Jo Mboweni
The United Democratic Front (UDF), a historic force in the struggle for democracy and justice, is officially back. Not to contest political power or serve any party-political interest, but to reignite a unifying, people-driven movement for social transformation in South Africa. As the country faces unprecedented levels of division, inequality, and moral drift, the return of the UDF is a clarion call to all South Africans, across race, class, gender, generation, and geography, to come together and reclaim the promise of 1994.
Our democracy is now at a crossroads. While political elites in the current Government of National Unity (GNU) negotiate power amongst themselves, millions of South Africans remain excluded from meaningful participation and economic dignity. The socio-economic crisis, reflected in rising
poverty, youth unemployment, gender-based violence, and racial tension, demands more than policy debates and boardroom compromises. It demands grassroots unity, moral leadership, and a people-led response rooted in solidarity, justice, and hope. The UDF was never a political party. It was, and remains, a civic movement anchored in the values of non-racialism, non-sexism, participatory democracy, and community self-organization. Today, those values are more urgent than ever. South Africans are increasingly polarized — divided not only by economic inequality, but by growing mistrust, fear, and social fragmentation.
This disunity is not only dangerous, it is a threat to the nation-building project itself. The revival of the UDF is about confronting this fragmentation head-on and building bridges where there are walls.
It is a movement to unite, not to dominate:
As part of its rebuilding, and in the lead-up to its 43rd anniversary on 20 August 2025, the UDF will honour a towering yet often overlooked figure in South Africa’s history — Mama and Gogo Maria Mkhaeji Chauke, the country’s first known solitary confinement detainee — who turns 100 years old on 1 May 2025. This centenary celebration, to be held in Majakaneng, Marikana, is not only a tribute to her life and legacy but also a powerful symbol of the resilience of working-class women, freedom fighters, and ordinary people who sacrificed for the dream of a just society. The event will also honour the memory of the Marikana mineworkers, who paid the ultimate price for demanding a living wage, a struggle that still echoes today.
UDF stalwart Reverend Dr Allan Boesak will deliver a special sermon on the day, joined by Bishop Mogodiri of the St Oak Church of Christ and other religious leaders, including voices from the Islamic faith, whose congregants were part of Gogo Chauke’s struggle community. Thousands of church members, community residents, civic leaders and guests are expected to attend. Among the dignitaries anticipated are former President Thabo Mbeki, the Prime Minister of the Ba-Pedi Traditional Authority, Dr Ngoako Ramatlhodi, and leaders of labour and civil society.
Most importantly, the event will shine a light on forgotten lives, including eighty-nine orphaned children aged 7 to 12, who continue to fall through the cracks in a society where the ruling elite too often forget those on the margins. The UDF will host and honour them on this day, as a reminder
of our enduring responsibility to the vulnerable and the voiceless. Under the theme “The UDF is Back”, the organization reaffirms its role not as a political competitor, but as a national civic platform for unity, healing and action. South Africa’s future cannot be left in the hands of power-brokers alone. It must be reclaimed by the people, from the ground up.
The UDF calls on all sectors of society — youth, women, workers, religious leaders, artists, educators, professionals, and traditional authorities- to rally around this vision of participatory democracy and people’s power. We are not here to fight political battles.
We are here to build a country where justice lives, dignity reigns, and no one is left behind:
The struggle for liberation was never about power for its own sake. It was about people — about building a humane, equal, and united South Africa. That struggle continues, and the UDF is ready to walk that journey once again with all who believe in the promise of a better tomorrow. – Jo Mboweni is the UDF national convenor – @NewsSA_Online
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