ANC Reveals what will happens if you don’t vote for them

The ANC’s century-old partnership with the SACP could be on the brink of collapse after President Cyril Ramaphosa’s party decided to invoke its rule barring members from supporting a party that fights it in an election — as the SACP plans to do in the upcoming local government polls.

The Sunday Times can reveal that a special meeting of the ANC national executive committee on Friday resolved to invoke the sections of the party’s constitution that prevent members from joining or supporting an opposition party.

These are the clauses under which former president Jacob Zuma’s membership was cancelled after he founded the MK Party.

In December 2024, the SACP — which has been hand-in-glove with the ANC since the late 1920s, and joined the formal tripartite alliance along with Cosatu in 1990 — resolved to contest local government elections in its own right.

“What happens is that members of the SACP must make a decision whether they want to campaign for the ANC or they want to campaign for the SACP,” as a senior NEC member told the Sunday Times.

“If they choose the SACP then that means they are in conflict with the ANC. They can’t campaign with the SACP and be within the ANC. That’s what that decision means. If they campaign for the SACP while we expect them to campaign for us, then we will take them to a disciplinary hearing.”

Another insider said the NEC had no choice but to act in accordance with the party’s constitution, so the SACP should not see the decision as a punitive measure.

“The constitution does not allow any member of the ANC to campaign other than for the ANC,” this person said.

If they choose the SACP then that means they are in conflict with the ANC. They can’t campaign with the SACP and be within the ANC

—  NEC source

“So that is the starting point. It’s not even a question of an individual choosing. When you are a member of the ANC you cannot campaign for another party; that clause was put there six congresses back. It was adopted by the congresses of the ANC long before this whole fracas with the SACP. It has always been there because it is expected of the ANC members.”

The decision raises questions about the status of SACP cabinet ministers such as Gwede Mantashe, the minister of mineral & petroleum resources; Buti Manamela, the minister of higher education; Blade Nzimande, the minister of science, technology & innovation; and David Masondo, the deputy minister of finance.

Mantashe is also in the ANC top seven as national chair of the party.

“We are not going to chase them out, there’s not going to be a witch-hunt purging members of the SACP,” one NEC member said.

“We are saying you can still remain a member of the SACP and remain in the ANC but you can’t campaign for a party that is opposing the ANC. A party that is contesting power [against] the ANC, you can’t.”

Ramaphosa and other ANC leaders are expected to communicate the decision to the SACP leadership within the next two weeks.

According to several ANC sources, only a handful of NEC members at Friday’s meeting opposed the decision, including Lindiwe Sisulu, Andile Lungisa and Mzwandile Masina. They urged the party to have further engagements with the SACP.

According to insiders, there are calls that at the ANC’s next national conference, the provision for dual membership be removed from the party’s constitution.

“The majority feels we have to do this. Lindiwe Sisulu was arguing that we can’t do this because the SACP has been with us for long. Andile Lungisa and Mzwandile Masina were also opposed. They were saying we should go back to speak to the SACP, but we’ve gone back to them many times,” an NEC source said.

Another insider said: “What we are saying is that the SACP is entitled to take its own decisions; it has taken its decision, and we need to accept it. But ANC members are not allowed to violate the constitution. So if you are an ANC member you are not even given a choice, it’s not an option, it’s in the constitution.”