SACP Confirms It Will Contest 2026 Local Elections Independently Despite ANC Bilateral Talks
JOHANNESBURG, 12 January 2026. The South African Communist Party reaffirmed this week that it will contest the 2026 local government elections independently under its own banner, the first time in South Africa's post-apartheid democratic history that the SACP will field candidates without...
SACP Confirms It Will Contest 2026 Local Elections Independently Despite ANC Bilateral Talks
JOHANNESBURG, 12 January 2026. The South African Communist Party reaffirmed this week that it will contest the 2026 local government elections independently under its own banner, the first time in South Africa's post-apartheid democratic history that the SACP will field candidates without operating under the ANC's electoral machinery, and the decision stands despite ongoing bilateral talks between the two alliance partners.
SACP General Secretary Solly Mapaila said the party's position was "a foregone conclusion" that bilateral discussions would not reverse. The decision, formally adopted at the SACP's Special National Congress in December 2025, stems from the party's opposition to the ANC's 2024 decision to enter a Government of National Unity with the Democratic Alliance following the ANC's loss of its parliamentary majority. The SACP characterised the GNU with the DA as incompatible with the party's socialist policy commitments and its vision of economic transformation.
The ANC acknowledged the SACP's stance. ANC Secretary-General Fikile Mbalula said the party "accepts but does not agree" with the SACP's decision. President Cyril Ramaphosa had indicated at the ANC's National General Council in December 2025 that SACP members would be barred from participation in the ANC's election strategy meetings for the 2026 campaign, given that the SACP would be competing against the ANC in some ward contests.
The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU), the third member of the Tripartite Alliance, expressed support for the SACP's independent campaign, deepening the ANC's isolation within the alliance structure it has relied on for decades. The ANC and SACP remained nominally within the alliance framework, with the SACP insisting it was not breaking from the relationship but rather "freeing ourselves from the abuse."
The SACP's independent run will mark a significant test of its actual voter support: the party has never before stood separately from the ANC and has no baseline for measuring its electoral appeal outside the ANC's structures. The local elections are expected to be held in the second half of 2026.
The Tripartite Alliance between the ANC, SACP, and COSATU has formed the backbone of the South African liberation movement since the 1950s. The three organisations formally agreed to work together electorally after the transition to democracy in 1994.