ANC’s Communist Allies Say Party Losing Grip on South Africa
- South Africa’s ANC may lose next general election: communists
- Health Workers Union calls on President Zuma to resign
An ANC Municipal Elections campaign rally at the Ellis Park stadium in Johannesburg in July 2016.
Photographer: John Wessels/AFP via Getty ImagesSouth Africa’s ruling African National Congress is in such a political crisis that even its closest allies admit it could soon lose power.
The South African Communist Party, which is part of the country’s ruling alliance, believes the ANC must fight corruption and factionalism or face political death, according to its second deputy secretary-general, Solly Mapaila. If the communists had been in the ANC’s place, he said, they would have removed President Jacob Zuma as their leader after its worst electoral result yet in a municipal vote in August when it lost control of three key cities, including the capital, Pretoria, and the economic hub of Johannesburg.