South Africa’s parties are all chasing the same prize this election season, the blessing of traditional leaders. But no party’s position is more awkward than the South African Communist Party’s, writes Celani Sikhakhane in Mzansi Royals.
The South African Communist Party has long been on record opposing the traditional leadership system, viewing it as feudal and exploiting ordinary people to enrich a few. Yet, for the first time in its history, the SACP is contesting the November local government elections on its own, without its old ally the ANC, and it has turned to the very structure it once condemned.
The party held a formal meeting with the Congress of Traditional Leaders of South Africa last year, with General Secretary Solly Mapaila describing traditional leaders as a key constituency the SACP intends to win over, with joint plans to mobilise around land reform.
Whether communities under traditional rule will embrace a party that has spent years criticising that very system is the real question hanging over the SACP’s campaign.
Meanwhile, the ANC is working its old strongholds hard. President Cyril Ramaphosa recently visited King Dalindyebo Matanzima at Qamata Great Palace in the Eastern Cape, telling His Majesty that his party will ensure traditional leaders are paid like Members of Parliament. Other ANC leaders have visited the Zulu King to brief him on their election plans and seek his blessing.
The DA has taken a more structured approach. Its policy on traditional leadership calls for formal agreements between municipalities and traditional councils, giving chiefs and traditional leaders clearly defined roles in local development plans and service delivery, while also pushing for financial transparency and a code of conduct to keep everything within the bounds of the Constitution. The party has visited traditional leaders including the Ndebele Monarch and the Zulu King in different parts of the country as part of this approach.
The African Transformation Movement has one of the closest bonds of any party with a monarch. ATM parliamentary leader Vuyo Zungula, who was born and raised in Mthatha and comes from the Dosini royal house, shares deep cultural and political ties with AbaThembu King Buyelekhaya Dalindyebo, who has publicly urged his subjects to vote for the ATM.
For now, it looks like the SACP’s toughest fight this election season won’t be against the ANC or the DA. It will be convincing communities under traditional rule to trust a party that has spent years telling them their kings and chiefs are part of the problem.
Pictured above: South African Communist Party General Secretary Solly Mapaila.
Image source: South African Communist Party/Facebook Page
