The long-term historical ally of the African National Congress, the South African Communist Party (SACP), says it never initiated any engagement with the uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MKP), neither has it received any request for a formal engagement. The party was responding to a news article, which claimed that the MKP was negotiating behind the scenes to solidify an alliance with the SACP with the explicit objective of jointly challenging President Cyril Ramaphosa's Government of National Unity. The SACP pointed out that the story was based on what the MKP was apparently plotting, but added that it incorrectly referred to a recent interview by Sunday World Engage with the SACP general secretary Solly Mapaila, where he stated: "I never close the possibility to engage with forces opposed to capital in this country, irrespective of their orientation".