By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The Afrika Mayibuye Movement has announced its mayoral candidates ahead of the 4 November local government elections on Saturday, 05 Spetember 2026.
The announcement was made by movement leader Floyd Shivambu during a community meeting in Kliptown, Soweto.
Shivambu said Afrika Mayibuye had deliberately chosen to announce its mayoral candidates at a community meeting rather than at a traditional press conference because the residents who would ultimately hold them accountable should hear the names first.
“The people who are going to hold those mayors accountable should be part of the announcement,” Shivambu said.
“You will notice the pattern that we are announcing mayors who come from the areas where they are going to be mayors of. We were even born there. We know the challenges of the people,” he said.
Shivambu told his supporters that he would not announce the mayoral candidate for the City of Johannesburg because he or she is finalising “assignments” elsewhere.
“Where he or she is currently working, will not be permitted to take over the mayoral candidature, they have given a notice that by the end of September they will be done and they will join in the campaign trail.”
He said the mystery candidate is not being imposed by the party, but that her appointment resulted from party processes.
“There is no Helen Zille who is going to be the mayor of the City of Johannesburg, there is no Frank Chikane who is going to be mayor of Johannesburg, the less said about others the better, because none of them are going to become the mayors of Johannesburg,” he said.
“The Executive mayor of Johannesburg will be coming from Afrika Mayibuye Movement,” he added.
For the City of Tshwane he said General Prince Nkitsing Mokotedi is the mayoral candidate, for the City of Ekurhuleni he announced Themba “Skeem GP” Lukhele. For the troubled Emfuleni Local Municipality, Shivambu announced, Pastor Vincent Jones as a mayoral candidate.
Shivambu also said the movement had provided water to communities without access to clean drinking water, supported agricultural projects and established a community healthcare programme through Mayibuye Medics.
He said Mayibuye Medics provided monthly healthcare support to elderly residents in Kliptown.
“We do not wait for tomorrow, because we are an organisation that cares about the people,” Shivambu said.
Meanwhile GOOD Secretary-General Brett Herron was confirmed as the party’s mayoral candidate for the City of Cape Town and made a plea to potential partners to battle affordability and housing crises in the metropole and gang violence on the Cape Flats.
Ricardo van der Merwe is the candidate for the West Coast District while Grechard Petersen will stand for the Cape Winelands District Municipality. Other names include Marisu van Stade for Stellenbosch and Weldon Wells for the Overberg District.