Don’t count on us, Cosatu tells SACP

THE SACP’s first attempt at contesting elections against the ANC this month could suffer a huge blow after Cosatu told the party not to count on its support.

With only 22 days left before by-elections in the Metsimaholo local municipality in the Free State, the federation has made it clear that it would be backing the ANC as it has no mandate to ditch it at the polls.

Yesterday, SACP Free State secretary Bheke Stofile said the party would contest all the 21 wards in the local municipality, even if it were to do it alone.

Metsimaholo has been under administration since July after the coalition of opposition parties which dislodged the ANC collapsed.

Cosatu and its affiliates have a standing congress resolution to back the ANC through campaigning and voting for it during elections.

This prohibits all their structures from campaigning for the SACP.

Cosatu provincial secretary Manyatso Mahlatsi said the federation’s central executive committee has not met after the SACP national leadership resolved that the party must contest the by-election.

“We agree with the SACP on the way forward and we are warming to their resolution of contesting state power, but the contradiction we have is that we are sitting with resolutions that compel us to support the ANC, whether in local or general elections,” Mahlatsi said.

Cosatu’s CEC meeting is only set for November 27, just two days before the Metsimaholo by-elections take place.

The ANC is however adamant it will win the by-election, as it claims it controlled the majority of the wards before the collapse of the Metsimaholo council.

ANC provincial spokesperson Thabo Meeko accused the SACP of pushing for the dissolution of the alliance by contesting.

“If the party contests, then we will have a crisis as the alliance because when we campaign we have to crush our opponents. It will have serious ramifications going forward if we have to do that to the SACP,” Meeko said.