JOHANNESBURG - The decade-old alliance between the ANC and the SACP is facing one of the most serious fractures yet.
This, as the communist party accused the ANC of turning a tactical difference into an administrative ultimatum directed at its members inside the ANC.
This comes after the ANC announced it would send formal letters to all party members, demanding clarity on their political alliance.
This places their dual membership in question ahead of the local government, wherein the SACP intends to contest independently.
Now, the ANC wants members to declare whether they will campaign for the ANC or the SACP.
READ | ANC or SACP? ANC demands clarity on party loyalty from members
SACP General Secretary, Solly Mapaila, rejected the ANC’s position.
He said the ANC's demand for SACP members to declare their alliance or face disciplinary action is not administrative, but a political shift that now makes them question the ANC.
“This is not a minor procedural adjustment; it is regrettably a serious anti-communist political move with far-reaching implications, which also changes the character of the ANC as we know it.
“It amounts to an attempt to reinterpret the alliance and dual membership in now electoral and one-sided alliance terms.
“It reduces the historic strategic relationship forged in a bitter struggle for national liberation,” he said.
'We are not enemies'
Mapaila argued that, for over 30 years, the SACP has supported the ANC’s electoral contest to the extent that they reserved their right to contest the elections.
This, he said, was done in favour of voting and campaigning for the ANC within the framework of the alliance.
But now believes the same support lacks from the ANC
READ | Is this the beginning of the end for the Tripartite Alliance?
Mapaila insists that the decision to contest the elections independently is not a move of hostility.
“In the golden rule of justice and solidarity, the principles of consistency are as crucial as in mathematics. The moment you expect one side to do what you demonstrably are not prepared to do yourself or to sustain forever what you have never done in a single moment of history, you must recognise that you are unfair,” he added.
Mapaila argued that the dual membership was never meant to abolish the SACP's right to think, organise, campaign, and develop tactics on any question as an independent part of the working class.
“We have shared blood, sacrificed, and shared battles into a one-sided demand for subordination and permanent support from an ally, while not considering reciprocating the same support for a single moment.
In a separate media briefing held on Thursday, ANC secretary general Fikile Mbalula said the ANC remained firm in its stance that tripartite Alliance members who campaign for the SACP in the municipal elections risk disciplinary action.
READ | 'We are allies, joined together by blood'- Ramaphosa to the SACP
He's warned that those who defy the directive could face consequences, including removal from positions of responsibility.
“Should you decide to ignore this communication, and you are found to be campaigning for any other political party outside the ANC, we will take steps to safeguard the constitution of the ANC. If you are in the executive at local government or serving in any position of influence, including deployment, we will take steps, including removal from those particular positions with immediate effect," he said.
Mbalula emphasised that the decision by the SACP to contest elections independently carries clear organisational consequences.
This includes that SACP will not participate in ANC election structures, processes, campaign activities, or candidate lists, and that all ANC members are required to act in full compliance with the constitution.