Thohoyandou, Limpopo — As the 2026 local government elections approach, the Economic Liberators Forum South Africa (ELF-SA) has positioned youth unemployment as its central campaign pillar. The Limpopo-based political party is actively engaging rural communities to promote grassroots entrepreneurship as a direct, sustainable solution to the region’s ongoing job crisis.
The party, which was established in 2024, is led by Hulisani Mani. He is the son of the late Ronald Mani, the slain whistleblower who exposed the massive VBS Mutual Bank plunder scandal. Building on this legacy of anti-corruption and economic advocacy, ELF-SA is now shifting its focus toward tangible economic empowerment for the youth.
During recent community engagements held on Wednesday at Mocha Village, outside Thohoyandou, party leadership outlined their electoral strategy. ELF-SA will be contesting for wards across the Makhado, Musina, and Thulamela Local Municipalities in the Vhembe district.
Phindulo Mbedzi, the ELF-SA Vhembe Chairperson, emphasized that the party’s primary mechanism for reducing poverty and unemployment is fostering local entrepreneurship rather than relying on traditional municipal job creation.
“We are having different programs, such as creating dishwashing liquid and producing products like floor polish,” Mbedzi explained. “Those kind of programs are the programs that we are trying to influence youth [with] so that they can be able to start something for themselves. Because if they say they are going to wait for our municipality to create jobs, that’s something that is not going to happen. We have been waiting for that for the past 32 years.”
According to Mbedzi, the party has already begun establishing a strong political foothold, particularly under the Thulamela Local Municipality.
“We are going to contest all the sub-regions here in Vhembe: Makhado, Thulamela, and Musina,” Mbedzi noted. “Right now, Thulamela is coming quite good, and in Makhado, people are responding very well.”
The party’s grassroots message is resonating with some local voters. In Hamutsha village, residents expressed a willingness to give the newcomers a chance at the ballot box, though they remain cautiously optimistic.
“We know their candidate here and we’ll vote for them, but if they don’t deliver, we’ll vote for someone else in the future,” one resident stated. Another local resident highlighted immediate service delivery needs, noting, “I’ll vote for them. I want water, even though I have a borehole here.”
Beyond job creation and entrepreneurship, ELF-SA has also pledged to address critical service delivery failures. If voted into power, the party says it will prioritize the improvement of road infrastructure to better connect and support rural villages in the district.
