SACP slams Ramaphosa's comments on dual membership, warns it could undermine the tripartite alliance

The South African Communist Party (SACP) has expressed concern and criticism over remarks made by ANC President Cyril Ramaphosa at the recent National General Council (NGC), specifically his announcement that SACP members should recuse themselves from the ANC's joint election structures. 

The SACP has warned that Ramaphosa’s stance undermines the crucial principle of dual membership and jeopardises the foundations of the long-standing tripartite alliance.

Speaking after the conclusion of the ANC NGC, SACP spokesperson Mbulelo Mandlana  said the party was not pleased at the tone of the criticism.

“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,” Mandlana said.

Ramaphosa made the announcement on Thursday during his closing address at the NGC meeting at the Birchwood Hotel in Ekurhuleni. 

The resolution followed discussions regarding the SACP's independent 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.

Ramaphosa confirmed the NGC had resolved that SACP members serving in joint ANC election structures should "recuse" themselves.

However, the SACP insists that targeting individual members for recusal based solely on their affiliation is 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.

Mandlana went on to argue that Ramaphosa’s position fundamentally challenges the alliance structure itself.

“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.

The controversy has shone the spotlight on the escalating tension within the tripartite alliance—comprising the ANC, SACP, and Cosatu—following the SACP's resolution to field and fund its own candidates in the upcoming 2026 local government elections.

Ramaphosa said the NGC supported the ANC NEC’s view that the SACP’s decision "carries both tactical and strategic implications for the alliance," and spoke of a need for urgent leadership meetings to develop a "common approach to the reconfiguration and renewal of the alliance".

Ramaphosa noted 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 last week, “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.”

Despite the ANCYL's stance and Ramaphosa's comments, ANC chairperson Gwede Mantashe, who is a member of both parties, previously denied that the ANC had banned dual membership. 

mashudu.sadike@inl.co.za