South Africa’s new coalition party could get a whole lot bigger

The leaders of the newly formed political party Unite for Change envisage the coalition growing significantly.

This is according to Rise Mzansi leader and member of the Unite for Change leadership council, Songezo Zibi.

“This won’t be a short-lived arrangement. These conversations about forming a cooperative movement have been going on for some time now,” Zibi told Newzroom Afrika.

“The reason that we can’t talk about leadership is that we can’t complete that without the other political formations that we are in discussions with. We want to build a much bigger coalition than the three parties.” 

On Sunday, political parties Rise Mzansi, led by SCOPA chair Zibi, the GOOD Party, led by Tourism Minister Patricia de Lille, and Build One South Africa, led by SCOA chair Mmusi Maimane, announced a new political movement.

In the 2024 general elections, these three parties amassed a combined 340,000 votes. This gave them a collective five seats in the 400-seat National Assembly.

They said that this was not a typical party merger, as each of the respective parties will remain intact and “continue to serve those that brought them into power.”

Instead, the three parties will campaign for the 2026 Local Government Elections under the same banner. They confirmed that they are in talks with other organisations to join, but would not divulge details.

When asked about who would lead the movement, BOSA’s deputy leader, Nobuntu Hlazo-Webster, said that it has opted for a leadership council rather than a singular leader.

This will comprise the three party leaders, as well as Hlazo-Webster, Rise Mzansi representative Vuyiswa Ramogkopa, and GOOD’s secretary general Brett Herron.

It’s worth noting that three of the members of the leadership council, De Lille, Herron, and Maimane, have all been a part of the Democratic Alliance’s upper ranks.

Zibi added that Unite for Change won’t be open to just any political organisation, saying that it has laid out its criteria. 

“There are certain things that are really important. Ethical leadership is one. Secondly, a track record that is not littered with the problems we see in people that hold political office today,” the Rise Mzansi leader said.

“But also non-racialism. The politics of care rather than the politics of cruelty against other South Africans. It’s really important that we try to unify South Africans instead of othering certain people.”

“So if political parties or formations do not believe in national unity as a concept, then this is not the platform for them,” he added.

Why Unite for Change?

The leaders said that the primary motivation behind the movement’s formation is to pool together support with like-minded parties.

“There’s a fragmentation of the voters in South Africa. You’ll find that the opposition voters in this country rotate,” De Lille argued.

De Lille is referring to parts of the electorate that vote against, or for a party in opposition to, the party in power or the party with the most support.

“For example, in 2024, GOOD lost votes to BOSA and Rise Mzansi and vice versa. The problem in this country is that our people know no political affiliation.”

At the party’s launch, Maimane provided the example of where he votes, which, for argument’s sake, has five parties running in the ward.

“For the ease of numbers, let’s assume that four of them get 10 votes and another comes in and gets 12 votes,” he said.

“That party will then win the ward, whereas three of the other parties could have won if they had campaigned together. Local government gives you the prospect of being able to put something on the ballot that works.”

Regarding whether the parties should have consulted their support bases before forming the Unite for Change movement, Maimane explained it in terms of a football analogy.

“I support Kaiser Chiefs, others support Orlando Pirates, and others support Mamelodi Sundowns, but Chiefs and Sundowns players go play for Bafana Bafana in a particular tournament,” he said.

“That tournament is the Local Government Elections.”