The African National Congress (ANC) is trying to expel a member of the South African Communist Party (SACP) from the Western Cape legislature as the communists gear up to fight the upcoming local elections on a separate ticket.

The November municipal elections will be the first time that the SACP stands in a nationwide election on its own ticket.

SACP Western Cape provincial secretary Benson Ngqentsu currently represents the ANC in the provincial legislature. In post-apartheid South Africa, many SACP members have become public representatives on ANC tickets, holding dual membership in both parties. The ANC and the SACP (together with the Congress of South African Trade Unions) are members of the Tripartite Alliance, which made that arrangement possible. Now that the SACP is intending on contesting the local government elections separately, it is becoming increasingly untenable for SACP members to run on ANC tickets or serve as ANC public representatives.

Thandi Mkasi, ANC Provincial Task Team coordinator, wrote to Western Cape legislature speaker Daylin Mitchell seeking Ngqentsu’s removal. Ngqentsu was informed of this on Sunday by ANC chief whip Ayanda Bans. Mitchell has also confirmed the request.

The ANC has written to municipalities seeking the removal of ANC councillors who appear on the election lists of other parties. These councillors have been expelled from the ANC, and include those standing for the SACP.

The ANC also requires its members to campaign for its candidates, and does not regard campaigning for a rival party – even one in a nominal alliance with itself, like the SACP – as acceptable.

ANC Western Cape provincial spokesperson Sifiso Mtsweni said that Ngqentsu had been clear that he would be working for the SACP in the election, and the ANC had thus taken the decision to “recall” him from the legislature.

Ngqentsu, meanwhile, stood by his decision, saying his political convictions would always demand loyalty to the working class and to a socialist future. His removal from the legislature was therefore a “badge of honour”.

The SACP has accused the ANC of undertaking a purge of its representatives, and indicated it will challenge the recall “politically and legally”.

The SACP has reportedly told its members who have been expelled from the ANC to ignore the instructions and to continue in their positions.

The SACP has argued that contesting elections independently is a strategy towards advancing a distinctly socialist agenda, while also working towards “reconfiguration” of the alliance. The ANC, however, has historically been extremely demanding of the loyalty of those within its orbit, and an electoral challenge from the SACP places the future of the alliance in doubt.