A group of left-wing parties said on Thursday that they will not support ANC-led coalitions with the DA in hung municipalities.
The group, called the Conference of the Left, includes the SACP, the EFF, the MK Party and the Afrika Mayibuye Movement. It also rejected claims that its members would return to the ANC if President Cyril Ramaphosa resigns.
“You’re saying are we going to join the ANC? No, we say we are inviting the ANC to join this effort of uniting our people and they will make up their own minds,” MK Party member Advocate Dali Mpofu said.
Mpofu read a joint statement for the group at a media briefing at the Birchwood Hotel and OR Tambo Conference Centre in Boksburg, IOL reported.
The ANC held its Extended Special National Executive Committee meeting at the same venue on Thursday. That meeting was in a separate part of the conference centre.
Mpofu said the parties in the group won just over 20% of the vote together in the 2026 local government elections. Other members include the Pan Africanist Congress of Azania, the Tanzanian People’s Organisation and civic and faith groups.
Mpofu said the group’s work was not centred on Ramaphosa. He said he had been asked on talk radio whether the group wanted the President to resign.
“And I said, ‘What does that have to do with the local government?'” he said.
The ANC has rejected calls for Ramaphosa to step down after its poor election result, saying he is going nowhere.
The Conference of the Left also called on parties in the Government of National Unity, mainly the ANC, to demand that the DA and the Freedom Front Plus be removed from it.
“We call on those within the current national coalition and in the former liberation movement in particular to demand the removal of right-wing reactionary forces from the so-called GNU,” Mpofu said.
He said the GNU’s economic policies had made the cost of living too high for ordinary South Africans.
When asked which parties he meant, Mpofu named the DA and the FF Plus. He said the group did not mince its words about them.
The SACP and other left-wing groups have long criticised the ANC for joining the GNU with the DA and the FF Plus. They argue the deal does not serve workers and poor communities.
Several municipalities have no party with an outright majority after the elections. These include all three Gauteng metros.
The ANC’s NEC is expected to give its negotiating team the go-ahead to start coalition talks. It is also expected to decide whether the party will seek mayoral posts in some hung councils or support other parties.
Political parties have until the end of next week to agree on partnerships to govern the hung municipalities.
Source: this article is based on reporting by IOL. Image: IOL. Written with the help of AI and published by the Tzaneen Voice News desk. See our Editorial Standards.
Kgomotso Maake covers news and politics for Tzaneen Voice. Kgomotso reports on government, Parliament, municipalities, courts, crime and service delivery across South Africa, with a close eye on how national decisions reach towns like Tzaneen and the wider Limpopo province. Stories are written in plain English and focus on the facts: who made the decision, what it means, and what happens next.