ANC Youth League president Koren Malatsi has vowed that the South African Communist Party (SACP) will not receive any support if it continues with its decision to contest local government in 2026.
Mr Malatzi was speaking at the Peter Mokaba Memorial Lecture in Khayelitsha on Friday, as part of preparations for the ANC's January 8 commemoration in Cape Town this weekend.
He said SACP general secretary Solly Mapaila and his “friends” must leave the three-party alliance and fight the elections alone, rather than dragging the Communist Party with them.
“Soly Mapaila and his friends must never think they can oust the ANC. You cannot be a populist when the ANC is under attack. We all must unite, close ranks and protect the ANC from the enemy,” he said.
“If we all work together, the ANC president will not be called a sellout. [labour federation] Cosatu, SACP, [South African National Civic Organisation] Sanko — We all campaigned together, so we’re stuck at 40%. ”
The SACP adopted a resolution last year to break away from the ANC and contest the 2026 local government elections.
The Communist Party accused its alliance partner, the ANC, of selling itself out by forming a national unity government consisting of 10 parties, including the Democratic Alliance (DA).
It is still unclear whether the SACP will “donate” the votes it secures to the ANC if it contests local government elections, as it has done since 1994.
The ANC is committed to an engagement process with the SACP, and both parties will hold interactive meetings this month to address differences.
Mr Malatsi told ANC Youth League members that Mr Mapaila “never intends to leave the SACP” as he belongs to the mass democracy movement.
He accused Mr Mapaila of wanting to form an alliance with the Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK) party, which would give the ANC a 50% majority in the May 29, 2024 elections needed for full rule. He said this was the reason why he could not get any votes.
“If he wants to join MK with Floyd Shivambu, he can leave and leave the SACP alone,” Malatsi said.
“We're not going to tolerate the populists. When we were 63%, they were happy with us, when we were 57%, they were happy with us. , and when we are under siege, they leave us and join the counterrevolution at the expense of our people.”
Malatsi said there is a tendency among people in the movement to believe that the organization is theirs because members sing and applaud for them at rallies.
There are no SACPs that belong to Solly. If he wants to see it, he has to leave the country and vote. He will understand that it will be just him, Floyd Shivambu and his children. ”
“He can run around in Thokoza, where he is from, but no one will greet him because no one knows Solly Mapaila.”
Mr Malatsi also harshly criticized former ANC president Jacob Zuma, calling him a counter-revolutionary and the true enemy of the country.
“When I go home I have to tell my family that Jacob Zuma is worse than the prosecutor. He is the one who took the ANC to 40%. [in the 29 May elections]as a result, our people are stripped of their status. Zuma is an enemy of our people.
“Young people must always remember that Zuma is a counter-revolutionary and a man who sold out his people for nothing.”
