By MALEFO EDWIN MOSIMANYANE
9 April 2025- “Workers of the world unite, you have nothing to lose but the chains of oppression, and you have the world to gain.”
During the SACP Special National Congress the SACP took the decision to contest the 2026 local elections independently from ANC. However, the issue of the SACP and the state power has been a hotly contested debate since the relaunch of the YCL in 2006, culminating in a situation whereby some in the SACP has been talking about contesting the election under the so-called reconfigured alliance that includes ANC/SACP/COSATU and SANCO.
We can actually characterise this tendency as a rupture. The decision must not be interpreted as a war between the ANC and the left axis within the
country led by SACP and COSATU, but as advancing the Special National Congress resolution that talks about rejecting some nationalist and bourgeoisie reformist agenda.
One can cite the ANC-DA led GNU as a classic example of the bourgeoisie reformist agenda. Neither is this about bolshevism versus menshivsm. Recently, the former National Secretary of the YCL, Comrade Buti Manamela in his article entitled: “An army of Generals? Reflections on the SACP’s political Capacity and the crisis of hegemony”, raised a very crucial debate on the matters, some which warrant us as Marxist to apply our dialectical tools of analysis.
However, the issue which I think needs us to reflect is the state of the party and its organs, as well as resources and if indeed we are ready to contest the election in a toxic capitalist environment? Although in South Africa it will be the first time that the SACP is contesting elections outside the boundaries of the alliance, it will not necessarily be the first time that the leftist party is contesting the elections.
Previously we have seen parties like SOPA (Socialist party of Azania) WOSA and the latest in 2019, was the party formed by NUMSA and led by Irvin Jim called SRWP (Socialist Revolutionary Workers party), which only got 0.15% in the 2019 elections and did not contest the 2024 elections. But at the same
time, the party must avoid falling into the trap of ultra-leftists’ formation like the Spartacist formation in the US that have been calling for the SACP and COSATU, to break away from what they called deformed bourgeoisie state, which basically serves to create schism within the tripartite alliance.
Previously the SACP contested the elections in Metsimaholo and won 3 seats. Some might ask if the party is trying to resuscitate the old and failed debate over the two-stage theory in which the first stage of NDR will be led by the ANC and the second stage that will ultimately led us to socialism will be led by SACP, although some deny this debate within our ranks.
But history is littered with left parties and communist parties leading governments globally,
particularly in Latin America. The question is whether SACP will survive the turbulent election turf learning lessons from other left parties globally and locally, also bearing in mind contesting elections is costly in
nature and character.
Beyond the issue of turbulent environment, elections need lot of money and resources
something which might cripple the party especially in a capitalist environment whereby the
bourgeoisie are not willing to fund working class formations like SACP that advance the
agenda for socialism and ultimately communism, unless we will have to rely on our allies
within the trade union movement. However, we must welcome the gesture of NUM,
NEHAWU and POPCRU among other COSATU affiliates to back the decision of the SACP
special National congress to contest the elections.
The question remains what to be done, if I have to paraphrase Lenin? Especially in the era
whereby the SACP finds itself at the crossroad. On the 27 March – 2 April 2025, Financial Mail
posed a question that, if the decision of the SACP to contest the election will result in death
or glory?
Something that we can’t simply dismiss as another headline by the bourgeoisie media, but that warrants us communist to deeply reflect on the matter.
GLOBAL LEFTIST FORMATIONS IN POWER
Across the globe, we have some communist and workers parties leading governments across
the globe inter-alia: The CPC (Communist Party of CUBA) leading the CUBAN government,
the CPC (Communist Party of China) leading China, the Communist Party of Vietnam in
Vietnam, the Workers Party of Korea leading the DPRK (Democratic Republic of Korea) aka
North Korea, the Communist Party of NEPAL (Maoist) leading NEPAL, AKEL in Cyprus the
Sandinista movement in Nicaragua that previously lost power and later regain it, when it
won power again.
In India, we have seen the Communist party of India Marxist (CPI-M) leading the Kerala state,
we have seen the workers party PT led by Inancio Lula Da Silva leading Brazil and
having massive success among Brazilians. This led to a scenario whereby COSATU was
calling for the Lula moment in SA, later Lula power and he recently regained power again in
October 2023.
The same year in June 2023, another leftist candidate Gustavo Petro won
elections in Colombia. The same applies to PSUV led by the late Hugo Chavez and later Nicolas Maduro leading the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela named after the struggle Icon Simon Bolivar and having massive success in Venezuela.
We have seen Chile under Michelle Ballet and Bolivia under MAS (Movement for advancement of Socialism) led by Evo Morales winning massive
success in Bolivia. In Mexico, the candidate of the Left Claudia Sheinbann has been leading
Mexico as a successor to Andres Manuel Lopez.
IS THE LEFT UNDER CRUCIFICATION GLOBALLY
We have seen the arrest of Lula Inancio Da Silva and Rouseff Dilma in Brazil, the
victimization of Evo Morales in Bolivia, as well as Hugo Chavez in Venezuela, the
assassination of Allende in Chile, the imperialist sanction and attack on the sovereign state
of CUBA, the destabilisation of Honduras among others.
The question is whether the SACP
will also not be victimised by the capitalist and the imperialist forces like another global leftist
formations. During May 2024 elections, we have seen the increasing capitalist offensive
campaign against the ANC that seeks to instigate the regime change agenda in SA, including
funding some reactionary opposition parties that seek to topple the ANC-led government.
Within the alliance, the SACP has been complaining about some of the posture that have
been undertaken by its alliance partner dating back from the era of the 1996 class project
until now under GNU. Something that pushed the party to contest the 2026 elections.
Cde Sifiso Gwala succinctly characterises this tendency as the crisis of hegemony. there is NDR (National Democratic Revolution), which its mission is the emancipation of
blacks in general and Africans in particular from political and economic bondage, the alliance
remain intact towards advancing this vision.
As we debate this thorny issue, let us not reduce it to labelling or to revisit the ghost of Ultra left debate, bearing in mind Marxism is not a dogmatic orthodoxy.
One can recall that the same debate once took place in Russia during the Perestroika and the Glasnost debate. As the former SASCO SG Cde Lazola Ndamase said in this critique to the document of Cde Buti Manamela “Let us rebuild the party’s hegemony not by retreating from the fray, but by charging into it, by rooting ourselves in the struggle of the informalised, casualised and discarded”.
As we continue to critique each other we must at all costs avoid labelling and victimization of other comrades, but bear in mind as Lenin said the task of the Youth League is to learn, learn and learn.
(Note: The article is the view of the writer, Malefo Mosimanyane, a former YCL NWC and National committee member, who wrote it in his personal capacity. The Guardian newspaper and its associates neither agree nor disagree with the content of the article as the views remain of the writer.)
The Guardian 