For 40 years (1950-90) the South African Communist Party (SACP) was banned by a government that represented international communism as the source of all political evil. The conditions of exile go some way to explaining the SACP's continuing attachment to Marxist-Leninist orthodoxy. The practical consequences of the quasi-Stalinist regime which the SACP introduced in ANC camps in Angola, especially, were unknown to people back home in South Africa. The fact that the SACP was such a militant foe of apartheid, but did not have a record in government to defend, has contributed to its popularity among black South Africans today. It is arguably the only communist party in the world whose popularity is on the increase.
