formally resolved not to back the ANC in the 2026 local government elections. It is choosing instead to contest on its own.
Among a catalogue of grievances, Mapaila accused ANC leaders of power-mongering, intimidation and political arrogance.
“We had to take some of our comrades into protection because they are threatened by ANC leaders. This cannot be acceptable Comrade President. The attitude of some of our comrades in the movement, who believe that they are the gods of politics, must come to an end,” he told Ramaphosa.
He said such conduct had fostered a dangerous belief among some leaders that they were above the electorate.
“Politics is for everybody. It’s for the working class. No one owns politics in this country. Not components of the alliance who can tell people that ‘you can’t do this here, you can’t do that there.’ No. It’s unacceptable,” he said.
In a striking inversion of the ANC’s warning, Mapaila argued that contesting elections independently was not an act of rupture, but of renewal.
Still committed to alliance
“We remain committed to building the alliance so that the alliance can be the expected pillar of the people of South Africa in driving the revolution,” he said.
“We remain available to talk, to unify our movement, but our talk should not have conditions.”
He insisted the moment for election-focused negotiations had passed.
“Our comrades want control. We are sick and tired of people who wat control, and not service to our people. Even when the revolution is going astray, is being reversed by reactionary forces, we just want control.
“We are past that stage now. The discussions are different. We should have developed a different strategy for the alliance. Instead, we have leaders condemining the SACP, attacking the SACP, threatening dual membership [and] doing all these wrong things. That is not how allies work. We are going ahead…to save what is left of the revolutionary movement,” he said.
GNU failures
As a case study of marginalisation, Mapaila pointed to the government of national unity (GNU). It was openly rejected by the SACP but embraced by the ANC.
“Even this thing called the GNU has failed dismally. Capital says, ‘Now that we’ve got the GNU, we’ll bring investment. We’ll bring this and that.’ No. That’s not the primary thing,” he said.
“We need a transfer of the wealth of our country to the people. We need a transfer of land to our people. And we want the control of our resources as South Africans. These are fundamental things. You can have an economic metric. But what has the GNU practically done? If we follow this path, we need 55 years to end unemployment.”
Mapaila said the SACP was pinning its hopes on a long-mooted Alliance Summit. But not one obsessed with ballots and seats.
“It’s not a summit about elections. It’s a summit about the economic and living conditions of the working class of our people in this country. That’s the summit that we want,” he said.
Earlier, Ramaphosa said the ANC respected the SACP’s decision. But he cautioned that it could fracture the alliance vote and confuse voters.
Confusion to voters
“We need to continue engaging. It is through engagement that we are able to find one another. The ANC is on record as saying, ‘the decision, which we respect, by the party to go in and run for elections on its own will be a historic mistake. It will weaken the alliance [and] distract our people from knowing whom to vote for.’ State power could be wrested from our hands,” he said.
“Having said that, we respect the decision that has bee taken.”
In response, Mapaila invoked the late Joe Slovo. He said the communist movement had long been warned about the seductive power of capital, and was now choosing to side openly with the people.
“Our contest of elections is not going it alone. They say ‘going it alone,’ we are going with the people. It’s not even a gamble. We are not gambling about the life of the communist party, the life of the working class. No. We are highlighting the primary struggles of the working class so that we take responsibility. And no longer delegate somebody who does not account to us,” he said.
Visit SW YouTube Channel for our video content
