The ANC reached out to its historical opponents — the Democratic Alliance (DA), Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) and Freedom Front Plus — to form a government nationally and in KwaZulu-Natal and the Northern Cape.

In Gauteng, the ANC’s coalition talks with the former official opposition collapsed, leading Premier Panyaza Lesufi — one of the fiercest opponents of working with DA in the ANC and its alliance — to form a minority government with the Patriotic Alliance, Rise Mzansi and the IFP.

The government of national unity (GNU), and of provincial unity in KwaZulu-Natal, have held since their formation mid-year, but have generated internal pushback in the ANC and its alliance partners.

The South African Communist Party (SACP) and labour federation Cosatu both oppose the ANC’s relationship with the DA, as do many of its leaders and rank-and-file members, and have been calling on it to reconsider its decision and choose other partners with whom to govern.

Seven months on from the May elections, a second major political realignment is taking place, with several of the parties repositioning themselves ahead of the 2026 local government elections and the national and provincial elections three years later.

Last weekend, the SACP, a long-standing ANC alliance partner, confirmed its decision to contest the 2026 vote as a standalone party. 

The SACP special national congress ratified the resolution by its central committee that ends 30 years of the party backing the ANC at the polls and introduces it as a potential competitor, rather than an ally.

The SACP will contest all wards in the country and is considering how to fund its campaign and whether to “donate” its votes to the ANC, should it take wards in the municipalities.

The party has made it clear it would prefer the ANC to draw the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) into the GNU to replace the DA and it is likely to maintain this position when negotiations over the formation of councils in hung municipalities take place after the local elections.

In his opening address to the recent SACP congress, its secretary general, Solly Mapaila, said as much, describing the ANC-DA relationship as a “doomsday coalition”, but he also closed the door on working with Jacob Zuma’s “counter-revolutionary” uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) party.

Mapaila said the SACP was not abandoning the alliance — or splintering the ANC — but was “asserting its independence” because of the governing party’s repeated failure to pay attention to the issue of reconfiguring the alliance.

The SACP will meet the ANC ahead of the latter’s national executive committee lekgotla, which traditionally sets out the priorities for government for the year ahead as part of a process of “continuous engagement” they agreed to in November.

The parties held their first bilateral talks last month in what was a clear attempt by the ANC to head off the decision to contest the polls and agreed to the pre-lekgotla follow-up as a concession to the SACP’s demand that it be consulted.

But whether this will allow the SACP to influence the cabinet process, which will have to also accommodate the DA and other parties, or whether it is simply a toy telephone, remains to be seen.

ANC secretary general Fikile Mbalula told the media ahead of the special congress that his party would “engage further” and do everything possible to “undermine” the decision, which would have “dire consequences” for the alliance.

“We have cautioned against that,” Mbalula said. “It will have far reaching implications as allies going forward. If the SACP and the ANC contest in [the same] ward, we are going to clash and we are going to divide the base. 

“So, it has got implications and that is why we cautioned against that.”

EFF looks to the ANC

The SACP — and by implication the ANC — are not the only parties facing hard choices regarding how they position themselves in a changing political landscape.

The appearance of the MK party on the political scene not only cost the ANC its majority in May but also robbed the EFF of its position as the country’s third-largest party.

The EFF, which concluded its third national people’s assembly at the weekend, has been forced into a process of realignment itself as it chooses how it works — and with whom — with its reduced numbers.

Shifting alliances at council level have seen the EFF entering into power-sharing arrangements with the ANC in metro councils in Gauteng, removing the DA from power in both Johannesburg and Tshwane, and co-governing in Ekurhuleni. 

The party has also helped the ANC retain power in eThekwini in KwaZulu-Natal and now appears ready to attempt to replace the DA as the ANC’s partner nationally.

EFF president Julius Malema told delegates to the people’s assembly that the party is ready to go into a coalition with the ANC on condition that the DA is removed from the government of national unity.

Malema said the GNU would not last, predicting that, if President Cyril Ramaphosa did not bring into effect the two contentious clauses of the Basic Education Amendment Laws (Bela) Act, ANC members would remove him.

If Ramaphosa was not removed in the near future, it would happen after the ANC’s 2027 national conference, at which he was likely to be replaced by a person opposed to the current GNU, Malema predicted.

“The person who is going to be elected is a person who is going to fight the GNU and that is why we are saying it will not last,” he said.

“Everywhere else it is being rejected but people keep imposing it on members of the ANC. 

“So, don’t rush, comrades, we are waiting, we are going to enter this government. We are waiting. You will see.”

Malema also shot down the idea of a coalition with the MK party, to which a number of key EFF leaders, including Floyd Shivambu, have defected.

He has rejected Zuma’s “unity” approaches — and turned down an invitation to its first anniversary rally on Sunday — despite the two parties having been part of the self-proclaimed “progressive caucus” in parliament in opposition to the ANC-led GNU. “We want nothing to do with uMkhonto [but] it’s their own [problem] if they want them,” he said at the weekend about a possible ANC-MK party alliance. “We can’t choose friends for them anyway. They were friends together, criminals.”

The EFF has also urged its members to view the MK party as enemy number one, accusing its leaders of trying to destroy it by poaching key leaders and undermining its unity.

Black messiah

Zuma, in turn, has positioned MK as the focal point of a united front among black parties and at the weekend used its anniversary rally to sell it as such to other parties and his supporters.

Several other smaller parties — including Xiluva and the South African Rainbow Alliance — have already collapsed into Zuma’s party. 

The MK party’s secretary general, Shivambu, said it expected more to do so during the course of next year.

On Sunday, Zuma called on those parties that remained to vote for MK in 2026 and 2029 to help it achieve victory.

The former head of state said “black parties should stop fighting each other” in the coming elections, help the MK party take power, and then return to normal politics.

“We are not playing here. This is the last phase of our fight for our country,” he said.

“There are four years left before we vote again and take back what is ours and to fix our country. Are you with me? Stop acting like it will take 10 years. We need to work now, so we can be back in power.”

He said “black people must come together in local government and fix what happened in the past” in the coming election.

Zuma continued this theme at a gala dinner on Monday evening, at which he urged party members and leaders not to respond to insults from other political parties.

“Your business is to promote uMkhonto weSizwe so that people can see that, if this organisation is in power, we will have peace,” he said, urging those in attendance not to fight for positions.

The MK party has found itself in court over the removal of MPs to accommodate members brought in after the elections and recently lost cases in both the Mpumalanga legislature and the national assembly.

It also faces tension at ward level where disputes have broken out over the party replacing candidates chosen by its local supporters with those it has selected.

Zuma said the party would take action against people who continued to fight for positions.

“Our journey is a genuine one. The positions don’t mean anything — you waste your energy, time on hating a person who has not taken anything from you. We want people to stop their anger and have comradeship.”

ANC’s hard choices

The ANC’s first executive committee meeting of the year next month will not only be faced with how to deal with its dysfunctional KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng leadership structures, but how it responds to the scenario unfolding before it.

The party leadership is battling to deal with internal pushback over the relationship with the DA, which will intensify as the 2026 elections — and the ANC’s next elective conference  — approach.

The public tension with the DA over the Bela Act has been seized upon by opponents of the GNU in the ANC, as have that over foreign policy and the National Health Insurance, and will be used as a lever to try to move the ANC towards the SACP and the EFF in the future.

For now, the ANC will try to contain the fallout with its alliance partners internally while it smooths over the public clashes with the DA over policy issues by dealing with them at the level of the cabinet clearing house set up by Ramaphosa to resolve disputes between coalition partners.

In the case of the Bela Act, they are likely to use enabling regulations to resolve the stand-off over the implementation of two contentious clauses, allowing the process to go ahead while satisfying the concerns of both sides.

Speaking to journalists at the SACP congress at the weekend, ANC deputy president Paul Mashatile, who led the party’s delegation, said they would wait for further details of the SACP’s decisions before determining their effect on the tripartite alliance, which includes Cosatu.

“They will brief us after their congress. Once we have the details, we will discuss the implications for the alliance,” he said.

Responding to questions about strained relations, Mashatile admitted that the ANC’s formation of a unity government had drawn ire from alliance partners because they had not been consulted about the processes.

“We acknowledge the criticism that consultations came late during the GNU process. We have since engaged with our partners to address their concerns,” he said.

Malema made the comment in his closing address on Sunday to the EFF’s third elective conference which saw him returned unopposed as party leader.

The party’s other top six members include deputy president Godrich Gardee, secretary general Marshall Dlamini, deputy secretary general Leigh-Ann Mathys, national chairperson Nontando Nolutshungu and treasurer general Omphile Maotwe.

Malema told delegates that the national coalition government would not last, predicting that if President Cyril Ramaphosa did not bring into effect the two contentious clauses of the Basic Education Amendment (Bela) Act, ANC members were going to remove him.

If Ramaphosa was not removed now as South Africa’s president, this would happen after the ANC elective conference in 2027 and he would be replaced by someone opposed to the unity government, Malema went on to predict.

His remarks were an apparent reference to deputy president Paul Mashatile, who plays a key role in the coalition government with the DA and other parties but was seen singing an anti-GNU song at this week’s South African Communist Party congress.

“The person who is going to be elected is a person who is going to fight GNU, and that is why we are saying it will not last,” Malema said.

“Everywhere else it is being rejected, but people keep on imposing it on members of the ANC, so don’t rush comrades, we are waiting, we are going to enter this government. We are just waiting, you will see.”

He said when the ANC started fighting with DA federal chair Helen Zille, the EFF would enter government. It would do this not to save the ANC, but to work for the people and through this, they would vote the EFF into power at the next elections, Malema added.

“Our people gave all the progressive black parties a majority to govern in South Africa, the ANC decided to go with right wingers, racists, white supremacists. It will come back to its senses. When it comes back to its senses, When it comes back to its senses, we are here,” he said.

Malema said if the ANC were to invite Jacob Zuma’s uMkhonto weSizwe party into the coalition government, that would be its own problem, making clear that the EFF’s participation wasn’t dependent on MK’s inclusion.

“We want nothing to do with uMkhonto (but) it’s their own (problem) if they want them… We can’t choose friends for them anyway. They were friends together, criminals,” he said.

Malema said being tasked with the responsibility of being the vanguard of the struggle for economic freedom was not a personal achievement for the EFF’s newly-elected leaders.

“No one has won anything here today. It is only the EFF. The EFF showed the highest level of discipline and democracy without any incidents of violence or humiliation of any individual,” he said, adding that the conference had proved that the party was “bigger than all of them”.

“There were countless attempts to inspire division, factionalism and disunity ahead of this national people’s assembly, and as delegates of branches of the EFF, you resisted the agents of disruption and delivered a successful conference. For this, I thank you,” he told delegates.

Malema said many of the members of the EFF central command team (CCT) who were elected on Saturday would be leading at the national level for the first time and the party should  determine what this entailed. Every CCT member must be an all rounder with the capacity to organise and mobilise without seeking external assistance, he added.

Malema said there were people who had been working day and night to divide the EFF, not because they hated the party, but because they could never succeed outside factional politics.  

“So our leaders will have to grow very fast, because factionalism is what destroyed the ANC and it will destroy the EFF. Our leaders must learn to consult each other. There is no leader here who possesses all of the wisdom,” he said.

“If you are a secretary of a province, you find yourself talking to other secretaries of provinces, giving them names from your province, and you have not consulted with your chairperson about that. You must know you are a problem.

“You have to respect each other and respecting each other means you have to respect each other’s views. You don’t have to agree with the name, but give them an opportunity to express themselves.”

In an apparent reference to EFF MP Mbuyiseni Ndlozi, who had been punted as a potential deputy president, but skipped the elective conference, Malema said “there is no leader of the EFF who’s not here in front”.

“There’s no leader of the EFF who’s not here in Nasrec. If they are not here, they are not leaders of the EFF. You must never regard them as the leaders of the EFF,” he added.

“He’s not here and it’s not in our interest to entertain such nonsense,” a visibly annoyed Malema told journalists on Saturday morning, on the sidelines of the EFF’s third national people’s assembly currently underway in Nesrec, Soweto.

When the conference opened on Friday, Ndlozi was one of the high profile EFF figures that was notably absent. 

“We are not going to answer the question about Mbuyiseni Ndlozi,”Malema said on Saturday. 

“I’m not responsible for Mbuyiseni Ndlozi, 90% of the people who are here, who are expected to be here, are here, that’s what matters. Whoever is not here, was not supposed to be here from the beginning. So you are not going to reduce this organisation to some individual. We are going to refuse that.”

In November, the Mail & Guardian reported that Ndlozi had been barred from attending all activities including party meetings. This was after some in the EFF raised concerns about his loyalty to the organisation because of his close relationship with former deputy president Floyd Shivambu who defected to the uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) party.

Ndlozi has also been attacked by some party members for not defending the EFF during its hard times when the Jacob Zuma-led MK party was porching its members.

Last month Malema told EFF supporters outside the constitutional court that Ndlozi had renewed his party membership and was going nowhere, adding that no political party could claim him.

“I hear people are talking about Dr. Ndlozi as a member of the EFF, he’s a leader of the EFF and no organisation can claim him except for the EFF,” Malema said at the time.

“You must not listen to gossip from drunkards. You ask us about the EFF leaders and we will tell you that Ndlozi is an active EFF member. He renewed his membership, he is part of the EFF membership system of the EFF.”

On Thursday, EFF secretary general Marshall Dlamini told a media briefing that the party would not reduce its conference to an individual. 

“We’re here now at the third national people’s assembly. This NPA will prove that no one is bigger than this organisation. This is an organisation of members of the EFF; you’re a member, and you know what is expected. So, I’m not going to entertain any names. I’ve got 2 500 delegates here; it starts and ends there,” Dlamini said.

On Saturday a furious Malema asked journalists why the party should be concerned about one person, as if the conference would not happen without Ndlozi.

“We must be monitoring the movements of individuals. Why be concerned about one person over so many people who are here as if he is at the conference. I hear people say, he’s here, he’s doing this. He’s not here and it’s not in our interest to entertain such nonsense,” he said.

“We’re dealing with political issues here. Not egoism, not people who think they are bigger than this organisation. It will show them, once again, that it’s bigger than all of them. So, as a matter of principle, policy, and position SG, we are no longer going to answer any nonsense about Mbuyiseni Ndlozi, never.”

He repeated that the matter was closed and that  “you (journalists) can talk about it amongst yourself, don’t bring it to us, we are refusing that”.

There has been speculation that Ndlozi would contest the election while sitting at home if he is nominated for any position.

Asked whether members of the party can contest without being present at the conference,  Malema said no one had been barred from standing for a position.

“They can still send letters,” he added.

Speaking on the sidelines of the EFF’s third national people’s assembly at Nesrec in Johannesburg, Dunga also said his province will look into former officials to fill the position of deputy president, which was left vacant when Floyd Shivambu moved to uMkhonto weSizwe party.

He said the discussions of who the province will support for presidency will be discussed in a plenary session once it has officially opened but the provincial general assembly had already resolved that Malema retain his position.

The consideration of former officials for the post of deputy president appears to be an indication that the province will support former secretary general Godrich Gardee for post.

On Thursday the M&G reported that the EFF is set to endorse Malema’s slate at the party’s elective conference following an intense contestation season after the departure of Shivambu.

The slate involves Malema as president, Gardee as deputy, new entrant Nontando Nolutshungu as chairperson, Omphile Maotwe as treasurer general, Marshall Dlamini as secretary general and Leigh-Ann Mathys as deputy secretary general.

There were indications that Mathys is likely to be challenged by North West secretary Papikie Babuile.

Sources say conversations are being held about Dunga contesting Maotwe as treasurer general.

Dunga dismissed speculation that he would accept a nomination for a top position if his name was raised from the floor.

“We are leaders of the EFF in Gauteng just recently not so long elected and that is where we make our contribution. I was just a regional chairperson prior to my election and we have no interest to go to national.”

The party is expected to announce its newly elected top six on Saturday.

The party is also discussing whether or not to “donate” its votes to its alliance partner, the ANC, after the elections, at its special national congress, in Boksburg.

It will also consider whether to contest all the wards around the country when the municipal elections take place.

SACP national treasurer Joyce Moloi-Moropa told journalists at the congress that it was “not very easy for the party to have money” but that “not everything is done by using millions”.

Moloi-Moropa said the SACP was not financially well off but that would turn to its members — and other means — for funding.

“Even if we are socialists, we operate under the cloud of capitalism,” she said. 

“It’s complicated sometimes to make money, so it is difficult for the party to make a lot of money.”

“You’ll find capitalists not necessarily believing in the communist party or feeling that it is an opposition to what they stand for, therefore it is difficult to make billions.”

SACP national spokesperson Alex Mashilo told the Mail & Guardian that the special conference would finalise the modalities of how the party would use its council seats after the 2026 poll.

Mashilo said it would not decide anything in advance and that the decision about who the party chose to work with in councils would have to take into account the conditions at the time.

“Tactical consideration will be by the political bureau and the central committee, both towards the 2026 election and during the elections, and evaluating the outcome of the elections afterwards. 

“There are tactical and strategic considerations but this special conference will deal with matters of modality,” he said. 

After its announcement two weeks ago that it would contest the local government elections as an independent party, the SACP has stated that it would not act in opposition to the ANC in the post-election phase.

The decision to contest the elections could have serious implications for ANC, which has cautioned the SACP against taking this initiative.

On Monday, ANC secretary general Fikile Mbalula said the party would do everything possible to undermine a decision that would have dire consequences for the alliance and would “engage further” on the SACP’s decision to contest the elections.

“We have cautioned against that. 

“It will have far-reaching implications on the alliance in terms of our partnership as allies going forward,” he said.

“If the SACP and ANC contest in [the same] ward, we are going to clash, and we are going to divide the base. So it has got implications and that is why we cautioned against that.” 

ANC deputy president Paul Mashatile is expected to also advise against the decision in the message of support he delivers to the congress on Friday.

SACP general secretary Solly Mapaila told the M&G that the party was still discussing whether to contest the entire country.

“These are also matters that we will discuss with our alliance but we have taken that decision. 

“The reconfiguration of the alliance and the modalities of contesting within a reconfigured alliance have allowed engagements on whether you contest the country or not. In the absence of that, we are contesting the entire country,” Mapaila said.

In his opening address to delegates, SACP chairpersonBlade Nzimande said the alliance partners still needed each other — perhaps more now than ever before.

“It is therefore important that we do not take each other for granted, as an alliance, as allies. We know that we are all together as one,” Nzimande said.

“We have been calling for a reconfigured alliance for a reason. 

“It is unfortunate that our ANC comrades just dismissed us. We were calling for this for a reason. Today, and post-1994, we were in completely different terrain.” 

Nzimande said the ANC could not renew itself without looking to the renewal of its alliance partners — and their relationship with each other.

Nzimande, who serves in the cabinet, said that the SACP’s patience in dealing with issues thus far had been abused and that the party felt it could “be taken anyhow” by the governing party.

“No, we can not accept that,” Nzimande said.

The SACP is set to endorse a decision of its central committee to go it alone at the polls at its special congress in Johannesburg this coming weekend, ironically in the same venue where the ANC’s national executive committee (NEC) will be meeting.

The ANC has also decided to defer its decision on what to do with the Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal provincial executive committees (PEC) after their dismal showing in the 29 May elections until the first NEC meeting next year.

On Monday the ANC national working committee (NWC) met the Gauteng PEC to discuss what needed to be done to regain its majority.

The working committee has held fact-finding missions in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng.

It has considered disbanding the PECs and replacing them with task teams in a bid to strengthen the ANC’s structures ahead of the 2026 local government elections.

Speaking to journalists on Monday after the meeting between the national working committee and the Gauteng PEC, ANC secretary general Fikile Mbalula said they would discuss the fate of the two provinces in January.

“We will convene after the January 8 [statement rally] to finalise the work in terms of the NEC because we are almost at the end of the year,” Mbalula said.

“We would have met this week in the final NEC meeting but we have got the state visits that are taking place back-to-back and we also have the SACP national congress.” 

“We also have the Sasco [South African Students Congress] national congress so it’s not going to give us adequate time to get the NEC to sit post the 16th [December] and consider the matters,” Mbalula said.

He said the working committee gave the PEC its analysis of what needed to be done to fix the ANC in the provinces.

“We came, we saw and we engaged. We shared our own perspective, we shared that as the NWC and we told them that given the situation, we believe that there is a necessary intervention that needs to be made,” Mbalula said.

Mbalula said the three options were: to maintain the status quo and “leave the PEC as it is”; provide reinforcements based on the needs of the provinces; or “totally overhaul and reorganise and that can only be done through disbandment”.

“We told them that if there’s a fourth option you want to bring to the table in terms of the situation we find ourselves in, you can do that.”

Last week, after meeting the KwaZulu-Natal PEC, Mbalula said the provincial leadership cannot match the uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) party in the province and requires intervention.

On Monday Mbalula said they needed to strengthen the ANC in the two provinces because this is where its voting numbers have historically come from.

He said the decision by the SACP to contest the 2026 local government would affect the alliance, but that they would not remove ministers affiliated to the communist party from government because this would be “unprincipled”.

“As much as they are members of the ANC and members of the SACP, they are here on their own and we are not going to remove anyone because of their membership of the SACP,” he said.

SACP general secretary Solly Mapaila announced two weeks ago that the party had decided to contest the 2026 local government elections, saying this would be finalised at its special national congress this week.

Last week SACP spokesperson Alex Mashilo told the Mail & Guardian that although it intends to contest the next elections as an independent party, it will not act in opposition to the ANC in the post-election phase.

Mbalula said the ANC would do everything possible to undermine a decision that will have dire consequences for the alliance. 

He said that they would “engage further” on the SACP’s decision to contest the 2026 elections.

“We have cautioned against that. It will have far-reaching implications on the alliance in terms of our partnership as allies going forward,” he said.

“If the SACP and ANC contest in [the same] ward, we are going to clash and we are going to divide the base, so it has got implications and that is why we cautioned against that.” 

Mbalula said the ANC has been invited to deliver a message of support at the SACP’s upcoming congress.

“Deputy president [Paul] Mashatile will lead our delegation. He will also deliver our message to the SACP congress. We will go and listen to what the conference is saying and post the conference; we have a bilateral [meeting] with the SACP in January,” he said.

SACP general secretary Solly Mapaila announced on Sunday that the party had decided to contest the 2026 local government elections, saying this would be finalised at its special national congress in Boksburg next week.

The decision could have serious implications for its alliance partner, the ANC, which has cautioned the SACP against taking such an initiative.

SACP spokesperson Alex Mashilo told the Mail & Guardian this week that the party was not contesting against the ANC.

“The ANC is our ally. We are not contesting the ANC. We are not an opposition to the ANC. What we are doing here is just to exercise the democratic right that the SACP has as a political party, this time around to implement contesting elections,” Mashilo said.

The SACP has previously threatened to stand alone in the election but has backed off after securing concessions from the ANC, but it now appears that the latter’s decision to enter a government of national unity may have strengthened its resolve this time around.

Mashilo said the modalities of how the SACP would go about contesting the local government elections in 2026 would be finalised next week. He would not say whether the party would display the image of one of its leaders on the ballot paper.

“The question of what happens on the ballot, immediately I pronounce on those things, it becomes an individual thing, it’s no longer a thing of the SACP. Only in 2019, the SACP was on the ballot, that was a modality but regarding what will happen in 2026, the modalities will be finalised by the special national congress,” he said.

Some SACP leaders believe that the ANC has shown more respect for the Democratic Alliance (DA) than its alliance partners. 

The SACP, labour federation Cosatu and affiliate unions including the South African Democratic Teachers Union, the National Education Health and Allied Workers Union (Nehawu) and the Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union have all accused the ANC of failing to consult them when taking the decision to form the unity government with the DA.

ANC secretary general Fikile Mbalula told journalists on Monday that the decision for the SACP to contest the elections had serious implications for the alliance. He said the ANC would respect that the SACP was an independent organ but warned against it contesting the elections alone, adding that the parties would talk further about the decision.

“We had a bilateral with the SACP. They did raise the issue of going at it alone. We have agreed to continuously engage on this matter, including the modalities of that particular decision. A decision to contest elections is a decision of the communist party. They have got to examine it themselves and make a determination,” he said.

“In as far as how it will affect the alliance, it is a matter that we have agreed that next year we will talk about it but they informed us that they have taken a decision and they are taking it to their congress. We will leave it there and then the ANC will discuss with them the implication of that decision in terms of its implementation.”

Mashilo told the M&G that the SACP would meet the ANC again ahead of a meeting of its national executive committee to discuss a number of issues and that the SACP would continue to work with Cosatu, the South African National Civic Organisation and other progressive and worker organisations.

He said the SACP had taken a decision to contest the 2024 elections at its national congress in 2022, but decided not to follow through on it because of the mushrooming of political parties to the 29 May vote.

“When you looked at the IEC [Electoral Commission of South Africa] quarterly declarations, you could see that the white capitalists put too much money into these projects. They were also Western European and American foundations that were pumping money,” he asserted.

“Given the situation, the SACP said let us implement this decision in the 2026 local government elections while we are still seeking the reconfiguration of the alliance and while we will assess the outcome of 2024.”

“We are fighting a Ferrari there with a Conquest, we need to match a Ferrari with a flying machine that moves faster in seconds to surpass what is happening there. We have dropped to 17% and anyone else can not tell us we can not do anything about that,” Mbalula said on Monday, referring to the ANC’s sharp loss of support in the province in 29 May general elections.

“Those who thought they got the ANC to be weaker, we will rebuild it and we will come back. We are not going to surrender the ANC to anyone, Jacob Zuma or anyone. We will defend with ANC members on the ground the recovery of the ANC,” he told journalists in Boksburg, after a meeting of  the party’s national working committee (NWC) and the  KwaZulu-Natal provincial executive committee (PEC).

The party says it cannot be business as usual given the dismal election outcome in the province, where its support plunged from 54% in 2019 to 17% this year.

The national working committee held fact-finding missions in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng regarding how the ANC lost votes in both provinces. It has considered disbanding the provincial executive committees and replacing them with task teams in a bid to strengthen the ANC’s structures ahead of 2026 local government elections.

It has also considered the option of “augmenting” them by sending senior leaders to effectively take the reins in the province.

Mbalula said from an organisational point of view, “nothing is good” in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng and decisive leadership was needed for the party to recover.

“We have done a thorough job in terms of analysing these provinces and we are now in a better position to give them feedback, which we have done with KwaZulu-Natal. We are now going to do it with Gauteng.”

Some in the ANC believe that disbanding the provincial structures would only divide the party even further and that the national executive committee (NEC) should not be spared from the fallout of the dismal election, which saw the party lose its outright parliament majority for the first time.

Mbalula said the party had disbanded structures in the past when necessary. 

“We are not going to fold arms and wait for the total extermination of the ANC. We are doing our jobs, our duty which we have been mandated by the national conference to exercise, rebuild and reorganise the ANC to respond to this bloodbath we are actually seeing here,” he said.

“We have passed the stage of feelings. What is important here is the defence of the revolution and the defence of the ANC. In doing that work, we have no friends. Our friendship is with the ANC. Whatever decision we take, we will live by it.”

Mbalula has gagged the provincial leaders from speaking to the media about the discussions of the national working committee or the possible disbandment. 

But last week KwaZulu-Natal provincial secretary Bheki Mtolo pushed back against Luthuli House in a memorial lecture.

“The NEC led by [Cyril] Ramaphosa and Mbalula lost the country with 40%. They must take that responsibility. We are taking our own responsibility … of losing the province with 17%,” Mtolo said, adding that the poor performance in KwaZulu-Natal was symptomatic of a wider problem facing the ANC nationally.

He said internal divisions and a lack of accountability had left the party in disarray and warned that until leaders at all levels accepted their role in this decline, the ANC would struggle to regain the public’s confidence.

On Monday, Mbalula said Mtolo’s words meant nothing, saying that he as secretary general would speak on behalf of the ANC on this matter and that this had been explained to provincial leaders by deputy president Paul Mashatile at the start of the meeting.

“Anyone who crosses that line, will see to finish because the centre must hold,” Mbalula said. These are not unmandated reflections. This is a mandated position that SG goes and explains and I have done that.

“Anyone who speaks after me … we will take them to the cleaners in terms of the disciplinary structures of the ANC. Nobody has got a mandate to speak other than the secretary general on this matter.”

Bhengu-Motsiri was speaking to journalists in Boksburg ahead of a meeting of the ANC’s  national working committee (NWC) and the KwaZulu-Natal provincial executive committee (PEC) on Monday to discuss the 29 May elections. The working committee was also to have met the Gauteng PEC but this has been postponed.

In the May elections, the ANC secured less than 17% of the vote in KwaZulu-Natal, a decline attributed to several factors including the growing influence of the uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) party.

The national working committee has been considering replacing the PECs of both Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal with task teams in a bid to strengthen the ANC’s structures ahead of the 2026 local government elections. It has also considered the option of “augmenting” them by sending senior leaders to effectively take the reins in the province.

It visited both provinces after the elections to establish what went wrong and how it should rebuild the party.

Bhengu-Motsiri said it would be foolhardy for the ANC not to take stock in terms of its electoral losses and their effect on the state of the party in the province.

“So, in a nutshell, we are not strong in KwaZulu-Natal and we are not strong enough to withstand a number of challenges that any political organisation faces. This is why we’re embarking on this renewal exercise in KwaZulu-Natal.” 

Bhengu-Motsiri said the ANC was neither “hounding” the province nor focusing solely on it. “We are looking at all provinces with a view to identifying where we remain strong and solid but also where there are certain challenges.” 

Bhengu-Motsiri said the meeting was a follow-up to the NWC visit to KwaZulu-Natal and meetings with different regions, after which a report was compiled.

“KwaZulu-Natal contributes highly to the national vote share. It is important to acknowledge that we have suffered there with defections from within the organisation,” she said, adding that KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng were important if the ANC wanted to win the national election outright.

“Not just make it in an election but to be able to actually govern effectively and to be able to drive any agenda — in our case it’s a transformation agenda,” she said.

Last week an NWC member told the Mail & Guardian that the Gauteng PEC was likely to be dissolved because of its “arrogance”. They said although it was not yet at the point of dissolution, this was being discussed.

“The ones in KZN are trying, they have been trying to gain ground. The ones that I think are going to have to put a serious case is the Gauteng one. Their arrogance — if you look at the issues of what has been happening on the ground, they are nowhere,” the source said.  

“We are not at the dissolution, it’s still too dicey, but the issues around what you have been seeing in the two provinces will have to come. If, after we have visited, there has been improvement, then they will be safe. If there is no improvement, I do think that they will face the chop.”

KwaZulu-Natal provincial secretary Bheki Mtolo pushed back against Luthuli House in a memorial lecture in Stanger on Thursday.

“The NEC [national executive committee] led by [Cyril] Ramaphosa and [Fikile] Mbalula lost the country with 40%. They must take that responsibility. We are taking our own responsibility with [Siboniso] of losing the province with 17%,” Mtolo said, adding that the poor performance in KwaZulu-Natal was symptomatic of a wider problem facing the ANC nationally.

He said internal divisions and a lack of accountability had left the party in disarray and until leaders at all levels accepted their role in this decline, the ANC would continue to struggle to regain the public’s confidence.

Mtolo’s remarks appear to have angered the ANC’s national leadership.

Bhengu-Motsiri said various scenarios were being considered and the party would in due course outline the plan after an NEC meeting later this month.

Asked whether the ANC was worried that some ANC members in KwaZulu-Natal were working with the MK party, Bhengu-Motsiri said the ANC was not in the business of second-guessing its leaders and members.

“We believe that those that don’t find pleasure in the ANC anymore are free to go to whichever party,” she said.

“We fought for this democracy. We can’t be the ones that are subverting it in any way, including conspiring on people that are said to be part of the MK party.”

In an address to supporters on the steps of the constitutional court on Tuesday, Malema said the MK party was poaching EFF leaders and urged them to fight back in defence of the party. He declared Zuma’s party the EFF’s “biggest enemy”.

EFF insiders say the MK party’s strategy of swallowing up the smaller parties to the left of the ANC to consolidate itself ahead of the local government elections in 2026 meant there could not be unity between the parties.

Malema had earlier barred MK party and ANC members from participating in the march on the constitutional court, where the EFF’s attempt to have President Cyril Ramaphosa impeached over the Phala Phala scandal was being heard.

Malema said the EFF had instructed its lawyers to attach Zuma’s home in Nxamalala village in northern KwaZulu-Natal to recover money owed to the Red Berets emanating from legal costs awarded against him in favour of its legal team.

“We brought Zuma to the constitutional court and we said pay back the money and he paid back the money and has not forgiven us for that,” Malema said. “In all the cases we won against Jacob Zuma, he never paid the legal fees.”

“Zuma owes us legal fees. We have a court order that he must pay us our money. He has not complied with the court order. 

“We have instructed our lawyer to attach Nkandla so that the man pays back the money. We want our money. He wants to play dirty, bring it on. Bring us our money tomorrow otherwise we are attaching Nkandla.” 

During a press briefing on Monday ahead of the EFF national people’s assembly in December to elect new leaders, Malema reiterated that the party would “not play nice with people” playing rough with it and called on his members to fight back against online attacks from the MK party.

He said if Zuma was an “honourable man”, he would have called a meeting with EFF leaders to tell them about the intentions of those looking to join the MK party. 

Relations between the two parties have deteriorated, particularly following the adoption of the MK party’s constitution that includes a controversial provision calling on smaller black political parties to merge under the MK banner. 

This move was positioned as a strategic effort to consolidate political power and present a unified front to challenge the government of national unity in parliament. 

But the initiative was met with resistance, because some of these smaller parties viewed the MK party’s approach as a direct threat to their autonomy and identity. 

Tensions escalated further when allegations surfaced that the MK party was actively poaching key members from the EFF, undermining the spirit of collaboration it had initially proposed. 

Those who have defected to the Zuma-led party include Floyd Shivambu, Mzwanele Manyi, Magasela Mzobe, Dali Mpofu and Busisiwe Mkhwebane, all of whom occupied either parliamentary or leadership positions with the EFF.

One EFF member close to the matter said that the MK party’s “aggressive recruitment strategy” ahead of the 2026 elections, “combined with the broader implications of the MK’s constitution, deepened mistrust and left many questioning the feasibility of unity under such terms”.

The source said despite Malema calling out the MK party for causing this strife, it has continued to poach key EFF members aligned to Shivambu.

“The MK party has strategically sat down to draw key members from the EFF ‘on some kill them while they are still down’ strategy. But the last straw was the [attempt at] poaching of Mbuyiseni Ndlozi, which angered the CIC [commander-in-chief],” the source said.

“This is why he [Malema] pressed him [Ndlozi] to find out where he stands, because we were aware of the secret conversations, but luckily Ndlozi rejected attempts to have him leave the party.”

A highly placed source in the MK said the party’s aspiration to strip the EFF of its autonomy stemmed from a broader strategy to centralise power and solidify the MK party’s dominance.

They said the ultimate goal was to ensure that the MK party emerged as the singular most powerful political entity, effectively positioning itself as the principal opposition force to challenge the government of national unity.

“This ambition was not just about uniting parties. By taking over the EFF and other smaller black-led parties, the MK aimed to dominate the political narrative and control resources.”

It was also seen as an effort to silence opposing views and build a tightly controlled political group under Zuma’s leadership, the source said. The best way was to dismantle the EFF and cast doubt on the party, especially now before the conference.

“If we managed to scatter them, then it would be easy to gain them to the next best thing — which is us,” the source said.

On Tuesday, Malema urged supporters outside the constitutional court to defend the EFF and to disregard any information about members unless it comes from the party’s leadership.

“I hear people talking about Ndlozi. Dr Ndlozi is a member of the EFF, he’s a leader of the EFF and no organisation can claim him except for the EFF,” Malema said.

“You must not listen to gossip from drunkards. Ask us about the EFF leaders and we will tell you Ndlozi has renewed his membership. He is in the membership system of the EFF.

“They think they can divide this organisation. They will never divide this organisation. We are one thing, marching to the National Prosecuting Authority as a collective of leadership that is united more than ever.

“To defend our own movement, let’s go down and work very hard and tell our people the EFF is growing,” Malema said. 

“You may not be elected in government, but you exist in every street and every house. There’s no area in South Africa where they go to sleep without speaking about the EFF because you are a force.”

The clash between the EFF and the MK party is likely to have repercussions for the so-called “progressive caucus” in parliament, which includes the two parties, the African Transformation Movement (ATM), the United Africans Transformation and the National Coloured Congress.

ATM leader Vuyo Zungula said the tensions between the two biggest parties in the caucus would put a strain on the relationship, but added that he still believed “they would find each other”.

The current tensions would be a test of leadership, he added.

“There are meetings that we have as a caucus and [this is] where we process issues, whether it’s issues of tension or whatever that may happen,” Zungula said.

“The leaders of all these five parties in the progressive caucus are wise and mature enough to say, ‘Let us sit down and find a way to rectify the problems’.

“The other parties like the United Democratic Movement (UDM) decided they were leaving the caucus. The EFF has not outright stated they are leaving the caucus. The progressive caucus has not decided to say we are disbanding or doing anything.”

Zungula said there would be a meeting to discuss the tensions between the various parties “when the time is right”.

“If the DA [Democratic Alliance] and the ANC can work together, being so ideologically and policy opposed, what would stop like-minded organisations from finding a way to work together?” he asked.

“We don’t believe these parties would leave the unity of the progressives after knowing and experiencing the 30 years of democratic rule, which has shown that the more we are divided, the more we are incapable of resolving the problems that are faced by our people.”

He added that parties that viewed themselves as a progressive party would not want to leave the caucus because it gives them the capacity to deal with the poor material conditions of many South Africans. 

On the suggestion by Zuma that smaller parties should collapse themselves into the MK party to form a single entity, Zungula said this might be necessary.

But he added that “there are many modalities we can find that do not require any collapsing or the dissolution of any party”.

“Our view on the matter is that we can achieve our goals, work [together] and find a way to succeed while all these parties retain their identities.”

The MK party has thus far refrained from responding to Malema.

Speaking on the sidelines of a media briefing on Wednesday, EFF defector Dali Mpofu, who is now a member of the MK high command, said they and the EFF were not enemies, or at least the MK party did not view anyone as its enemy.

He said the MK party would not be dragged into returning public insults that have been “hurled” at the party and some of its leaders.

“There are no public spats. Spats means that there are two participants. We have not participated in any such spats,” he said.

Mpofu declined to comment when asked whether the EFF’s legal team had served notice on Zuma with regard to the payment of the legal fees — or whether an attempt had been made to attach his Nkandla home.

He referred the Mail & Guardian to the Jacob Zuma Foundation, saying that the MK party did not deal with “such matters”.

Mpofu said that if the EFF decided to leave the progressive caucus and refuse to work with MK party in parliament, it would not be the first party to have done so.

“The PAC [Pan Africanist Congress] and UDM were there when we announced the progressive caucus on the first day, and they went to the GNU, but the progressive caucus continued. One person leaving the progressive caucus should not necessarily threaten the whole caucus,” he said.

Mpofu said while it might be difficult to fix the relationship between the Red Berets and the MK party, the progressive caucus was a voluntary body.

“Those who want to stay, they must stay. Those who want to walk, they must walk. 

“This is a very serious project that addresses historical issues of the division of our people over centuries. It is going to happen over a long time,” he said.

“It is a programme that the MK party is going to see through. Whether it’s 10 years, 20 years or 100 years, we don’t care, but eventually we are going to unite our people. We will unite them kicking and screaming sometimes.”

The fallout between the MK party and the EFF is likely also to affect the KwaZulu-Natal legislature, where the support of the EFF’s two members of the provincial legislature brings the MK party within one vote of unseating the unity government of Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) Premier Thami Ntuli. 

The MK party took more than 45% of the vote in the province in the 29 May elections, but was outmanoeuvred by a coalition between the ANC, the DA and the IFP, which formed a government of provincial unity with the National Freedom Party.