At the South African Communist Party’s 5th Special National Congress, Deputy President Paul Mashatile, who heads the ANC delegation, announced that the African National Congress (ANC) will engage in discussions with its alliance partner, the South African Communist Party (SACP), in the new year.
This meeting aims to address the SACP’s recent decision to contest the upcoming local government elections separately from the ANC, a move that has sparked concern within the tripartite alliance.
During his address on the third day of the congress, held at the Birchwood Hotel in Ekurhuleni, Mashatile confirmed that the SACP had previously briefed the ANC about its decision.
Following the congress, both parties are expected to hold in-depth discussions on the specifics of this decision and its potential implications.
“We do not have the details with us of how the SACP’s decision to contest the elections separately will affect and impact us. We are still going to meet in the new year, and once we have discussed and understand how this will work, we will be able to decide,” Mashatile stated.
He further emphasised the ANC's commitment to strengthening its alliance with the SACP, asserting that it remains a pivotal platform for achieving the goals of a non-racial, non-sexist, equal, and prosperous South Africa.
The context of these talks comes in the wake of a disappointing showing for the ANC in the recent elections, where the party secured only 40% of the votes—far from the decisive victory it had anticipated. This setback led to significant discussions within the ANC regarding prospects for co-governing with the opposition, particularly the Democratic Alliance (DA).
“When we entered the elections we wanted to achieve a decisive victory in order to continue our transformation agenda. However, we significantly lost the elections, and it was a shock for all of us,” Mashatile remarked, acknowledging the gravity of the situation.
Critics within the alliance voiced their discontent with this strategic move. COSATU first deputy president Michael Shingange, strongly condemned the ANC for choosing to collaborate with the DA. “We chose the political parties to work with since our inception and we chose the ANC and SACP as our partners. We did not choose the DA,” he asserted, questioning who would truly represent the growing discontent of the masses amidst the alliance's shift towards the right.
Shingange further highlighted the DA's historical opposition to the working class, accusing the party of exhibiting hostility towards the interests of COSATU and the broader working majority. “The DA has many times shown itself to be the enemy of the poor and the working class majority of this country,” he said, in light of the DA’s previous actions, including their march against the National Democratic Revolution (NDR).
Furthermore, Shingange revealed that the federation's leadership was yet to meet to discuss who it would lend its electoral support to as COSATU is aligned to both the ANC and the SACP.
"The electoral support we will lend to any political party, as COSATU is always a product of robust discussions, which is going to happen. However, we note it's not the first time, when they have taken this decision in the past we would have supported them. If you remember, in 2018 [at] our national congress, we did say we will support a reconfigured alliance led by the ANC, but if that doesn’t happen, we were going to support the SACP in 2021. Of course, that has come to pass; they were not on the ballot and we went and supported the ANC. It called for us to go and review that decision now that the party has reached that decision they have taken,“ he said.
Saturday Star
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