STEVEN FRIEDMAN: SACP will stay in the ANC as long as it has a seat at the decision-making table
Deciding to fight elections on its own would not be as dramatic as we are led to believe because the SACP could stay in its alliance with the ANC, writes Steven Friedman
Will the SACP become an important, independent, force in this country’s politics? Possibly, but not now.
Excitement at claims that the SACP, at its conference last week, decided to contest elections on its own, exposed a flaw in much political coverage here: an almost total lack of memory.
The party actually resolved to fight elections on its own in 2007. Its decision last week simply repeated that — and hedged it with enough "ifs and buts" to ensure that it is no more likely now to contest elections on its own than when it passed the last resolution a decade ago.
Will the SACP become an important, independent, force in this country’s politics? Possibly, but not now. Excitement at claims that the SACP, at its conference last week, decided to contest elections on its own, exposed a flaw in much political coverage here: an almost total lack of memory. The party actually resolved to fight elections on its own in 2007. Its decision last week simply repeated that — and hedged it with enough "ifs and buts" to ensure that it is no more likely now to contest elections on its own than when it passed the last resolution a decade ago. It suits the SACP’s leadership to claim that this is an important change because they hope it will influence the battle within the ANC by signalling that a victory for its patronage faction, which the SACP opposes, could force it to go its own way.This means that the threat to contest elections is not really about seeking independence. It is about doing what the SACP has done for decades — remaining within the ANC and tryi...
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