ANC Has No Right to Stop SACP From Contesting Elections Alone - Mapaila

At a media briefing on Sunday, SACP general secretary, Solly Mapaila, said that the party had noted the ANC's opposition, however, it was moving full steam ahead.

FILE: The SACP's Solly Mapaila delivering the Joe Slovo Memorial Lecture in Mpumalanga on 11 January 2024. Picture: Katlego Jiyane/EWN

JOHANNESBURG - The South African Communist Party (SACP) said that the African National Congress (ANC) had no right to stop it from contesting elections alone.

Aside from a by-election in the Free State in 2017, the SACP has always contested elections under the ANC banner.

Recently, the ANC registered its opposition to this move, saying it was a lose-lose situation as the vote would be split among the alliance partners.

At a media briefing on Sunday, SACP general secretary, Solly Mapaila, said that the party had noted the ANC's opposition, however, it was moving full steam ahead.

"The ANC will have no right to stop us from contesting elections. We are an independent organisation in our own right, we are in alliance with the ANC. We will discuss these matters of our alliance relationship, our dual membership system."

Mapaila said that the party's decision to contest elections alone was partly inspired by it wanting to have more of a say in governance matters.

"At the moment, the ANC has represented us in government and we think it has taken some very poor decisions on our behalf and in many instances unilaterally without consultation. That's part of the reason we called for the reconfiguration of the alliance, so that there is a review about how the revolution exercises its authority and its mandate in South Africa."