‘We’re here to win’: Shivambu’s Mayibuye Movement targets outright majorities in 2026 election

Afrika Mayibuye Movement leader and former EFF heavyweight Floyd Shivambu says his party is “here to stay” and will contest the 2026 local government elections with the aim of winning outright majorities across the country.

This comes after the party recently overhauled its national leadership structure following a number of high-profile exits.

Shivambu spoke on Sunday in Soweto, Johannesburg, where the party concluded its inaugural National Convention, held from December 5 to 7, 2025.

“This National Convention consolidated the foundational documents of our organisation - the Constitution, the Restoration Manifesto - as well as key policy discussions from the commissions and plenary sessions,” he said.

“We are an organisation about reaffirming the dignity of African people, black people and all the people of South Africa.”

He said existing political parties lacked the will or capacity to change the lives of ordinary citizens.

“All the existing political formations have no willingness, no capacity, no determination and no possibility to change the lives of our people,” he said. 

“So we are coming as a liberation movement in the 21st century to liberate the people of South Africa.”

Shivambu argued that voter turnout in the 2024 general elections - in which only 16 million of 42 million eligible adults voted - reflected a “vote of no confidence” in the democratic system.

“That is why we exist: to re-inspire hope and give confidence to the people. We are an organisation that will provide proper direction as a movement,” he said.

He said that the movement would not limit itself to electoral promises but would intervene in immediate community needs.

“Our structures at local and sub-regional level must develop programmes of action. Even nationally, we have been giving water to people, assisting with soup kitchens in poorer areas and helping old age homes. Our people are suffering now, not tomorrow, and they cannot eat electoral promises.”

Shivambu said the first national convention demonstrated that the movement had firm national support.

“The outcomes of this convention confirm that we are a movement that is here to stay. We had delegations from all 54 districts across every province. Personally, this is the best national conference I’ve ever participated in - well organised, with proper inputs and qualitative interventions.”

He confirmed the party will stand in the 2026 local government elections.

“We are not postulating any coalitions. We are contesting elections to win them outright. If we do not win outright, we will, with humility, speak to those willing to engage and constitute government responsibly.”

He added that the party would not engage in corruption or extortion in coalition discussions.

“Some leaders negotiate tenders for themselves. Sometimes they even extort money - saying, ‘Give me R10 million and I will give you the government.’ I have practical experience of this. We are not going to do that as Mayibuye.”

Shivambu, formerly the EFF’s deputy president, joined the uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) Party in August 2024 after leaving the EFF, which he co-founded in 2013. 

His time in the MK Party was short-lived; he was expelled in June 2025 following internal dissent. 

Many MK members opposed his inclusion, and he was removed as secretary-general after attending a church service in Malawi led by fugitive preacher Shepherd Bushiri.

Although former president Jacob Zuma initially said Shivambu would be redeployed to Parliament, his name was later excluded from the MK parliamentary list. 

He then launched the Afrika Mayibuye Movement.

“We will participate in the elections with the aim of winning an outright majority. If we don’t, we will sit down in utmost humility and discuss how to constitute government in a responsible, responsive and transparent way for all South Africans to witness,” he said.

IOL Politics