THE South African Communist Party (SACP) discussed standing in elections against long-standing alliance partner the ANC yesterday.

SACP spokesman Alex Mashilo told South African media that the issue was on the agenda of the party’s three-day central committee meeting in Johannesburg that began on Wednesday.

Mr Mashilo said: “We already have our own support base,” separate from that of the ANC, which the party has supported since the 1930s.

“We are contributing this support base behind the votes for the African National Congress.”

The SACP will hold its 14th five-yearly congress next year. Previous congresses have rejected calls to oppose the ANC in elections.

However, on Wednesday, SACP first deputy general secretary Jeremy Cronin warned of a possible split in the century-old liberation movement over allegations that the Indian Gupta business family has wielded undue influence over the ANC government.

“There is a possibility that the ANC might split,” he said.

“We will certainly work hard that that doesn’t happen but, at the same time, we don’t want a paper unity that covers up the serious problems.

“We welcome the fact that the bubble has burst, and that many more voices are speaking out.”

Some 100 prominent ANC members, described as “stalwarts” and “veterans,” have demanded a consultative conference next year to discuss the rule of President Jacob Zuma, who is now in his second and final term.

On Wednesday, one of them, businesswoman Barbara Masekela, rejected a proposal by ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe to incorporate the discussion into the scheduled policy conference.

She demanded that the extraordinary conference, which the veterans want non-ANC figures to attend, be held first so that its declarations are “incorporated” into the main event.