The South African Communist Party (Sacp) in the Post–apartheid Period

Bibliographic Data

ID11904547
AuthorsDavid P Thomas (0000-0002-3888-5196, corresponding author)
Year2007
Volume34
Issue111
Publication date2007-03-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueReview of African Political Economy (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0305-6244 • E-ISSN: 1740-1720
PublisherTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/03056240701340456
OpenAlexW1978172612
LanguageEN
Citations received5
References cited2

This article examines the SACP and its role in contesting the hegemonic project of neoliberalism in the post-apartheid period (1994-2004). I discuss the Party's written attacks on neoliberalism, support for the Congress of South African Trade Union's (Cosatu's) campaigns against privatisation, the formation of the Young Communist League (YCL), and the current campaigns surrounding cooperatives and financial sector reform. As the SACP is embedded within the ruling African National Congress (ANC), the Party's attempts to critique and fight neoliberalism have remained rhetorical and ineffective. Rather than directly confronting the neoliberal policies of the ANC, the SACP has instead cooperated with the ANC, hoping to pull it more to the ‘left’. The SACP's dedication to influencing the ANC has come at the expense of building a mass base of support that opposes neoliberalism. This approach has ultimately resulted in an accommodation to neoliberalism, and exposes many difficult contradictions for the SACP

Communism · Hegemony · Left-wing politics · Neoliberalism (international relations · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Rhetorical question · Sociology · Law · South African History and Culture

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