A bloc of left-wing political parties in South Africa has ruled out supporting ANC-led coalitions in hung municipalities if the African National Congress partners with the Democratic Alliance.

The grouping, known as the Council of the Left, set out its position at a media briefing at the Birchwood Hotel in Boksburg on Thursday, 12 November. The parties said they wanted to strengthen cooperation among left-wing organisations and advance a shared programme focused on communities, service delivery, jobs and economic transformation.

The bloc brings together the South African Communist Party, the Economic Freedom Fighters, the uMkhonto weSizwe Party, the African Congress for Transformation, the Afrika Mayibuye Movement, the Azanian People's Organisation and the Pan Africanist Congress of Azania, alongside grassroots civic and faith-based organisations. The parties say their members together won just over 20 per cent of the popular vote in the recent local government elections.

An invitation to the ANC, with conditions

In a joint statement read by MK Party negotiating team leader Advocate Dali Mpofu, the parties urged their councillors in incoming municipal administrations to work together, speak with one voice and hold joint caucuses. The statement said councils should become organs of people's power, and called for a common political platform, with the possibility of contesting the 2029 national and provincial elections as a united bloc.

Mpofu said the grouping was inviting the ANC to join its efforts to unite progressive forces, rather than seeking to return to the party. He dismissed suggestions that the bloc's position depended on President Cyril Ramaphosa leaving office, saying the effort was not centred on one person.

The ANC did not attend the Boksburg meeting. ANC Secretary-General Fikile Mbalula said the party would not attend the gathering, just as it had not taken part in the bloc's initial conference. The ANC's extended special National Executive Committee was meeting at the same Birchwood venue on Thursday, following the party's poor performance in the 2026 local government elections.

Coalition talks under way in hung councils

The statement comes as coalition negotiations continue after the local government elections left several municipalities without an outright winner, including all three metropolitan municipalities in Gauteng. Political parties have until the end of next week to reach agreement on multi-party partnerships to govern the hung councils.

The Council of the Left said its members would oppose what it described as right-wing agendas in municipal councils. Its joint statement called for municipal land to be released for public use, decent housing, action on unemployment and corruption, and policies that put people before profit. It also urged parties in the national coalition, particularly the ANC, to push for the removal of the Democratic Alliance and the Freedom Front Plus from the Government of National Unity.

SACP General Secretary Solly Mapaila said the organisations wanted to convince parties voted for by the African majority to work together as a bloc in councils and prevent the DA and the Freedom Front from leading communities. He said the bloc felt it was important to take political responsibility and clarify that those forces did not stand for the interests of their voters.

What happens next

Mpofu said the bloc was prepared to work with any party that supported its programme, excluding what it described as right-wing reactionary forces. He also confirmed that the MK Party had been approached by the DA about coalition arrangements, and said the party was open to talking to anyone who wished to work with it in local government, regardless of ideological differences.

The grouping said details of its initiative would be announced in the coming months, once municipal councils had been constituted and the balance of political forces became clearer. Its position could prove influential in hung municipalities, where the combined votes of its member parties may decide who governs and on what terms.