The Young Communist League of South Africa (YCLSA) Secretary-General Mzwandile Thakhudi has strongly rejected remarks by ANC Youth League Secretary-General Tsakani Shiviti, who suggested that the South African Communist Party (SACP) is “embarrassing itself” by planning to contest elections independently.
Speaking to Sunday World, Thakhudi accused Shiviti of political arrogance and intolerance. He argues that the SACP is an independent organisation with full democratic rights to participate in elections under its own banner.
Freedom of association is no shame
“The SACP as a class party is a principal representative of the working class. And it is an independent political organisation with its own programme, constitution and Marxist-Leninist ideological foundation,” Thakudu said.
He added that in a constitutional democracy, exercising political rights and freedom of association cannot be framed as an embarrassment.
“What is embarrassing is political intolerance and arrogance, selective historical amnesia, and the substitution of revolutionary politics with managerial pragmatism,” he said.
Thakhudi also criticised the ANC for what he described as unilateral decision-making within the Tripartite Alliance. And he warned that recent developments have weakened principled relations between Alliance partners.
He said the ANC must desist from what he called “strategic ambiguity” and respect the independence of its partners. Particularly after the formation of the government of national unity (GNU).
“The unilateral entry into a government of national unity, budgetary processes, deployment and reshuffling with neoliberal forces, without meaningful consultation… degrades the revolutionary alliance,” he said.
Worsened relations with alliance
He believes that the ANC has increasingly positioned itself as the sole centre of power. And thus worsening what he described as a “big-brother phenomenon” within the Alliance.
Responding to Shiviti’s suggestion that the SACP lacks an independent voter base, Thakhudi said communist engagement with state power did not begin in the current moment. It has deep historical roots, he added.
He explained that the question of independent working-class political representation was raised long before the current political conjuncture. And he pointed to debates within the communist movement that culminated in the SACP’s 11th Congress in 2002.
He argued that the renewed push for independent communist electoral participation has been strengthened by growing frustration over austerity, privatisation and neoliberal policy frameworks in the post-apartheid state.
Relations with DA questioned
“It is buttressed precisely because of austerity, privatisation, market fundamentalism. And the commodification of basic services,” Thakhudi told Sunday World.
Thakhudi also questioned the ANC’s partnership with the Democratic Alliance in the GNU. Such alliances represent a rightward policy drift away from the liberation movement’s historical commitments, he said.
“The question must be asked: why is the ANC in alliance with the Democratic Alliance, whose programme is neoliberal capitalism, privatisation, and market fundamentalism? And what does this mean to the revolutionary character of the liberation alliance?”
He further criticised an ANC National General Council (NGC) resolution. One that deals with dual membership and election strategy. He warned that it reflects an attempt to marginalise communist influence within the Alliance and narrow democratic political space.
“This trajectory might remind us of the Suppression of Communism Act of the 1950s,” he said.
ANC’s about-turn
At the ANC NGC last year, the party reaffirmed the importance of unity among alliance formations. However, party president Cyril Ramaphosa announced that the ANC adopted resolutions aimed at managing the new political reality created by the SACP.
Among these was a resolution on ANC members. Those who also belong to the SACP must recuse themselves from ANC meetings and discussions dealing with election strategy.
Thakhudi reaffirmed his support for the SACP’s decision to contest the 2026 local government elections independently. He said that working-class political power cannot be subordinated to capitalist interests.
“Transfer of political power without transforming it is meaningless,” he said. He added that participation in the state cannot come at the expense of ideological independence.
“Proximity to power is not transformation of power,” he said.
In closing, Thakhudi suggested Shiviti required further political education. He said communist politics is guided by class struggle rather than electoral convenience.
“The SACP is not a communist desk of the ANC. It is an independent party of the working class,” he said. He added that its mission remains the rolling back of neoliberalism, the defence of the National Democratic Revolution, and the long-term advance towards socialism.
SACP’s poor showing at by-elections
Shiviti criticised the SACP’s recent electoral showing. She pointed to its poor performance in the Limpopo by-elections as evidence that the party lacks an independent voter base outside the ANC-led alliance.
In Polokwane, the SACP secured just 1% of the vote. While in Fetakgomo Tubatse, it failed to make any noticeable impact.
Speaking to Sunday World just over a week ago, she said the results should serve as a reality check for the communist party as it weighs contesting future elections independently.
