SCHWEIZER-RENEKE, Sunday 13 September 2026 — The South African Communist Party says it will contest all 402 wards in North West in the 4 November local government elections, turning its national decision to stand independently of the ANC into a province-wide candidate campaign rather than a selective challenge in a handful of municipalities.
SACP North West secretary Smuts Matshe confirmed the scale of the campaign while the party conducted mobilisation activities in Mamusa Local Municipality ahead of its provincial manifesto launch. SABC News reported on Sunday evening that the party intends contesting every ward in the province.
The Electoral Commission and Municipal Demarcation Board’s final ward allocation confirms that North West has 402 wards for the 2026 election, down from 403 in 2021.
The announcement matters because the SACP has historically campaigned alongside the ANC rather than against it. A full North West slate means the two alliance partners will now compete directly for ward votes across municipalities where the ANC has traditionally dominated.
North West campaign will be province-wide
Matshe said the party would seek representation throughout the province and campaign around municipal service delivery and the selection of capable and ethical councillors.
The SACP was campaigning in Mamusa Local Municipality, which includes Schweizer-Reneke, as part of preparations for its North West manifesto launch.
The commitment to all 402 wards is more consequential than running only proportional-representation lists.
Ward candidates compete directly against ANC, DA, EFF, MK Party and other candidates for geographically defined seats, meaning the SACP could affect results even where it does not win the ward itself by drawing votes from established parties.
The party will also be eligible to compete for proportional-representation seats according to the electoral framework applicable in individual municipalities.
IEC figures confirm 402-ward battlefield
The Municipal Demarcation Board formally handed the revised ward configuration to the IEC in December 2025.
North West was allocated 402 wards, compared with 407 in 2016 and 403 in 2021. Nationally, South Africa has 4,488 wards for the upcoming municipal election.
The SACP’s announcement therefore amounts to a commitment to contest the full ward map in the province.
It also suggests the party has chosen an organisationally demanding strategy.
Running candidates in every ward requires candidate selection, compliance documentation, campaigning and election-day representation across municipalities stretching from the province’s larger urban centres to smaller rural councils.
Independent campaign follows national SACP decision
The North West commitment implements a decision first taken at the SACP’s special national congress in December 2024.
The party resolved then to contest municipalities independently under its own banner rather than continue standing exclusively through the ANC.
EWN reported at the time that the SACP specifically chose a “wall-to-wall” election strategy instead of concentrating its resources on a small number of favourable councils.
That decision marks one of the most significant changes in the electoral relationship between the ANC and SACP since 1994.
The communist party has previously fielded candidates independently only in limited circumstances, including the 2017 Metsimaholo by-election.
SACP says contest does not end ANC alliance
Despite competing directly with the ANC in November, the SACP continues to insist that it has not left the Tripartite Alliance.
National spokesperson Alex Mashilo said earlier this month that there was “no divorce” from the ANC and that the organisations remained politically allied despite exercising electoral independence.
That position creates an unusual campaign dynamic.
The parties can remain alliance partners nationally while competing against each other for council seats, ward representation and potentially control of municipalities.
The question becomes particularly sensitive where the SACP attracts voters who would historically have supported ANC candidates.
Independent manifesto targets municipal services and procurement
The SACP launched its national local government manifesto in Soshanguve on 16 August.
Its programme focuses on reliable water and electricity, municipal road maintenance, employment and livelihoods, land and housing, community safety, councillor accountability and changes to municipal procurement.
The party argues that municipalities have become overly dependent on outsourced contractors and says it wants greater public provision and insourcing of municipal functions.
It has also pledged that SACP councillors will regularly report back to communities and remain subject to party accountability.
Those positions give the party a distinctive left-wing municipal platform but will now have to be translated into ward-level campaigns against candidates from its own long-standing alliance partner.
North West presents difficult terrain for ANC
The ANC remains the largest party in North West and controls the provincial government, but a number of municipalities have experienced persistent administrative, financial and service-delivery problems.
Opposition parties have focused their municipal campaigns on councils including Mamusa, Ditsobotla, Tswaing, Maquassi Hills, Ratlou, JB Marks and Matlosana, citing infrastructure deterioration and governance problems. The DA has made those municipalities central to its own election messaging.
The SACP can now campaign in many of the same areas while approaching dissatisfied voters from the political left rather than from the traditional opposition.
That could make its electoral effect different from that of the DA, EFF or MK Party.
Cosatu decision adds another layer to alliance contest
The announcement also comes immediately before Cosatu’s national congress, where delegates are expected to confront the question of whether the federation should campaign for the ANC, SACP or adopt another arrangement for the municipal elections.
Cosatu has historically provided the ANC with significant organisational support through affiliated unions, organisers and shop stewards.
An SACP candidate in every North West ward means the federation’s eventual decision will have practical consequences on the ground.
Workers aligned with Cosatu could find themselves choosing between candidates representing two organisations that have spent decades campaigning together.
Full slate could influence close ward races
The SACP does not need to win large numbers of municipalities for its independent campaign to affect the election.
In a first-past-the-post ward contest, even relatively modest support can alter which other party finishes first.
That makes the SACP particularly relevant in wards where ANC margins have narrowed or where opposition parties are already competitive.
The party could also become a post-election coalition participant if it wins enough proportional or ward seats in hung councils.
It has not established a uniform national rule requiring or prohibiting municipal coalitions with the ANC.
First test comes with provincial manifesto launch
The North West provincial manifesto launch will provide a clearer indication of which municipalities the SACP believes offer its strongest opportunities and which local governance failures it intends to make central to the campaign.
For now, the numerical commitment is itself significant.
The SACP is no longer merely declaring that it intends to contest independently.
In North West, it is preparing to place itself directly against the ANC and the rest of the field in every ward in the province — providing an early test of whether the historic alliance split at the ballot box can translate into an enduring independent SACP electoral organisation.
