In what is interpreted as a further rift in relations between the African National Congress and its ally, the South African Communist Party (SACP), President Thabo Mbeki has cancelled acceptance of an invitation to open the party's national conference.
Made at the 11th hour, his cancellation is a sequel to a public squabble between the ANC and the SACP over remarks made by the SACP deputy general-secretary, Mr Jeremy Cronin, in an interview with the Irish historian Dr Helena Sheehan. During the interview Mr Cronin refers to the marginalisation of the SACP and himself particularly in the ANC, especially since Mr Mbeki took over as president of the ANC in 1997.
His remarks have been publicly criticised as "deliberate lies" by ANC chief spokesman Mr Smuts Ngonyama; the ANC leader, in turn, has been accused by the SACP of abusing a press conference for a "character assassination" assault on Mr Cronin.
Mr Mbeki's last minute retraction of his agreement to deliver the opening address at the SACP conference yesterday has been interpreted as a calculated snub of the SACP and as a move by Mr Mbeki to avoid a situation in which he might be heckled and jeered.
Another development that is believed to have contributed to the cancellation decision is a statement by the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu), announcing that it will launch a two-day national strike against privatisation of state-owned assets on October 1st and 2nd.
Privatisation is a hotly contested issue in South Africa, having led to a major strike last year, much to the chagrin of the ANC. The ANC, which has opted for a pro-investor, pro-market economy, favours privatisation; Cosatu, with the backing of the SACP (minus those communists in the cabinet who put loyalty to the ANC and Mr Mbeki ahead of commitment to communism) oppose it.
Mr Mbeki's cancellation decision should be seen in the context of an ANC document entitled "Briefing Notes" that was circulated in ANC ranks last year; it accuses a "left-wing tendency" in the alliance of trying to alienate the ANC from its historical base in the black community.
The "left-wing tendency" is specifically accused of wanting to transform Cosatu into "a political formation independent of the ANC" and of aspiring - or conspiring - to "form a united front of Cosatu and the SACP directed against the ANC".
Political analysts have long pondered whether the repeated clashes between the ANC and the SACP-Cosatu links are not the prolonged death rattle of an increasingly dysfunctional alliance.