What's left?: The South African communist party after apartheid

The Communist Party of South Africa survived the collapse of communist states by virtue of its remarkable record of opposition to apartheid and its alliance with the ANC and COSATU. While this has allowed it to expand dramatically in membership and power since its legalisation in 1990, that power has accrued at the cost of influence. The Party leadership has found itself supporting conservative economic strategies and anti‐union actions, turning it into a pressure ‘five degrees to the left’ of the ANC. Membership and grassroots responses to this have been critical, and help to sustain optimism for a left project in South Africa.