South African Communist Party Wants Government That Excludes DA and MKP

(Bloomberg) -- The South African Communist Party will oppose the formation of a government by the African National Congress that includes the Democratic Alliance and the uMkhonto weSizwe Party.

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“We support a minority government with government-of-national-unity features, without the role and participation of the DA,” SACP General Secretary Solly Mapaila told reporters in Johannesburg on Wednesday. Any government formation “should not involve the neo-liberal forces headed by the DA,” he said.

The ANC will have to reach an agreement with one or more opposition group to rule the country after losing its outright majority in last week’s election. It has held exploratory talks with delegations from a number of opposition parties as well as allies including the Congress of South African Trade Unions and the SACP about working together and the best option at this point is a government of national unity, spokeswoman Mahlengi Bhengu-Motsiri said at a separate briefing earlier in the day.

The SACP does not contest elections on its own and is in an alliance with the ANC and labor group Cosatu.

“We accept this setback that we have suffered,” Mapaila said about the ANC’s election support. “Our people have humbled us. But equally, our people did not endorse these right-wing parties.”

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While it can’t dictate who the ANC should talk to, Mapaila said the SACP also prefers a formation that excludes the MKP, the newcomer that’s led by former President Jacob Zuma and that got the third-highest support in last week’s vote.

“They have weakened us,” Mapaila said about the MKP. “You don’t destroy the liberation movement and proclaim yourself a progressive organization.”

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