Solly Mapaila, the general secretary of the South African Communist Party (SACP), has revealed what he told ANC and Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leaders in the days leading up to the formation of the government of national unity (GNU) Cabinet and extended executive.
Speaking at the launch of trade union Nehawu’s political school on Tuesday morning, Mapaila told the audience that he “begged” ANC leaders to join hands with the EFF and not the “neo-liberal forces”, ostensibly the Democratic Alliance (DA).
“The first day I went to meet comrade Floyd [Shivambu, EFF deputy president] is the day after I buried my brother. I went to see him and said ‘comrade, you can’t continue this way’. I went to the ANC – it was back and forth, begging people to actually focus on the possible revolutionary path …
“It will be better to be irritated by the EFF in Cabinet, than to be irritated by the neo-liberal forces who want to be dominant and take control of the revolution,” said Mapaila.
GNU Cabinet formation
On 30 June 2024, President Cyril Ramaphosa named an executive consisting of 76 members (one deputy president, 32 ministers and 43 of their deputies) after weeks of negotiations and wrangling between 11 parties of the 18 represented in Parliament.
Ramaphosa’s executive ended up including members from 10 parties, with the United Africans Transformation withdrawing last week from the GNU after being snubbed. They received one seat in Parliament after 2024 elections.
| Rank | Party | Regional | National | Seats |
| 1 | African National | 86 | 73 | 159 |
| 2 | Democratic Alliance | 45 | 42 | 87 |
| 5 | Inkatha Freedom Party | 9 | 8 | 17 |
| 6 | Patriotic Alliance | 4 | 5 | 9 |
| 7 | Freedom Front Plus | 2 | 4 | 6 |
| 10 | United Democratic Movement | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| 12 | Al Jama-ah | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 15 | Rise Mzansi | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 16 | Good party | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 17 | Pan Africanist Congress of Azania | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| TOTAL | 148 | 139 | 287 |
Despite their criticism of the ANC, several SACP leaders were also included in the executive, namely:
- Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, Blade Nzimande – SACP national chairperson
- Deputy Minister of Finance, David Masondo – SACP’s second deputy general secretary
- Deputy Minister of Higher Education, Buti Manamela – member of SACP central committee
- Minister of Mineral and Petroleum Resources, Gwede Mantashe – member of SACP central committee
- Deputy Minister of Land Reform and Rural Development, Chupu Stanley Mathabatha – member of SACP central committee
- Deputy Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development, Andries Nel – member of SACP central committee
Ahead of Ramaphosa’s announcement, Jacob Zuma’s uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) Party – SA’s third-biggest political party with 58 seats in Parliament – refused to join the GNU, while the EFF at the 11th hour said they would join only if the DA and Freedom Front (FF) Plus were excluded.
“The participation of the DA and FF Plus in the GNU only seeks to neutralise the possibility of economic transformation that an EFF and ANC coalition present, such as the creation of a state bank, nationalisation of the South African Reserve Bank, insourcing of workers, free education, healthcare, housing, water and sanitation,” the EFF said hours before Ramaphosa’s announcement.
Mapaila talks to EFF leaders
Regarding engagements with EFF about working with the ANC, Mapaila said he was well received by the Red Berets.
“I’m not the leader of the EFF but I went to see them and I want to appreciate that they respected my engagement. I know them…
“We agreed that this is now the new strategy going forward but some of the comrades in the ANC, particularly this neo-liberal faction, was too impatient. They did not want to engage with them [the EFF], they did not want to offer them something serious. And yet they went on to offer these reactionary, colonial forces so much power,” he said.
Mapaila also bemoaned that their input as SACP were ignored in the ANC’s statement regarding the GNU agreement with the other parties.
“[Our comments] were meaningless!” said Mapaila.
Do you think the ANC did well by choosing DA and other GNU parties over EFF?
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