ANC NGC rushes to convene alliance summit as rift with SACP threatens 2026 polls

ANC has confirmed that it will call an expedited alliance summit at the start of 2026, following weeks of escalating discomfort between the party and the South African Communist Party (SACP).

The move, pushed through the ANC’s National General Council (NGC), is intended to stabilise an alliance that has underpinned South African politics for decades but is showing signs of strain.

Deputy Minister of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) and ANC NEC member, Dr Dickson Masemola, told IOL that the NGC had agreed the full alliance, the ANC, SACP, COSATU and SANCO, must urgently gather to confront the disagreements threatening unity.

“We are agreeing that we need to convene an alliance summit early next year,” Masemola said.

“These matters between the ANC and the Communist Party are not issues of two structures; they are matters of the entire alliance.

“All components must come together and assess the state of the national democratic revolution and how disagreements may impact our project of socio-economic transformation.”

Masemola warned the fallout could have severe electoral consequences.

“If, for whatever reason, this tension persists, it may create an abortion of the South African revolution, something we cannot afford.

“Our engagement with comrades in the SACP is crucial because these matters are about the 62 million South Africans we serve, not about us as individuals,” he said.

ANC secretary-general, Fikile Mbalula, confirmed the summit plans to journalists during a media briefing, saying the aim was to ensure the alliance sings one song heading into the 2026 elections.

Masemola conceded that governance failures, corruption and capacity problems had fuelled public frustration but insisted the ANC remained committed to internal renewal.

“We believe the ANC is not disliked by South Africans,” he said.

“There are issues in our system that created discomfort, including corruption here and there. But we are unapologetic about confronting these issues head-on. No corrupt person will have a permanent home in the ANC.”

He added that decades of shared struggle made the alliance too significant to abandon. “We strongly believe we have not reached a point where differences cannot be mended.”

Meanwhile, the SACP said it would contest next year’s local elections without the ANC.

kamogelo.moichela@iol.co.za

IOL Politics