The South African Democratic Teachers Union (SADTU) has decided to allow its members to be the ones to decide who to back between the ANC and the South African Communist Party (SACP) during next year’s local government elections.

The decision comes after the SACP, a long-time ally of the ANC, decided that it will independently contest the crucial 2026 election.

That has created a headache for the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) and its affiliates like SADTU.

The announcement to leave the matter to the special congress was communicated over the weekend by the national executive committee (NEC) of SADTU after it held its second ordinary meeting of the year on the 26th and 27th of June 2025 in Kempton Park.

“SADTU is charting its course within the National Democratic Revolution, noting the ANC’s renewal efforts and the SACP’s move to contest elections independently. To resolve which Alliance partner to back in upcoming polls (currently the ANC), the union will convene a Special Congress in late 2025 or early 2026 and work to dispel strategic confusion ahead of COSATU’s Central Committee meeting,” the NEC said in the statement.

The decision on who to back has already pitted SADTU against the National Education Health and Allied Workers Union (NEHAWU), another affiliate of COSATU.

In April 2023, SADTU filed court papers with the Johannesburg Labour Court to challenge the COSATUs resolution to support the SACP. SADTU argued that the resolution was wrongly adopted, even after it was resolved there should be a special congress to deliberate on the matter.

It accused NEHAWU of pushing through the resolution in violation of COSATU’s constitution. The case was later withdrawn with insiders saying the move was meant to preserve the unity of COSATU ahead of the 2024 elections.