Rise Mzansi leader Songezo Zibi says taking winning at least 2.5% of the national vote in Wednesday's elections would be a success for the party.
Formed just over a year ago, the party has always been vocal about it’s “patient” approach to its growth and its plan for the 2026 local government elections and the 2029 general elections.
For this week’s elections, Zibi told TimesLIVE Premium the main target is to establish a “strong presence” in all nine provinces and earn at least 10 seats in the National Assembly, which he sees as a realistic target.
“If we were to be able to get representatives in all legislatures and in parliament, we would be very happy. It’s difficult to say how many votes we can get but we think between 10 and 20 seats is very possible,” he said.
“It always depends on other factors, like how other parties perform, voter turnout ... but we think it’s possible to get well over 500,000 votes during this election.”
Zibi said he was aware it might take time to earn the trust of South African voters
He was speaking in Durban on Monday, where he had come to motivate the party's volunteers and those who will be working at polling stations in the hotly contested elections.
He said he could feel from his interactions while campaigning that people were ready for “change” but they are also distrustful of politicians.
Our intention is to keep up the same intensity of being present in the communities so that next time there is an election people can see that we were sincere in everything we promised
— Songezo Zibi, Rise Mzansi leader
“That is why I’ve always been clear that this is the beginning of our journey. We’re really patient because we understand why people are not so keen to just trust politicians and political parties.
“In 2026 we will have more time. If we can do this in one year, imagine what we would’ve done in three years and what we can do in five years' time when the next general elections are held.”
To earn that trust, Zibi said they will keep coming back to communities even after the elections and use their entry to parliament to show people what they can really offer ahead of the next local government elections as well as the next national elections.
“Our intention is to keep up the same intensity of being present in the communities so that next time there is an election, people can see that we were sincere in everything we promised, that we kept coming back to communities even after being elected — and it will pay off.”
Reflecting on their past few months of campaigning, Zibi said they spent the majority the time listening to the people, rather then just telling them what they would be offering, which is why he is confident that their manifesto really speaks to the needs of the society.
“One of the things we did for ourselves was to listen — and listen very carefully. To really be honest about not having an offering until we’ve listened enough. That is why we have been championing things that other people might ignore.
“Things like sex for jobs is very big for women. People might underestimate it but it’s a very serious thing. In every meeting when I mentioned it, the whole room would just erupt. It’s an important thing for people — it talks to gender equality, gender-based violence, exploitation, nepotism and sexual abuse.”
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