As South Africa prepares for the November Local Government Elections, Polity is engaging with political parties contesting the elections in a series of interviews to examine their manifestos, policy priorities and plans for local government.

As political parties make their final pledges for change ahead of next week’s local government election, RISE Mzansi is campaigning on the need for systemic change to solve South Africa’s most pressing issues.

Speaking exclusively with Polity, RISE Mzansi leader Songezo Zibi highlighted the importance of spatial justice, accessible public transport and ensuring that people live as close as possible to their places of work.

“All of these things are interlinked. You can't just solve one. What defines both the legacy of the ANC and the DA is that they tend to speak about these things as totally disconnected things. And that's a conversation we've been having with South Africans for the last few months,” he said.

He also noted the importance of having “quality people” solving “dysfunction” in the country.

Sharing the ideals and policies of RISE Mzansi, the GOOD Party will be contesting the 2026 election with Zibi’s party.

He explained that in Gauteng, GOOD Party candidates are campaigning under the banner of RISE Mzansi, while in the Western Cape RISE Mzansi are on the GOOD Party list.

Zibi described both parties as socially democratic, with “exceptionally few differences”.

While the parties were not able to merge ahead of the elections, Zibi says that is a statutory issue.

“When you get elected, say in 2024, that's a legal contract with the people of South Africa. You can't dissolve until the end of the term, because if we were to form a new party right now, that new party was never on the ballot. It can't be in Parliament. So we have to exist like this until 2029. But that really is just a statutory issue. Otherwise, we will merge at the earliest available opportunity,” Zibi announced.

COALITIONS AND ACCOUNTABILITY

South Africa must get used to coalitions, Zibi believes. He predicts another 20 years of multi-party governance, and expressed amusement at parties that believe they will win outright.

While RISE Mzansi will not steer clear of any particular party in coalition negotiations, he stressed the need for a governing programme.

“The difficulty with that, you then dismiss a significant percentage of the electorate. And we create unnecessary deadlocks in the system. Let's rather premise it on a transparent agreement. And setting minimum standards, both in terms of leadership and performance,” he said.

When asked how voters could hold the party accountable to the promises made, Zibi said ward councillors will be the main points of contact.

He said the quality of engagement that residents have with councillors is important. RISE Mzansi pledges to monitor the response times of councillors to residents’ queries.

Another priority is the party’s ability to deal with crime and inadequate infrastructure.

“Those are two big ones. They kill business, both of them. Poor infrastructure and a lot of crime and lack of safety, plus non-adherence to bylaws. You tighten those up, you begin to see the city turning around in that people have more confidence in investing in the city,” Zibi said.