MIDDELBURG – The Secretary-General of the South African Communist Party (SACP), Solly Mapaila, has reaffirmed the party’s decision to contest state power in the upcoming 2026 local government elections.
Speaking to the Highveld Chronicle during the May Day rally at Kees Taljaard Stadium in Middelburg, Mapaila clarified that while the SACP will contest the elections independently, this does not mean they are challenging the African National Congress (ANC) or leaving the tripartite alliance formed by the ANC, COSATU, and the SACP.
“We are still going ahead with the contest for the 2026 local government elections. But we are not leaving the alliance. We are still in the alliance,” he said.
“I think it’s important for this matter to be clarified. This is not a fight against the ANC. We will contest elections because we are an independent organisation.”
At its special national congress held in December last year, the SACP resolved to participate in all future elections, starting with next year’s.
Mapaila added that the decision was not driven by narrow party-political reasons but by a working-class contestation of power, a direct response to the crisis of working-class representation.
“For years, decisions about the economy and society have been made without consultation with the working class. This must end,” he said. “We are not seeking to elevate individuals into the political elite. We are seeking to advance a programme of democratic power rooted in the interests of the workers and the poor to win the battle for democracy as a single class.”
He further emphasised the need to strengthen the voice of the working class, which he argued has been sidelined in government priorities. “We need to fight a neoliberal agenda that has captured the trajectory of our revolution, where the role of the private sector is becoming predominant over the public sector in the economy.”
Dual membership, where SACP members are also members of the ANC, remains a key concept.
Mapaila also called on COSATU, all its affiliates, and all other progressive worker organisations, “to unite with us in this historic mission.”
