The much-anticipated meeting between the ANC and SACP to mend relationships and discuss matters including the March Cabinet reshuffle did not happen as scheduled on Monday.
"We had our own private meeting before and the ANC had their own meeting at Luthuli House. We contacted them an hour before the bilateral meeting to see if we agree on the agenda," said SA Communist Party acting spokesman Mhlekwa Nxumalo.
"We realised we are both not ready. If we proceeded, we were not going to get anything out of it."
Nxumalo said secretariats from both alliance parties had been tasked with formulating a new agenda and the meeting would be reconvened later.
The meeting was set to be the first time President Jacob Zuma would face the SACP since his midnight Cabinet reshuffle in March, which led to the communist's calling for him to step down.
At its national congress last month, the SACP resolved to contest future elections independently from the ANC, a matter which was expected to be at the centre of the discussions on Monday.
The ANC's spokesman Zizi Kodwa could not be reached for comment.