The growing mistrust between the ANC and the SACP has led to SACP members being excluded from ANC election strategy meetings.
The historic alliance between the two parties allows their members to have dual citizenship.
But the SACP has taken a decision to contest the upcoming local government elections for the first time without the ANC.
During his closing speech at the ANC’s National General Council (NGC) on Thursday, President Cyril Ramaphosa said the SACP’s decision has introduced confusion in the alliance.
“As we continue to persuade each other, we will need to request SACP members who have been participating in our joint elections structures to recuse themselves.
“All we are saying is that as we continue to engage, particularly on our strategy and tactics for running the elections, they should recuse themselves, and may I add that a number of them themselves feel that they are going to be conflicted, and they are recusing themselves until we solve this problem,” he said.
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Talks to continue between ANC and SACP
Despite this move, Ramaphosa said the party still believes in the tripartite alliance.
“It has been agreed that the alliance leadership must meet urgently to develop a common approach to the reconfiguration and renewal of the alliance in a manner that safeguards unity and cohesion and avoids further confusion, division and conflict among the rank and file on the ground.
“I know this is sounding like a broken record, but we should, in a painstaking way, continue to engage, and this is what this NGC has said.
“The ANC as the leader of the alliance and the NDR should not give up on its historic responsibility and effort to unite the alliance including continuing to engage with the SACP to ensure that we approach the elections in a way that we have done in the past as a common platform,” he said.
ANC spokesperson Mahlengi Bhengu told The Citizen earlier this week that SACP members have had access to the ANC’s elections strategy since April this year.
“The South African Communist Party has been privy to our elections strategy because our elections’ strategy was adopted somewhere around April.
“We have absolute faith in our ability to roll out that election strategy, which benefits the SACP as it goes independent. I guess it is for the communist party to ponder on.
“We are focusing on winning the elections in 2026,” she said.
SACP’s response
The SACP’s first deputy secretary-general Madala Masuku told Newzroom Arika on Thursday that the ANC’s decision to exclude its members from strategic meetings could have serious implications.
He said there are a number of problems with this decision because more than 300 ANC members are also members of the SACP.
According to Masuku, this decision creates more confusion. He said the alliance should meet to discuss this.
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