Inside SACP’s bold plan to fund its 2026 election bid without ANC

MK

Johannesburg – The South African Communist Party (SACP) has reportedly dismissed claims that it lacks the financial resources to contest the upcoming local government elections independently of the ANC.

SACP said it will contest the 2026 local government elections despite financial constraints.

According to SABC News, the party’s General Secretary Solly Mapaila said the party would depend on grassroots support to drive its campaign, speaking during the SACP’s three-day Central Committee plenary in Johannesburg.

“We don’t have money, and everybody knows that. But we’ll contest elections without money. We’ll prove it. That’s our poster. There’s no capital that’s going to fund us. But the people of South Africa, the working class, will respond to this challenge. And I think we’ll have to have a community-based election campaign without money,” the report quoted Mapaila as saying.

The party also downplayed concerns about dual membership with the ANC, insisting members will remain disciplined and committed to the SACP’s election efforts, The Citizen, reported.

“We are not in agreement because that decision is not going to strengthen us. This will just attract opportunist and many other forces that seeks to derail the National Democratic Revolution (NDR).

“This will not sustain and strengthen the communist party agenda of socialism, it’s not…The communist party to us has been a vanguard that functions and operates with the acceptance of the ANC as a vanguard liberation movement, and the party has accepted that particular role,” he said.

However, ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula warned that the SACP’s decision threatens the unity of the tripartite alliance, calling it a “disaster” that could weaken both parties.

He noted that dual members running for council positions would directly compete with ANC candidates, creating conflict.

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