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South African Communist Party (SACP) Spokesperson, Mbulelo Mandlana
The South African Communist Party (SACP) says it is making good progress in its preparations towards this year’s local government elections. The Communist Party will be contesting elections on its own after taking a decision that it will not back its alliance partner, the African National Congress (ANC).
The party held a two-day lekgotla of its leadership this past weekend, with discussions focusing on a range of political, economic, social and international matters.
SACP Spokesperson, Mbulelo Mandlana, says the party intends to contest every available ward in the country.
“We have begun preparations for the Communist Party. Our manifesto development processes are well underway, and we are already 70–80% complete in establishing our election structures. We are fine-tuning the remaining structures necessary to ensure we are fully prepared to participate in the upcoming elections. As for whether we will have full representation in practically every ward, that will be determined by the realities on the ground. However, we intend to achieve this,” says Mandlana.
The SACP is optimistic about its chances in this year’s local government elections, despite its poor showing in two recent by-elections it has contested. The party garnered one per cent of the vote in two successive by-elections, which took place in Limpopo late last year. It has opted to contest elections on its own, abandoning its alliance partner, the ANC, in the upcoming municipal polls. SACP National Spokesperson, Mbulelo Mandlana, says that there is a marked difference between contesting one ward in a by-election and competing for a municipality in a national election.
WATCH | SACP National Chairperson Blade Nzimande has written a document opposing the party’s participation in the upcoming local government elections, putting him at odds with Secretary General Solly Mapaila. pic.twitter.com/gxMfUlDlCI
— SABC News (@SABCNews) January 9, 2026
“In a ward scenario, it’s just a single ward, there are no PR votes to be counted, and so on. I don’t want to go into the technical details of how votes are counted in elections. The point we are making is that looking at these by-elections in isolation, without considering that they are only ward contests and not full municipal elections, is misleading. The SACP has not yet canvassed the entire municipality, as it will during the elections. Therefore, judging the Communist Party as a non-entity based on these by-elections would be putting the cart before the horse,” says
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