SACP General Secretary Solly Mapaila says the party remains committed to the ANC-led Alliance despite contesting the 2026 local government elections independently.
Image: Sigciniwe
The South African Communist Party (SACP) has reaffirmed that it remains part of the ANC-led Alliance despite contesting this year’s local government elections independently, saying the move is intended to force the long-awaited reconfiguration of the Alliance.
The party’s Central Committee made the statement following its 13th Plenary of the 15th Congress, held in Johannesburg from August 28 to 30.
The SACP said it had spent more than two decades seeking to achieve an Alliance reconfiguration through engagement, but without a positive outcome.
It has now submitted its candidate lists to the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) and will contest the elections directly and independently in its own name.
“The SACP has not ‘walked away’ from the Alliance, but firmly remains part of it while pursuing its reconfiguration,” the party said.
The SACP is fielding 4 418 ward candidates across the country and will also contest proportional councillor seats.
It said the candidates included community members who were not SACP members, including community-development activists and members of faith-based and traditional communities.
Its electoral campaign was aimed at addressing what it described as a crisis of working-class political representation.
The SACP maintained that the Alliance remained a strategic force in advancing the National Democratic Revolution, but argued that it needed to be based on a commonly agreed revolutionary programme, democratic consultation, collective leadership and accountability.
The SACP also criticised what it described as the growing influence of right-wing and neo-liberal forces over government policy.
It singled out the recent Cabinet reshuffle, saying it illustrated the contradiction between the treatment of Alliance partners and the government's engagement with the Democratic Alliance (DA).
“The reshuffle was first announced by the DA as its decision, but subsequently implemented by President Cyril Ramaphosa,” the party said.
The SACP said the issue was therefore not about personalities, but “the chosen class and political direction of those at the helm of the state”.
The party also turned its attention to organised labour ahead of the Congress of South African Trade Unions' (COSATU) 15th National Congress, which is scheduled to take place in Midrand from September 14 to 17.
The SACP said Cosatu remained central to the struggle for working-class power and socialism.
It called on the federation to unite around improving conditions for workers across the economy rather than becoming divided along electoral lines.
“We are calling on Cosatu to unite behind prioritising better conditions for workers across the economy, in all industries and sectors, rather than being divided along electoral issues,” the SACP said.
The party said it would continue working towards unity within the working class and a trade union movement capable of confronting unemployment, casualisation, austerity, privatisation, de-industrialisation and attacks on public services.
The SACP said its election campaign would not be an electoral exercise for its own sake, describing it as “a new front of class struggle”.
Its manifesto is centred on the theme: “Build people’s power where we live: for the right to work, water, electricity, roads, land and safety for all.”
Its six priorities are: creating jobs and sustainable livelihoods; reliable public services; access to land and housing; safe communities; municipalities free from tender corruption; and councillors who are accountable to communities.
The party said it would use the elections to campaign against corruption in municipal tender systems, privatisation and unnecessary outsourcing.
It also called for greater public investment in electricity, water, roads, rail, ports, telecommunications and digital infrastructure.
The SACP said South Africa needed a more ambitious industrial policy aimed at reversing de-industrialisation, rebuilding productive capacity, reducing unemployment and addressing poverty and inequality.
The party cited the latest Quarterly Labour Force Survey, which showed the official unemployment rate had increased to 33.6% in the second quarter of 2026, with 8.5 million people unemployed.
The SACP also rejected what it described as the “Vulindlela capitalist class project”, arguing that the government's structural reforms were shifting the balance of forces in favour of private capital.
It said reforms affecting network industries risked weakening public ownership and creating opportunities for private wealth accumulation.
The party reaffirmed its support for the Freedom Charter and called for stronger public ownership, investment and democratic accountability in strategic sectors.
The SACP said it would continue supporting campaigns against the unbundling and privatisation of Eskom, and would work with the National Union of Mineworkers and National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa on these issues.
The SACP said revelations before the Madlanga Commission had exposed serious problems within the criminal justice system.
The commission's findings should result in a fundamental reset, but the process itself should be protected from capture, it said.
The party called for the rebuilding of Crime Intelligence, stronger investigative and prosecutorial capacity and additional resources for law enforcement.
It said crime was not simply a policing issue, but was also connected to unemployment, poverty, inequality, organised criminal networks, corruption and the erosion of State capacity.
The SACP also rejected xenophobic scapegoating, saying migrant workers were not responsible for the country's structural economic problems.
The Central Committee welcomed the outcome of the Conference of the Left held in May, which brought together more than 114 organisations.
The SACP said the conference was aimed at building working-class and popular power rather than creating another political party.
It has since been elected Convenor of the Council of the Left and said it would use the position to deepen unity among progressive organisations.
The party said its participation in the election should therefore be viewed within its broader strategy of rebuilding working-class political representation, pursuing Alliance reconfiguration and advancing its programme towards socialism.
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