For many decades, communists were the only political group in South Africa who were prepared to treat Africans as human beings and as their equals

Nelson Mandela

The late Joe Slovo, who was a leading member of the SACP, once recalled having many heated debates with Mandela in the early days, but the ANC leadership came to realise that the communists were genuinely committed to a non-racial South Africa.

At the Rivonia Trial in 1964, Nelson Mandela said: "For many decades, communists were the only political group in South Africa who were prepared to treat Africans as human beings and as their equals."

SACP stalwart, John Nkadimeng, says that when the ANC was also banned after the Sharpeville Massacre in 1960, the Communist Party was able to offer support.

"You couldn't imagine a massive organisation like the ANC going underground, but the Communist Party had 10 years of experience as a banned organisation, so we told the ANC 'come and learn from us' and they did. "

Legal again

In February 1990, in a prelude to Nelson Mandela's release from prison, the South African government led by President F.W. De Klerk lifted the ban on the ANC, the SACP and a number of other organisations.

Joe Slovo: Heated debates with Mandela

Having been demonised by the apartheid regime for 40 years, the Communist Party was once again legal.

Today, the SACP has lost much of its former influence and is a lot less radical than the Stalinist party it once was.

Sixty-five communists sit in parliament as ANC members, and there are six ministers in President Thabo Mbeki's cabinet who are openly members of the Communist Party.

Differences

In spite of clear differences on policy, the long-standing alliance between the ANC, the SACP and the trade unions federation, COSATU, has held firm, until now.

Timeline

1921 - Communist Party of South Africa (CPSA) formed 1950 - CPSA banned by the then National Party-led government 1953 - CPSA reconstituted as an underground party known as the South African Communist Party (SACP) 1990 - SACP unbanned along with other liberation movements

"If the Communist Party campaigned separately from the ANC, it probably wouldn't do as well", said Professor Tom Lodge of the University of the Witwatersrand.

"There are plenty of instances of the ANC and the SACP being in conflict, but the communists believe that if they weren't in government, the Mbeki administration would be more right-wing than it is", Professor Lodge said.

In a recent editorial, South Africa's Weekly Mail & Guardian newspaper, said "the SACP could justly feel proud" as it celebrates its 80th anniversary, but the paper questioned whether the time had come for the Communist Party "to strike out on its own".

It is no secret that the SACP is deeply uneasy about the government's tight fiscal policies and the commitment to the privatisation of state assets.

SACP General Secretary, Blade Nzimande, says the struggle to eradicate poverty in South Africa is a major challenge, and that as a result, he insists that the Communist Party is more relevant than ever.

"The government has done a lot to address some of the needs of our people, but those advances are continually being threatened by the capitalist nature of South African society," said Mr Nzimande.

The South African Government's economic strategies are likely to come under the spotlight when the SACP, COSATU and the ANC hold a tripartite alliance summit on 22 September.