Mbalula drops the axe: SACP barred from ANC election structures
ANC secretary-general, Fikile Mbalula, said the SACP will not be invited to the ANC’s election campaign.
Image: Itumeleng English / Independent Newspapers
ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula has announced that the South African Communist Party (SACP) has been disinvited from participating in the party’s election structures.
Mbalula said this while delivering the closing address at the 12th ANC Tshwane Regional Conference on Sunday in Pretoria.
“We have resolved to strengthen the alliance we have also resolved to solve this impasse but in the meantime, we will disinvite the SACP from all election preparation platforms.
“We did not fight with the SACP but we have to deal with the reality of their resolution which we disagree with. Based on this notion we have decided not to invite them into any of our election structures,” he said.
“As we prepare for the elections, we will not invite them into our election structures… Don’t be confused and share manuals with the communists.”
However, Mbalula urged party members not to fight the communists, saying “it is only the structure that is not invited.”
“They must not be chased away based on the fact that they are SACP members,” he said.
The SACP has decided to contest the upcoming 2026 local government elections independently of the ANC for several strategic and ideological reasons.
SACP general secretary, Solly Mapaila, stated that the move was a direct response to a "crisis of working-class representation," where the interests of the poor and workers were being neglected in the current political landscape.
The SACP has also been vocal about the ANC’s decision to form a Government of National Unity with the Democratic Alliance (DA), a party they said was only interested in serving the white minority.
They also viewed this as a move away from the National Democratic Revolution (NDR) and toward "neo-liberalism".
The ANC in Tshwane has elected the new leadership ahead of the 2026 local government elections.
Image: X/ANC Tswane
Meanwhile, in his address, he called on delegates to lead the charge in rebuilding and renewing branches, strengthening the movement from the ground up.
The ANC Tshwane region has elected a new leadership ahead of the elections.
kamogelo.moichela@iol.co.za
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