The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) has backed the SACP’s decision to contest the 2026 local government elections independently of the ANC, though it said congress delegates would have the final say on the matter.
NUM is holding its three-day national elective congress in Boksburg, east of Johannesburg. In its secretariat report, the Cosatu affiliate called for the mobilisation of the “popular front of the left” against the government of national unity (GNU).
The SACP announced in December 2024 it would contest the 2026 local government elections under its own banner. The party, which has campaigned for the ANC since SA’s first democratic elections in 1994, has become increasingly critical of its track record and has spoken out against state capture, malfeasance, maladministration, looting, and poor service delivery.
SACP leaders such as Gwede Mantashe, Blade Nzimande, David Masondo, Thulas Nxesi and the late Pravin Gordhan have served in the government for years, despite the party announcing periodically it was considering contesting elections on its own to take up the plight of the working class and the poor.
In its congress documents, NUM — which has about 180,000 members — bemoaned the country’s socioeconomic crises and blamed the GNU for “substituting” the tripartite alliance (the ANC, Cosatu and SACP) as the “strategic centre” of power.
The union noted the country was battling an economic and political crisis. “Both manifest in the state’s and the GNU’s inability to fight surging poverty, inequality, crime and unemployment. Overall, these are the results of the crises of capitalism and only a radical revolution can resolve these contradictions,” NUM said.
“It is for this reason, among many others, that the political council of NUM tilted sympathetically in its views towards the SACP contesting the 2026 local government elections. It was addressing the absence of a popular front of the Left and sealing the political vacuum of the working class as a leader of the NDR [national democratic revolution].
“k[T]his has been a decision of delegates and not the leadership. Furthermore, NUM also notes that one of the biggest affiliates of Cosatu, Nehawu, recently resolved to support the SACP in contesting the local government elections.” The elective congress, however, has an opportunity to “resolve the matter”.
ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula admitted the country was dogged by a slew of socioeconomic crises as social inequality persisted. The ANC was prioritising industrialisation and beneficiation to address these challenges by creating jobs and realising economic growth.
Mbalula said the ANC was committed to its renewal process aimed at “enhancing accountability, restoring trust of the people, ensuring ethical leadership and governance”.
“The ANC renewal [process] demands the active participation of all our alliance partners,” he said.
NUM has 20,606 members in the construction sector, 18,703 in energy, 5,914 in the metal industry, and 130,443 in mining. The union, which counts President Cyril Ramaphosa among its founders, manages vast resources, from internal union procurement to overseeing its investment arm, the Mineworkers Investment Company, which has a net asset value of R7.8bn.
mkentanel@businesslive.co.za
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