UMGABABA, Eastern Cape — The African Transformation Movement (ATM) has announced it will field four mayoral candidates in eThekwini for the 2026 local government elections, a strategic decision driven by the need to mitigate the impact of political killings in the municipality. During a launch event on the South Coast, the party unveiled its full slate of mayoral candidates for KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape ahead of the November polls.
Party leaders explained that the unusual approach of fielding multiple candidates for the eThekwini mayoral position is a direct response to the ongoing political violence in the metro. Currently, the ATM holds a single seat in the province and maintains representation in municipalities including Newcastle.
At the core of the ATM’s election message is a strict focus on basic service delivery. Party spokespersons highlighted that resolving the ongoing water challenges facing communities across eThekwini is their top priority.
“The first thing that you must be sure of is the provision of water, and we have catered for that,” a party leader stated. “The second thing is the infrastructure, and the third thing is to build the capacity to repair or to maintain the infrastructure. Those are the main things.”
The leadership also pledged to encourage sports development, particularly in townships and rural areas, noting that these community initiatives overlap with their broader service delivery goals.
Beyond local governance, the ATM is pushing a broader political agenda centered on national identity, specifically proposing to rename South Africa to Azania. Spokespersons for the party argued that the current name is merely geographical and fails to reflect the true identity of its citizens.
“Once you rob a person of his identity, you have committed a crime, and that crime is very serious,” a party leader remarked. “South Africans need to know who they are. They cannot be named after a location because this thing that says South Africa is just a location. If we are able to change names of towns and airports, why can’t we change this one? So that we may understand and know who we are.”
While acknowledging that a formal name change requires a legal process, the party maintains that the citizens themselves are the driving force. “The process is we are the process because we are the people. We’re the community. We are the people who are feeling this pain,” the spokesperson noted, adding that the movement has already begun simply by voicing the demand.
As the November local government elections approach, the ATM views its expanded slate of mayoral candidates as a critical strategy to grow its political footprint in eThekwini and directly challenge the established political order.
