SACP says GNU has become ‘front for monopoly capital’ as it launches election manifesto - Inside Politics
The South African Communist Party (SACP) has launched a blistering attack on the Government of National Unity (GNU), accusing it of becoming “a front for monopoly capital” and pursuing economic policies that have weakened working-class influence in the state.
(SACP) has launched a blistering attack on the Government of National Unity (GNU), accusing it of becoming “a front for monopoly capital” and pursuing economic policies that have weakened working-class influence in the state. Launching the party’s 2026 Local Government Election Manifesto at the Tshwane University of Technology’s Soshanguve Campus on Sunday, general secretary Solly Mapaila said the party believed the national democratic revolution had stalled under a neoliberal economic trajectory, while Operation Vulindlela was advancing private wealth accumulation at the expense of public ownership and working-class interests. “We are contesting the local government elections independently because the working class is not represented in government, it has lost its voice in government. We seek working class representation,” Mapaila said. He said the SACP believed it could “fix the collapsing municipalities and rebuild them for their purpose”. He said workers were spending a large share of their wages travelling to work, women were carrying the heaviest burden when taps ran dry, young people were facing mass unemployment, and communities were waiting for water tankers. “The majority of villages have no proper roads. Tenders are awarded and the work is not done. Councillors disappear after elections. This is not the democracy our people fought for. This is not what Chris Hani died for,” Mapaila said. Mapaila said that contesting elections independently of the ANC was not a withdrawal from the ANC-led Alliance or the national democratic revolution. “It is not a substitute for Alliance reconfiguration. It is not a withdrawal from the national democratic revolution. It is not a departure from the broader struggle for socialism. It is a necessary contribution to all three. ”Mapaila said the party had spent 28 years seeking the reconfiguration of the Alliance so that its members could collectively determine policy direction and exercise leadership of the national democratic revolution. He said the working class could no longer remain without its own political voice during elections. “The SACP will now not only exercise its hard-won democratic right to vote but also to stand for election,” Mapaila said. “We are doing so because the working class needs to move beyond a class in itself to become a class for itself, a class with its own political voice, its own programme and its own candidates in elections and other processes and to fix the collapsing municipalities. ”The party’s manifesto places reliable public services at the centre of its municipal programme, alongside decent work, land and housing, food security, safer communities, the fight against tender corruption and greater accountability from councillors. Mapaila said the party would fight to end water tankers and dry taps, support affordable tariffs for water and electricity, protect lifeline services and oppose punitive disconnections. He also called for municipal roads to be properly maintained, public land to be used for housing and food production, and the bucket system to be eradicated. ‘Corrupt tender system must be scrapped’On municipal corruption, Mapaila said the tender system needed to be scrapped. “We say this without hesitation that the corrupt tender system must be scrapped. Every rand must be traceable. Every contract must be accountable,” Mapaila said. He said SACP councillors would be required to report regularly to their wards, account to the party, and face recall if they betrayed constituents. “A seat in council is a post of struggle and service, not a business opportunity,” Mapaila said. He also accused Operation Vulindlela of advancing private wealth accumulation at the expense of public ownership and working-class interests. “Operation Vulindlela is not a class-neutral programme of administrative or economic reform but an expression of a changing balance of class forces within the state in favour of capital and deepening neo-liberalism,” Mapaila said. Mapaila reiterated that the SACP remained committed to the Alliance despite its criticism of government policies. “The SACP remains committed to the Alliance and to the national democratic revolution,” Mapaila said. “Our criticism is directed at policies, practices, failures and class forces that obstruct transformation. ”INSIDE POLITICS