SACP Provincial Secretary Dr Chuene Malebana.
The political stability of the Limpopo Alliance has crumbled as the African National Congress (ANC) has officially moved to strip the South African Communist Party (SACP) Provincial Secretary, Dr. Chuene William Malebana, of his seat in the Limpopo Provincial Legislature.
In a direct communication dated 24 June 2026, the Office of the Chief Whip issued a formal letter to Dr. Malebana, instructing him to vacate his position within seven days.
The letter cites a resolution from the ANC Provincial Executive Committee (PEC) meeting held on 20 June 2026 as the basis for this forced resignation.
The ANC’s justification for this drastic move centres on the SACP’s political independence. According to the letter in, the ANC leadership concluded that Dr Malebana’s role as the Provincial Secretary of the SACP is no longer compatible with his deployment as an ANC member in the legislature.
The primary point of contention is the SACP’s stated intention to contest the upcoming local government elections in November. The ANC PEC officials explicitly stated in the letter that they no longer consider Dr. Malebana’s continued presence in the legislature to be in the best interest of their organisation, given the SACP’s competitive stance.
This development has ignited massive debates across social and political platforms, exposing a deep rift within the Tripartite Alliance. While some factions welcome the decision as a long-overdue step to consolidate ANC authority, others condemn it as a petty, counter-revolutionary manoeuvre designed to silence independent working-class voices.
The situation is further complicated by the ironic composition of the current ANC leadership in Limpopo. The province is chaired by Dr. Phophi Ramathuba, a former SACP provincial deputy chairperson, and includes Pule Shayi as ANC Deputy Provincial Secretary, alongside Mavhungu Lurule-Ramakhanya who served as SACP Treasurer and the ANC Provincial Organiser who is a former SACP Provincial Chairperson, Goodman Mtileni.
For the ANC, the move is a clear assertion of organisational boundaries. By demanding the resignation of a provincial leader of an Alliance partner, the ANC is signaling that it will not tolerate a dual-loyalty scenario where a high-ranking official from a rival electoral party holds a seat under an ANC deployment.
The letter frames this as an internal organisational decision, yet the repercussions are felt far beyond the confines of the legislative chambers.
The SACP has responded with defiance, labeling the ANC’s tactics as rooigevaar politics—a reference to the red danger labels used by the apartheid state to suppress communist organising.
The party has vowed to mobilise its working-class base to challenge what they view as a betrayal of Alliance norms. As the seven-day deadline for Dr. Malebana to vacate his seat looms, observers are left to wonder if the removal of the SACP from government deployments will spread across other spheres and provinces following this Limpopo launch.
This rift appears to have become a permanent feature of Limpopo’s political landscape, leaving the future of the provincial Alliance in a state of unprecedented uncertainty.