CAPE TOWN, Western Cape – Community activists are being called to transition from protest to public office, as RISE Mzansi (RISE) and the Good Party formalise a joint campaign strategy for Cape Town’s 2026 municipal elections. The announcement came during a media briefing led by RISE Mzansi National Leader Songezo Zibi, who framed the upcoming vote as a pivotal moment for residents to directly shape local governance.
Zibi was supported on stage by senior party figures: National Chairperson Vuyiswa Ramokgopa, Chief Organiser Makashule Gana, and Johannesburg Mayoral Candidate Lukhona Mnguni. Together, they outlined a shared commitment to merge campaign infrastructure across targeted wards and municipalities to strengthen grassroots outreach and operational coordination.
A central theme of the briefing was democratic accessibility. Zibi challenged the City of Cape Town’s reliance on virtual council meetings, noting that Zoom-based proceedings effectively silence residents who cannot afford data. “Council meetings are public meetings,” he asserted. “The business of the city is supposed to be done in the open so that people can see which counsellor said what.” He highlighted how households juggling rent and electricity costs cannot prioritise internet access for multi-hour political broadcasts.
Local government, Zibi argued, remains the only tier of South African democracy where constituents can directly engage representatives who reside within their neighbourhoods. He urged activists to move beyond delivering petitions from the sidelines and instead seek elected roles where decisions are made. “Nothing is going to change if we do that,” he said of the current model of external advocacy without institutional participation.
The briefing also confronted Cape Town’s entrenched spatial and economic inequities. Zibi traced the city’s trajectory from its 1652 colonial founding through the era of slavery, Group Areas Act forced removals, and persistent exclusion. He stressed that urban migration patterns are well understood by municipal planners, yet housing shortages persist without justification. “There is no reason why there is not enough land for people to have a home,” he stated, adding that resolving the crisis requires committed leadership, such as a housing MMC aligned with community needs.
Zibi criticised property market policies he associated with the Democratic Alliance, alleging they enable foreign buyers paying in hard currency to drive up rates and displace local professionals. “Even if you have a job, you still can’t find a place to live in your own city,” he said, citing competition from buyers based in the United States and Australia.
Central to the alliance’s platform is the principle: “If you work here you must be able to live here.” Zibi linked excessive commute times and low wages to broader social strain, noting that parents who depart before dawn and return after dark lack capacity to support their children—a reality he said is often mischaracterised as community neglect rather than structural failure.
“We need a mayoral candidate and counsellors who are going to solve those structural problems and not engage in PR and say let’s build a wall so that the tourists when they come here they can’t see the suffering,” Zibi said. He rejected the narrow international perception that Cape Town’s identity is confined to the V&A Waterfront, emphasising the daily burdens faced by working residents, including transport costs that consume a significant share of income.
On the question of wider political consolidation, Zibi referenced the late-2025 announcement regarding exploratory talks between RISE Mzansi, the Good Party, and Build One South Africa (BOSA) to form a unified centrist entity named “Unite for Change.” He clarified that the current Cape Town-focused collaboration between RISE Mzansi and the Good Party is proceeding as a distinct operational arrangement, with no confirmation yet on whether it aligns with the broader proposed merger.
The partnership underscores a strategic pivot toward metropolitan contestation as parties prepare for the 2026 local elections. Zibi concluded by framing the campaign as an opportunity to advance a vision of democracy rooted in equitable participation—one that honours the legacy of civic movements like the UDF while addressing the material realities facing Cape Town’s majority today.