Bloc of Left parties demands ANC cut ties with DA, FF Plus - News24
A bloc of black parties comprising the South African Communist Party (SACP), the EFF, the MK Party and others has formed “a unified bloc of parties on the left” that will work together in councils.
Dubbed “the Council of the Left”, the parties, which say they hold a combined 20% of the national vote, have also invited all progressive forces, including the ANC, to join their cause.
But the invitation comes with a condition: cut ties with “right-wing parties”, namely the DA and FF Plus.
In practical terms, the bloc aims to function as a disciplined voting and planning alliance within councils, use its numbers to leverage mayoral elections and policy decisions around a fixed set of delivery demands, and report back to communities on whether those demands are being met.
The bloc held its meeting just a stone’s throw away from the ANC’s national executive committee meeting at the Birchwood Hotel in Boksburg.
MK Party chief negotiator advocate Dali Mpofu, SC, who attended the meeting on his party’s behalf, said the country was at a crossroads.
“These elections are a turning point. The choice before us is clear. Local government must either serve the people or continue to serve the few who profit from it,” Mpofu said.
He said the founding meeting of the Council of the Left resolved that the struggle for popular power must be anchored in the leadership of the working class and popular movements at the grassroots level, both within and outside municipal councils.
Mpofu said the Thursday meeting decided to work towards a strong popular bloc of the Left in all municipalities where their members and associates are represented.
He said the municipal co-operation forms part of their wider task of building a broad popular front, rooted in working-class leadership and organised popular power.
“We call on progressive political organisations, trade unions, civic movements, women’s and youth organisations, co-operatives, faith communities and other democratic forces to unite around a common programme.”
The details of this united effort will be announced in the coming months, once all councils have been formed and the true balance of forces is clear.
In addition, Mpofu said the bloc was mindful that those who use race, hate and the oppression of the working class still hold much of the power in South Africa’s politics, including in government.
“A government that claims to serve the people cannot be shaped by those who are aggressively championing the transfer of public assets into private hands,” Mpofu said.
The meeting was attended, among others, by SACP general-secretary Solly Mapaila, EFF secretary-general Marshall Dlamini, MK Party second deputy president Tony Yengeni, as well as former ANC secretary-general and now leader of the African Congress for Transformation, Ace Magashule.
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