The South African Communist Party (SACP) is preparing to launch its Red October 2026–2027 Campaign on 4 October 2026 in Komga, in the Great Kei Sub-District of the Eastern Cape.
South African Communist Party launches Red October campaign
SACP General Secretary Solly Mapaila is scheduled to address the launch at 11:00. The campaign will begin one month before South Africa’s local government elections, scheduled for 4 November.
The campaign takes place in the context of the SACP’s decision to contest the 2026 local government elections independently. According to the available reporting, the party has submitted 4,418 ward candidates and will also contest proportional-representation seats. The SACP has stressed that independent electoral participation does not mean leaving the tripartite alliance with the ANC and COSATU, but represents its pursuit of a reconfiguration of the alliance.
A central theme of the campaign is the establishment of what the SACP calls “People’s Municipalities.” Its programme emphasises keeping public services in-house, creating public employment, supporting cooperatives, making land available for housing and food production, and increasing community participation in municipal decision-making. The party links these objectives to opposition to privatisation, outsourcing and what it describes as the corrupt tender system.
The campaign will also build on the People’s Red Caravan, through which the SACP has promoted community-based initiatives addressing practical needs such as water, food production and local economic development. The party presents these initiatives as examples of grassroots organisation and collective solutions to community problems.
The choice of Komga and the Eastern Cape gives the campaign a rural and small-town focus. The SACP launched its previous Red October campaign in East London in October 2025, while the new launch comes as the party begins the final month of campaigning before the local elections.
The 2026–2027 campaign therefore combines the SACP’s traditional Red October programme of grassroots mobilisation with its current electoral strategy. The party is seeking to use the campaign to promote its municipal programme and strengthen its organisation among working-class and poor communities ahead of the November local elections.