The South African Communist Party (SACP) is among the 192 “inactive” political parties the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) intends to deregister.
The SACP is an alliance partner of the ANC and has resolved to contest the 2026 local government elections outside the umbrella of the alliance, which includes the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) and the South African National Civil Organisation (SANCO).
Also facing deregistration is the African Radical Economic Transformation Alliance (ARETA), which was founded by former ANC spokesperson Carl Niehaus before it closed shop and its membership joined Julius Malema’s EFF.
The list of the political parties to be deregistered was published by the IEC today, 14 March 2025.
The IEC said these parties are not represented in any legislative body, have not contested general elections since they were registered, and have not renewed their registration by 31 January 2025.
These affected parties have until 24 March 2025 to make representations as to why they should not be deregistered.
The IEC said currently, there are 609 registered political parties in South Africa. At least 383 of them are registered on a national level while the balance of 226 are either registered provincially or on municipal level.
“There are a number of benefits that accrue from registration as a party. These are, among others, that the political party is entitled to protection by the Commission of its full name, abbreviation of its name, and its logo or symbol.”
“In return, certain obligations are imposed on registered parties. Among those is that a party that is not represented in a Municipal Council, Provincial Legislature or the National Assembly must indicate to the Commission its continued existence. This prescribed indication must be received before the end of January each year,” the IEC said.
The IEC added that given increased contestation in the elections and the ever-increasing entrance of new political parties, it is crucial that the register of parties is kept current and those parties with no intention of contesting future elections are de-registered.
“It is also important to correct the artificial size of the register and avoid unnecessary confusion for voters. Moreover, the cancellation of inactive parties will free the usage of names, abbreviated names and colour schemes for the logos of aspirant real contestants,” the Commission said.
