In a show of forced solidarity, the leaders of South Africa’s tripartite alliance shared a stage at the Congress of South African Trade Unions’ (COSATU) 8th Central Committee meeting on Thursday, publicly pledging commitment to their pact despite acknowledging it is on the brink of collapse.
The meeting, a mid-term review held in Benoni, east of Johannesburg, became a forum for airing deep-seated grievances within the alliance, most notably the South African Communist Party’s (SACP) firm decision to contest the next elections alone.
COSATU President Zingiswa Losi set a conciliatory but concerned tone, directly appealing to her alliance partners. “We love the ANC of Oliver Tambo and Nelson Mandela and we love the SACP of Joe Slovo and Chris Hani,” Losi stated, invoking the legacy of past leaders. She pleaded for unity, saying, “I’m making this appeal as the president… do not divide workers, do not divide us.”
The heart of the crisis stems from what the SACP has called the African National Congress’s (ANC) “failure over decades to reconfigure the alliance.” This long-standing issue has pushed the communist party to a point of no return regarding its independent electoral path.
Despite the severe strain, ANC President Cyril Ramaphosa expressed an irrevocable commitment to the alliance’s survival. “The ANC remains committed to the strategic alliance that we have,” Ramaphosa told the gathering. He firmly stated, “Breaking this alliance or weakening this alliance is not in the best interest of all of us,” and promised to address challenges including the reconfiguration of the pact and the respect afforded to alliance partners.
Following Ramaphosa’s departure for another engagement, SACP Leader Solly Mapaila provided a stark counterpoint, highlighting the practical decay of the alliance structures. Mapaila revealed that the last formal alliance summit was held a decade ago, in 2015. He pointedly questioned how the ANC president could take a mandate from allies they haven’t formally met with in ten years.
“We have raised these questions in the bilateral. They are meaningless,” Mapaila said, indicating that previous discussions had failed to yield progress. However, he did acknowledge appreciating Ramaphosa’s stated commitment.
The gathering concluded with the fragile hope that the alliance partners would find a way to resolve their differences in an upcoming bilateral meeting, even as the SACP moves forward with its plans to contest the next elections independently.