The South African Communist Party (SACP) has welcomed the response of communities to its first independent electoral campaign in decades, with party leaders expressing satisfaction over its initial performance in the 2026 local government elections.
South African Communist Party Welcomes Community Support
Speaking to SABC News on 5 November, First Deputy General Secretary Madala Masuku and Eastern Cape provincial spokesperson Xolani Malamlela highlighted the support received by the party, its grassroots campaigning efforts and its emerging electoral gains.
SACP contested the elections independently of its long-time alliance partner, the African National Congress (ANC), seeking to establish itself as an independent political alternative and strengthen working-class representation in local government.
Masuku described the elections as an opportunity to reintroduce the Communist Party to the South African people and explain what it stands for. He thanked communities for their response, saying that people had not only welcomed the party's participation but had actively contributed to its campaign.
We want to thank the people of South Africa. The communities actually responded very well, and they actually liked the idea, and in some communities they led the selling of the idea and also campaigning.
He recalled a visit to KwaZulu-Natal, where elderly residents had taken an active role in spreading the party's message. Masuku said he had even bought walking canes for some of them as they led the campaign in their communities.
Despite this grassroots response, Masuku acknowledged that the party had faced considerable financial and organisational limitations. He argued that SACP could have reached more communities and achieved a stronger result had it been given more time and resources.
"We feel that if we had enough time and enough money – and we did not have enough money to reach everywhere, but we actually did make a mark."
In the Eastern Cape, where the party recorded particularly encouraging preliminary results, provincial spokesperson Xolani Malamlela also expressed satisfaction with the SACP's performance. With 56% of votes captured in the province at the time of the report, the party had secured the third-highest number of votes, behind the ANC and the Democratic Alliance (DA). It had also emerged among the five leading parties in Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality.
Malamlela said that the party's electoral gains had exceeded some of its expectations, particularly with regard to winning individual wards across the province.
Our aim was to say we want to be the voice of the working class in all municipalities, and now it has come with bonuses; we have even won some wards across the Eastern Cape, and even at national level. We are humbled by the support given by communities.