It is a pity that the Panel did not also investigate the political sleight of hand that has enabled the South African Communist Party to establish itself as the second largest registered political party in parliament without having to win a single vote in its own name. A couple of years ago the SACP toyed with the idea of standing separately in national elections and even appointed a commission to examine this question. The commission noted that, "internationally, capitalist dominated societies are an extremely unfavourable electoral terrain for Communist Parties. There is not a single example of a Communist Party, on its own, winning national elections within a capitalist society - let alone using such a breakthrough as the platform to advance a socialist transformation."
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