SACP Launches Red October Campaign in Bushbuckridge, Vows to Challenge Capitalist Control and Local Government Failures
BUSHBUCKRIDGE, MPUMALANGA — Delivering the main address at the South African Communist Party's (SACP) Red October Campaign Rally on Sunday, 25 October 2026, General Secretary Solly Mapaila outlined a radical vision for local governance, public ownership, and systemic economic restructuring.
The rally comes at a historic juncture as the SACP prepares to contest local government elections independently under its own banner for the first time since the 1994 democratic breakthrough.
Assassination Triggers Call for IEC Intervention
The gathering began on a sombre note following the brutal murder of Comrade Ernest Fipaza, the SACP candidate for Ward 10 in Ncumisa Kondlo District (Mbhashe Sub-District, Eastern Cape). Fipaza was fatally shot at his home by disguised assailants demanding a firearm he did not possess.
Reporting additional intimidation and threats against candidates in the Ngqushwa and Raymond Mhlaba sub-districts, Mapaila confirmed that the party will formally notify the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC).
"These acts are rendering the elections in the affected areas unfree and unfair, as others use assassinations and threats to pave the way for the candidates they back to win. This is unacceptable," declared Mapaila.
Challenging "Capitalist Capture" and Electoral Monetisation
Central to Mapaila’s address was a critique of how financial capital influences democratic processes. He warned that the concentration of wealth enables private capital to flood elections with funding for right-wing and pro-market parties, reducing popular democracy to the "rule of money."
"In form, it is those political parties that contest elections... In substance, however, it is the dominant sections of the capitalist class, using wealth appropriated from the labour of the working class... that actively enter the electoral arena," Mapaila said.
He emphasized that the SACP’s decision to contest independently aims to restore the working class as a direct political force, offering an alternative focused on public ownership rather than profit-driven governance.
Core Local Government Commitments
Aligning the Red October Campaign with the party’s election manifesto, "Build people's power where we live: For the Right to Work, Water, Electricity, Roads and Safety for All," Mapaila outlined key priority areas for elected SACP councillors:
Re-Municipalisation and In-Sourcing:
Rebuilding municipal technical capacity by ending external consulting, tenderisation, and outsourcing.
In-sourcing essential service functions to establish direct public delivery.
Energy Sector & Eskom Investigations:
Rejecting the privatization and unbundling of electricity generation and transmission.
Launching immediate forensic investigations into the inflated procurement costs of transformers, cables, and components across both Eskom and local municipalities.
Establishing state-owned entities to manufacture local energy components and maintain a publicly controlled green transition.
Land Redistribution & Basic Services:
Equitable redistribution of urban and rural land for social housing, agricultural co-operatives, schools, and health facilities.
Ensuring reliable access to water, sanitation, refuse removal, and road maintenance.
Community Safety & Anti-Corruption:
Tackling gender-based violence (GBV) and local crime through resourced public institutions and organized community oversight.
Implementing strict accountability frameworks for councillors, who will be bound to regular reporting and community mandates.
Rejection of MTBPS and Neo-Liberal Austerity
Commenting on the 2026 Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS) tabled earlier in the week by National Treasury, the SACP strongly condemned continued fiscal consolidation and spending restraints.
Citing Statistics South Africa data, Mapaila highlighted that over 41.5 million people live below the Upper-Bound Poverty Line (R2,846/month), with 13.5 million living under the Food Poverty Line (R855/month). He argued that Treasury's growth projections—1.2% in 2026 and 1.6% in 2027—demonstrate the failure of structural reforms and austerity.
"The working class cannot eat fiscal consolidation, nor can the unemployed find work and associated income security in budget surpluses," Mapaila stated, advocating instead for rand-denominated borrowing deployed directly into industrialisation and public works.
International Solidarity and Electoral Mobilisation
Mapaila reaffirmed the party's international solidarity stances, condemning imperialist aggression and reiterating support for Palestine, Western Sahara, Cuba, Venezuela, and Sudan. He also rejected statements from foreign heads of state regarding "white genocide" in South Africa, calling them fabricated attempts to undermine national sovereignty.
Closing the rally, Mapaila called on workers, youth, and rural communities to turn out on election day, 4 November, to support SACP candidates under the banner of building independent working-class power.
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