Where the facts about the SACP come from

The SACP is on the IEC list in 249 of 257 councils, in all 9 provinces. This includes all 8 metros.

Push for rapid response teams for water leaks, sewer spills and power faults. Adopt a Decent Work Plan in every council it leads, based on community needs. Push for well-located social and affordable homes near work, transport and services. Push for strong action against theft of cables, transformers and water pumps.

Water: The SACP promises to push for rapid response teams. They would deal with water leaks, sewer spills, power faults and dangerous pipes, roads and power lines. In its own words: “rapid response teams for water leaks, sewer spills, electricity faults and dangerous infrastructure;”

Electricity and power cuts: The SACP promises to push for fair water and power prices that favour poor homes. It also promises to protect a basic lifeline supply. And it promises to end cut-offs that punish poor people. In its own words: “We will fight for fair, pro-poor tariffs for both water and electricity, protect lifeline services, and end punitive disconnections of the poor.”

Rubbish: The SACP promises to push for rubbish to be picked up in a safe, reliable way. It also promises to push for recycling in communities. In its own words: “safe, reliable refuse collection and community recycling;”

Toilets and sewage: The SACP promises to push for bucket toilets to be removed completely. It wants decent, permanent toilets, planned with the people who live there. In its own words: “The SACP will fight for its complete eradication and for decent, permanent sanitation solutions developed with the communities who live with the indignity every day.”

Roads: The SACP says it would fight for roads in townships and villages to be kept in good order and repaired. It says municipal roads should be treated as essential public infrastructure, not an afterthought. The same list includes a ward-by-ward audit of services including roads, and a public maintenance plan with budgets and completion dates. In its own words: “proper maintenance and repair of roads in townships and villages, treating municipal roads as essential public infrastructure, not an afterthought;”

Building houses: The SACP promises to push for social and affordable housing in good locations. These homes would be near work, transport and public services. In its own words: “well-located social and affordable housing near work, transport and public services.”

Informal settlements: The SACP promises to upgrade informal settlements where they are, where possible. It would start with basic services. These are water, toilets and sewers, power, drains, safe access and rubbish removal. It would also add addresses. And it would add ways to protect homes from fire and floods. In its own words: “We will support in situ upgrading wherever possible, starting with water, sanitation, electricity, drainage, safe access, refuse removal, addresses and protection against fire and flooding.”

Crime: The SACP promises to push for strong action against theft of cables, transformers and water pumps. This includes protecting key sites and controlling the trade in scrap metal. In its own words: “decisive action against infrastructure crime, including theft of cables, transformers and water pumps, through protection of key installations and regulation of scrap-metal dealing;”

Metro police: The SACP promises to push for policing that people can see and hold to account. It wants it to be free of corruption. It wants SAPS, metro police and communities to work as one, in an honest way. In its own words: “visible, accountable, corruption-free policing, with properly resourced stations and honest cooperation between SAPS, metro police and communities;”

Local jobs: The SACP promises that every council it leads will adopt a Decent Work Plan. The plan would be based on what communities actually need. In its own words: “Every SACP-led municipality will adopt a Decent Work Plan based on actual community needs”

Business and growth: The SACP promises that each council it leads will set up centres to support co-operatives. A co-operative is a business owned and run by its members. The centres would cut red tape. They would link co-operatives to infrastructure, money, skills and markets. In its own words: “Every SACP-led municipality will establish Cooperatives Development Centres (or equivalent co-operative support mechanisms) to remove red tape and connect co-operatives to infrastructure, finance, skills and markets.”

Corruption: The SACP promises to push for lifestyle audits of councillors and officials. These would be regular checks, done by outside checkers. This kind of audit checks if how a person lives fits what they earn. In its own words: “regular, independent lifestyle audits of councillors and officials, with due process and referral of credible evidence of unexplained wealth;”

Audit results: The SACP promises community checks and social audits. These would be on top of the Auditor-General's audits. In a social audit, people who live in the area check if promised work was done. In its own words: “Community monitoring and social audits will complement the Auditor-General.”

Wasteful spending: The SACP says it would push to end wasted spending, contracts that cost too much, and too much reliance on consultants. Consultants are outside experts that a council pays to do work or give advice. It also lists building a council's own skills to cut repeated contractor costs. In its own words: “stop wasteful expenditure, inflated contracts and unnecessary consultancy dependence;”

Budgets: The SACP promises to campaign for participatory budgeting in each ward. This means residents would help choose and rank local needs. They would do this before a budget is passed. In its own words: “We will campaign for ward-level participatory budgeting in which residents help identify and rank local priorities before budgets are adopted”

The SACP holds no council seats under its own name. In 2021 it campaigned as part of the alliance led by the ANC. At a special congress in December 2024, the party decided to stand in all municipalities in 2026. We found no report from a major news outlet of SACP councillors or mayors in a council role in 2025-2026.

In Knysna, Mayor Thando Matika was listed as an SACP candidate for 2026, Daily Maverick reported in October 2026. The ANC removed him as mayor on 18 September 2026, and he disputes this. Police arrested him on 1 October 2026 on corruption charges linked to alleged kickbacks on a security contract. He has not been found guilty. The SACP asked for the legal process to run without interference. It stressed that a person is presumed innocent until a court finds otherwise.

The SACP told the IEC about no donations above the disclosure limit, from July 2025 to June 2026. Checked 20 October 2026.

It has no declared donations in any of the IEC funding reports since April 2021.

Gifts over R100 000 from one donor, named in the reports: None shown. Smaller gifts, R100 000 or less from one donor (names not published): R1 888 680. Membership fees and levies: R4 517 248. From the Political Representatives Fund: None: no seats in Parliament or a provincial legislature. From Parliament and provincial legislatures: None: no seats in Parliament or a provincial legislature.

The SACP, the South African Communist Party, said this in a statement. Iran and the US had just agreed to a ceasefire, which is a deal to stop fighting. The SACP says Israel then bombed Lebanon heavily, which harms the efforts to make peace. It is against the US and Israel working together in Middle East wars. It does not say what South Africa's government should do. In its own words: “We condemn the continued US-Israel imperialist collaboration in the Middle East region”

The SACP said this in a statement about the West Bank, an area Israel controls that Palestinians want for their own state. Israel had approved 19 new settlements there, which are Israeli communities on that land. The SACP says this breaks international law and blocks the hope of a free Palestinian state. It wants the UN to step in, and asks workers worldwide to oppose the plan. It does not ask South Africa's government to act. In its own words: “calls upon the United Nations to utilise international law to intervene in this case”

The SACP said this in a statement about the war between Russia and Ukraine. It says Ukraine's army used drones to attack the private home of Russia's president. It says this happened while the two countries were in talks to end the war. The SACP says the attacks hurt those talks and make Ukraine's government look like the side breaking the peace. It asks the world and the European Union to support the peace process. In its own words: “These attacks undermine the peace process that has been initiated and position the Zelensky government as violators of the peace process, despite public claims to the contrary.”

The SACP said this in a statement backing China in its disputes with the US. NATO is a military alliance of the US, Canada and many European countries. The SACP blames NATO for causing the fighting between Russia and Ukraine. It says NATO's real target is China. It says China, like South Africa, wants the war to end through talks. In its own words: “The US-dominated NATO provoked the war in Ukraine, initially targeting Russia but ultimately aiming at China.”

The SACP said this in a statement against a planned US sale of weapons to Taiwan. Taiwan is an island that China says belongs to it. The one-China principle is the idea that Taiwan is part of China. The SACP says the sale would harm China's right to rule its own land and hurt peace there. It asks all countries to stand with China on this. In its own words: “The SACP remains steadfast in its firm support of the one-China principle and China’s inalienable right to safeguard its national sovereignty and territorial integrity.”

The SACP said this in a statement backing China in its disputes with the US. It came after the US passed a law about Tibet, which China calls Xizang. China's parliament said this law meddles in China's own affairs. The SACP agrees and says the US stirs up trouble with China, also through the NATO military alliance. It does not say what South Africa's government should do. In its own words: “In the same vein, the SACP strongly condemns the United States’ provocation of China.”

The SACP said this in a statement after US President Donald Trump said Afrikaners are being killed in South Africa. The SACP says this claim is false. It says Trump used the claim as a reason to skip the G20 meeting in South Africa. The G20 is a group of the world's biggest economies. The SACP wants South Africans to stand together so the country can make its own choices. In its own words: “The SACP calls for the people of South Africa to unite in defence of our national sovereignty and self-determination.”

The SACP said this in a statement against US President Donald Trump. Trump had spoken against the Expropriation Act, a law on when the state may take property. The SACP says South Africa makes its own laws and the US cannot tell it what to do. It says the law helps fix past unfair land losses based on race. It wants South Africa to keep the law, whatever Trump says. In its own words: “We are not a colony of the United States or any other state for that matter”

The SACP said this when it launched its plan for the 2026 local elections. It was marking 100 years since the birth of Fidel Castro, who led Cuba. The SACP thanks Cuba because it says Cuban soldiers fought in Angola for Africa's freedom. A blockade here means the US limits on trade with Cuba, and the SACP wants the US to end them now. The statement does not say what South Africa's government should do. In its own words: “we demand the immediate and unconditional end of the illegal US blockade against Cuba and its aggressive measures and threats.”

The SACP backs all three ICJ orders against Israel in South Africa's genocide case. It calls for a ceasefire at once that lasts for good. In its own words: “The SACP supports all the three orders issued by the ICJ and calls for an immediate permanent ceasefire”

Israel had killed Yahya Sinwar, the leader of Hamas, the group that then ran Gaza. The SACP called this "murder" and sent its support to the Palestinian people. It said it stands with the "axis of resistance", which it says includes Syria, Iran and Lebanon. In its own words: “We stand in solidarity with the entire axis of resistance in the Middle East, including Syria, Iran and Lebanon”

Business Day reported that SACP leaders attended the ANC's meeting with visiting Hamas leaders. Members of Fatah and the PLO, two other Palestinian groups, were also there. In its own words: “Members of the SACP’s leadership also attended the meeting.”

The SACP said there is only one China, the People's Republic of China, and that Taiwan is part of it for good. It backs the one-China principle. In its own words: “The South African Communist Party reaffirms its unwavering support for the One-China principle. There is only one sovereign state under the name China. The People’s Republic of China is the only legitimate representative of China and Taiwan is an inalienable part of China.”

In 2003 the SACP said it has an agreement with the Communist Party of China, the party that runs China. Under it, the two parties take turns sending senior teams to each other every year. We found no sign that the agreement has ended. In its own words: “In terms of the SACPs bilateral agreement with the Communist Party of China, the two parties exchange and alternate senior delegations on an annual basis.”

The SolidNet website has a list called "Participant Parties". It lists the parties at a meeting. This was the 23rd International Meeting of Communist and Workers' Parties. It was held in Izmir, Türkiye. It ran from 20 to 22 October 2023. The list includes the South African Communist Party. The International Meeting of Communist and Workers' Parties brings together communist and workers' parties from many countries. The first was in Athens, Greece, in May 1999. Each meeting is run by a host party. Cuba's Communist Party hosted the 2026 meeting in Havana. We found no member fees or central fund for these meetings. So the SACP meets communist parties from other countries at these meetings. It took part in the 2023 meeting in Izmir, Türkiye, hosted by Türkiye's Communist Party. SolidNet's page for the 2026 meeting in Havana lists no SACP speech or paper. So we cannot tell from it whether the SACP went.