South African Communist Party to run in municipal elections separately from ANC
The South African Communist Party (SACP) will participate independently in South Africa’s municipal elections in November 2026, competing against the African National Congress (ANC) and other political forces. The party, which for a long time has been the ANC’s junior partner in the Tripartite Alliance alongside the COSATU trade union federation, promises voters a socialist path to a more equal society.
As Daily Maverick writes, the SACP has long discussed participating in elections independently. Tensions within the alliance grew as the ANC, while in power, pursued market-oriented economic policies, causing dissatisfaction among the communists. After the 2024 general election, the ANC chose the Democratic Alliance as its main coalition partner in the national government and ignored the SACP’s proposals to change the distribution of powers in the Tripartite Alliance.
Manifesto for 2026
The SACP’s 2026 election manifesto lists water shortages, power outages, housing shortages, high crime rates and unemployment among the main problems. At the same time, the document contains Marxist and socialist terminology, including references to the National Democratic Revolution, a neoliberal economic course, private capital accumulation and the struggle for socialism in everyday life.
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The columnist believes that such rhetoric may make it harder for the party to attract voters for whom practical issues of local governance are more important. In his view, the SACP should focus its public campaign on citizens’ needs without abandoning its Marxist-Leninist views.
Legacy of the alliance with the ANC
In the 1990s, the SACP had significant influence in South Africa’s left-wing political circles. ANC members and COSATU trade union activists joined the party because the rules of both allies allowed dual membership. ANC and SACP veteran Joe Slovo, after the collapse of the USSR, advocated democratic socialism and stressed that a political force must gain workers’ support through democratic persuasion rather than claims of a right to represent their interests.
The SACP views its independent run in November as preparation for a more active struggle for political influence in the 2029 general election. According to Daily Maverick, the organisational capabilities of the party and COSATU are now weaker than in previous decades, while the SACP’s public image is largely associated with the ANC.
