GQEBERHA, EASTERN CAPE — The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) has officially launched its 2026 election manifesto in Nelson Mandela Bay, focusing heavily on overhauling basic service delivery and crumbling infrastructure ahead of the November 4 local government elections.
Hundreds of supporters braved cold and rainy conditions at the NU2 Stadium in Motherwell to hear the party’s vision for the metro. Currently, the EFF is part of a coalition government with the African National Congress (ANC) in the municipality, holding eight of the 120 council seats. The party occupies strategic Mayoral Committee (MMC) portfolios, including Electricity, Budget, and Treasury. However, party leadership emphasized that managing isolated portfolios is no longer sufficient, and they are seeking an explicit mandate to run the city independently.
Addressing Infrastructure and Administrative Collapse
EFF Nelson Mandela Bay mayoral candidate Sinawo Thambo highlighted that the manifesto directly confronts the metro’s dilapidated infrastructure and administrative failures. Thambo pointed out that there are currently nine vacancies for executive directors in critical departments, leaving the municipality reliant on acting officials to preside over service delivery.
“The infrastructure is dilapidated, and there has been no effort to rehabilitate it. Rather, there have been efforts to fix things on a piece-meal basis, which has resulted in large-scale corruption,” Thambo stated. He argued that piecemeal control in a coalition leads to political parties pulling in different directions, stressing the need for the EFF to control the budget, electricity, and infrastructure development portfolios entirely to fix root problems.
Rebuilding Water, Sewer, and Electricity Networks
Taking the stage, Julius Malema vowed to turn the metro into a “construction site” to rebuild the water network and ensure proper sewer infrastructure. He stressed the urgent need to stop raw sewage from flowing into the streets, declaring that children should not have to play near sewer lines and that every household must have access to reliable, clean water.
Malema also tackled the metro’s electricity crisis, which has seen hundreds of infrastructure-related faults and falling pylons due to vandalism, crime, and decades of non-maintenance. He promised affordable and reliable power regardless of weather conditions, stating that residents should not have to accept an unreliable supply that disappears when it rains. He also vowed to fill the vacant executive director posts immediately, noting the metro cannot continue relying on acting officials to run key departments.
Education, Youth, and “No Poverty Display”
Beyond basic services, the manifesto introduced sweeping proposals for education and youth development. Malema demanded a no-fee school system and automatic university placement data-sharing for matriculants from poor families.
He strongly criticized the current bureaucratic system that forces students to repeatedly “display their poverty” by providing endless documentation, such as death certificates for deceased parents. “That information must be the same everywhere. No one must ask you to declare or display your poverty,” Malema argued, insisting that a student’s academic results should be the only qualifying factor for tertiary access.
Furthermore, the EFF pledged free 24/7 Wi-Fi in all tertiary student accommodations, both on and off-campus, and the development of sports facilities in public places to engage unemployed youth.
Track Record and Election Outlook
Defending the party’s readiness to govern the metro, Thambo cited the EFF’s track record in other municipalities where they have been deployed. He pointed to increased policing visibility in Johannesburg, debt clearances for indigent residents in Nelson Mandela Bay, housing infrastructure projects in eThekwini, and a recent initiative that cleared a 3.5 million debt for the elderly at an old age home in Zwide.
“We do what we say we’re going to do,” Thambo asserted. “That track record should be proof that we should be given a much bigger mandate.”
As the November 4 polling date approaches, the EFF is banking on resident frustrations over blackouts, unemployment, high student fees, and water losses to secure a decisive victory and take full control of the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality.
