SACP accuses Ramaphosa of jeopardising tripartite alliance foundations

THE SACP has accused ANC President Cyril Ramaphosa of undermining the crucial principle of dual membership and jeopardising the foundations of the long-standing tripartite alliance.

Ramaphosa announced during the party’s recent National General Council (NGC) that SACP members should recuse themselves from the ANC's joint election structures. 

This was in response to the SACP’s decision to contest the 2026 local government elections, a move the ANC’s NGC viewed with "deep concern" as it relates to the weakened state of the alliance.

Speaking after the conclusion of the ANC NGC, SACP spokesperson Mbulelo Mandlana said: “The SACP expresses concern about some of the remarks of the president at the end of the NGC. Remarks to the effect that members of the SACP will be recused from participating in electoral processes of the ANC.” 

The SACP insists that targeting individual members for recusal based solely on their affiliation was a direct attack on their rights and the established norms of the alliance.

“This does not speak to the organisation but speaks to individual members, which is a cause for concern for us because those members who are members of the ANC and of the SACP at the same time must not be denied their right to participate and contribute in any way they decide that they should in the processes of the ANC,” Mandlana said.

Ramaphosa’s position fundamentally challenges the alliance structure itself, he said. 

“That kind of perspective undermines the principle of dual membership and the foundations of the alliance and we think that the ANC should clarify itself more on that question. Members of the communist party have full rights as members if they also hold at the same time the membership of the ANC,” he said.

Ramaphosa had also indicated that some SACP members themselves "feel they will be conflicted, and they are recusing themselves until we solve this problem".

ANC Youth League (ANCYL) president Collen Malatji supported a tougher line, saying: “If you are contesting us, you cannot be with us. You cannot sit and strategise with us. The issue of dual membership is no longer going to work.”

His comments were after ANC chairperson Gwede Mantashe, who is a member of both parties, previously denied that the ANC had banned dual membership. 

Cape Times