Numsa general secretary Irvin Jim. File image. (Mduduzi Ndzingi)
EFF and SACP discussions signal potential shift in left-wing politics
Like other societies governed by national liberation movements, South Africa has had a distorted party-political terrain. The overwhelming legitimacy of the liberation movement meant a wide range of ideological tendencies were housed within a single political formation. Within the ANC, there have long been technocrats, kleptocrats, communists, neoliberals and both radical and conservative nationalists.
Now that the ANC’s electoral dominance is collapsing and it is almost certain to lose Johannesburg in the coming local government elections, a process of political realignment has become unavoidable. In principle, such a realignment could bring much-needed clarity to South African politics.
The neoliberals in the ANC could align with the DA and similar forces. The democratic left within the ANC, including the SACP, could align with progressive forces outside the party. Other tendencies could organise themselves into their own blocs.
In a rational political landscape, five broad formations might emerge:
- a genuinely nonracial liberal bloc;
- a social democratic formation rooted in labour and progressive civil society;
- a principled left party;
- a nationalist bloc bringing together the kleptocratic nationalist forces that remain powerful in our politics; and
- a right-wing populist bloc around figures such as Gayton McKenzie and Herman Mashaba.
However, the ANC’s ability to participate in a rational realignment process is limited, if not rendered impossible, by the absence of a clear and credible successor to President Cyril Ramaphosa. The two key names that are currently being floated are Paul Mashatile and Patrice Motsepe.
Recent developments within the labour movement underline how dangerous the current moment has become
A Motsepe presidency would deepen the neoliberal trajectory in South African politics. Mashatile’s ascendancy would consolidate the corrupt and authoritarian nationalist faction within the ANC and align it with similar forces outside the party, including the EFF and the MK Party. Both outcomes would be disastrous for the country.
The dangers of an ongoing neoliberal trajectory have been noted by analysts such as Duma Gqubule, who has warned that South Africa cannot afford a further consolidation of elite power and technocratic governance detached from the social crisis confronting the majority of the population.
South Africa’s crisis is not simply a crisis of leadership. It is a crisis of inequality, unemployment and collapsing public services. Any political project that deepens the existing neoliberal trajectory will intensify these problems rather than resolve them.
Against this backdrop, recent developments within the labour movement underline how dangerous the current moment has become. At the end of last year National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) general secretary Irvin Jim announced to the union’s central committee that he intended to drive a process that would take Numsa and other independent unions in the South African Federation of Trade Unions (Saftu) back into the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) and, through Cosatu, back into the ANC.
He also indicated that he intended to convene a political symposium, co-hosted with NGO Pan Africa Today, that would seek to bring together the MK party, the EFF and Floyd Shivambu’s new political project in discussions about re-aligning South African politics.
Jim’s push has bitterly divided the labour movement. Democratic left forces and trade unionists who are opposed to corruption are rallying around Saftu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi. Those who appear willing to align themselves with corrupt and authoritarian nationalism are rallying around Jim. The fallout has been extremely bitter and is already reshaping relationships across the labour movement.
An alliance between the SACP and the EFF would represent a profound break with the historical principles of the SACP and the wider democratic left
The situation inside Numsa is now extremely tense. In an internal discussion document deputy general secretary Mbuso Ngubane launched a scathing critique from the left of any return to Cosatu and the ANC.
He argues that unity without political independence serves capital, that Cosatu’s subordination to the alliance coincided with de-industrialisation, labour insecurity and the weakening of worker power, and that a return to those arrangements would place discipline above democracy and loyalty above truth.
One of the most important interventions in this conflict has come from Ruth Ntlokotse, a highly respected trade union leader. In a detailed letter she raised serious questions about governance, accountability and internal democracy within Numsa. Her questions included Jim’s motivations for attempting to take the union back into the ANC and the wider implications of this project for working-class politics. Jim has publicly insulted her on Twitter (now known as X) but has not responded to her letter.
The depth of the crisis is also evident in the resignation of Phakamile Hlubi-Majola, Numsa’s highly charismatic long-time spokesperson. In her resignation letter she said she had received death threats, including a warning that people had been sent to assassinate her, and noted that this was the third time her life had been threatened while working for the union.
She also wrote that this was a congress year and that “a lot of bad things happen during the congress”. Following her resignation, Jim moved to have Pan Africa Today take over Numsa’s communications function. It is extraordinary for an NGO to take over the communications machinery of a major trade union at a moment of such intense internal conflict.
At the same time, new political manoeuvres are emerging elsewhere on the left. Julius Malema of the EFF and Solly Mapaila of the SACP recently appeared together in photographs and announced that discussions had begun about building an alliance between the two organisations. This development raises serious questions. The EFF is an authoritarian organisation and clear evidence of corruption linked to its members has repeatedly been placed in the public sphere through investigative journalism.
Remarkably little attention has been paid to these developments in the mainstream press. Yet they are of enormous importance
An alliance between the SACP and the EFF would therefore represent a profound break with the historical principles of the SACP and the wider democratic left. After all, MK is a deeply authoritarian nationalist project with extreme right-wing positions on many issues, including gender equality and migration. It is difficult to imagine any principled communist formation entering into a political project that could bring such forces into a broader alliance.
The SACP’s weakness at the polls helps explain why such discussions are taking place. In recent by-elections the party has attempted to run candidates independently and has received negligible support. The EFF, by contrast, retains a limited but real electoral base. There is therefore no obvious electoral reason for the EFF to ally itself with the SACP. The more plausible explanation is that such an alliance could serve as a bridge back into the broader nationalist bloc and eventually into government positions.
It is not yet clear whether the project being driven by Jim and the discussions between the EFF and the SACP are linked, or whether they draw on the same sources of political or financial support. It is also not clear whether Pan Africa Today has any role in the attempt to construct an alliance between the EFF and SACP. What is clear though, is that these various initiatives would fit together easily if the SACP were willing to help open the door to MK.
Remarkably little attention has been paid to these developments in the mainstream press. Yet they are of enormous importance. South Africa is entering a period of profound political realignment. The question is whether that realignment will produce ideological clarity and democratic renewal, or open the door for the return to power of kleptocratic authoritarian forces.
• Dr Buccus, a senior research associate at the Auwal Socioeconomic Research Institute, is author of a new book, Politics and Peril, the South African Crisis.