By Mpumzi Mshweshwe:
After identifying the country’s economic crisis and management mishaps at the local government level, Build One South Africa (BOSA), GOOD, and Rise Mzansi decided to join forces to bring about change.
The parties have announced that they will contest the 2026 local government elections as one party – Unite for Change (UFC). The party was officially announced by the three parties’ leaderships in Johannesburg on October 5.
No single leader, but one banner
The three founding parties have opened the door for more parties to join in the new umbrella. Those who join are set to campaign under the Unite for Change banner. UFC currently consists of a leaders’ council with no single head or party leader yet at the helm.
The current party leadership council consists of Dr Mmusi Maimane, an MP and BOSA Leader, Minister of Tourism Patricia de Lille and GOOD leader, Songezo Zibi, SCOPA chairperson and (Rise Mzansi leader), Nobuntu Hlazo-Webster, a Rise Mzansi MP and Gauteng MEC for Agriculture and Rural Development, Vuyiswa Ramokgopa and GOOD’s Western Cape Member of the Provincial Legislature and party secretary-general, Brett Herron.
In a statement, the collective of BOSA, GOOD, and Rise Mzansi stated that they remained fully intact as separate entities and that the birth of Unite for Change does not signal the end of the founding parties.
A leader will be identified later
The question of who the leader of UFC will be is yet to be answered. But the current leadership council would split the duties amongst themselves until a suitable candidate has been unanimously chosen at a later stage
All three parties are fairly new, with only de Lille’s GOOD having been in existence for six full years since its establishment in December 2018. BOSA was officially launched in September 2022, and Rise Mzansi was only launched in April 2024, towards the May general elections.
Among UFC’s focal points for the 2026 local government elections, touted as an effort to improve municipalities across the country, are selecting capable and ethical leadership across all municipalities and metros.
This is meant to ensure local economic recovery and bring dignity through basic service provision, providing safety, justice for citizens, and harnessing technology to drive smarter resource allocation.
Decisions must come from the grassroots
Maimane said that a new generation had to come to the front and make decisions on who they want to lead them. “So, let’s allow even a generation of young people, who may be for them, they never fought the struggle, but they fought a different one, one of economic exclusion of many of the issues that we’ve been talking about, and let’s allow them to come to the front,” he said.
De Lille called for parties, along with the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC), to increase voter education and explain to voters the meaning and significance of their vote. The leaders invited civil society organizations to take part in the formation of a credible circle of leaders because “politics is far too important to be left only to politicians”.
A full merger towards the 2029 polls
Although all three parties are officially under the UFC name, the full unification of the parties is set to take effect in 2029. This is due to the fact that the parties have to fulfil their parliamentary obligations and serve their full terms.
However, the local government elections will be contested, the UFC and Maimane stressed that each community would nominate its own candidate itself. – @NewsSA_Online
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