The ANC in the Eastern Cape will keep pressing its alliance partner, the SACP, to do the right thing on November 4, as it fights to retain power in the upcoming local government elections.
Speaking during a Workers’ Day commemoration in Nelson Mandela Bay, ANC provincial deputy secretary Helen Sauls-August reminded the SACP of their shared history and political dependence on one another.
The local government elections will take place on November 4.
“It cannot be, comrades, that in our lifetime we will see the dissolution of the tripartite alliance. It cannot be.
“Irrespective of our views and what we are going to contest, as this [ANC] Eastern [Cape] PEC [provincial executive committee], I can assure you, we will not stop reaching out and talking to our comrades in the SACP.
“We will not stop talking and convincing comrades of the right thing to do.
“Go out and vote for the ANC, to ensure that the ANC is going to remain in power in Nelson Mandela Bay. It is not going to be easy,” Sauls-August said.
The SACP formally resolved in December 2024 to contest elections independently, marking a significant break from its long-standing electoral alignment with the ANC within the tripartite alliance, alongside the Congress of SA Trade Unions.
Sauls-August, who, before speaking, apologised for arriving late, said the path to the national democratic revolution had not been abandoned. “It is important to remember the road we have traversed as the alliance, that we should always remember where we are coming from, and we may not be going all together to that Jerusalem, but we know that the ANC is going to go there.
“We should also remember the important role that workers have played in South Africa, in the Eastern Cape, and particularly here in Nelson Mandela Bay.
“It has led to the ANC in 1994 securing that victory, because without the support of workers, without the support of the SACP, without the support of SANCO, without all fraternal organisations supporting the ANC, we would not have had this ANC in government in 1994.”
SACP provincial secretary Xolile Nqatha said the Communist Party needed to contest elections because it had become irrelevant.
Nqatha said the ANC and SACP were merely instruments of the people — and would be discarded if they lost their relevance.
“These instruments can only be relevant if they implement the Freedom Charter to the core so that wealth can be redistributed and people aren’t living in squalor.
“The SACP decided to stand up for the working class, and here in the province, this isn’t something we’ve fought over.”
Nqatha said an ANC–SACP administration could offer both stability and a more radical agenda than the coalitions governing Nelson Mandela Bay.
He said this decision was a life-or-death choice for the SACP.
“The SACP has become increasingly irrelevant [and] its colours stolen.
Nehawu’s first deputy president, Nyameka Macanda, said in recent years, Workers’ Day had been reduced to a moment of leisure.
“We want people to respect this day. We must reclaim May Day as a day of organisation.”
Macanda said workers faced a crisis of ever-increasing prices from electricity, petrol, basic goods and even labour brokers.
“As workers, we must come together and face the challenges we’re confronted with together.”
Sanco national treasurer Judith Nemadzinga-Tshabalala said the goal was to see the alliance go forward.
“We want to guarantee the future of workers.
“Communities must experience the presence of the movement in their daily lives through jobs, infrastructure and responsive governance. As we approach the local government elections, we must be clear that elections are not won through slogans but through service delivery.”
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