One. More. Political. Party.
How many more will it take before we finally say enough is enough?
Former MK Party secretary-general, former EFF deputy president, and former ANC Youth League leader Floyd Shivambu is creating a new political party, to be called Mayibuye Africa.
Here’s the thing: South Africa is drowning in problems, yet the go-to “solution” seems to be… starting another party.
In a democracy, should there be a cap on how many can register? Are political parties even the answer anymore? And does anyone, anywhere, have a roadmap for the crises we’re facing?
The daily news cycle feels like a relentless wave of bad headlines — corruption, unemployment, crime, crumbling infrastructure.
You don’t just hear about the country’s collapse; you see it: gaping potholes big enough to swim in, traffic lights that never work (or have disappeared entirely), and the darkness of load-shedding, load reduction, or municipal blackouts that leave us quite literally driving by faith, not sight.
These are just the surface-level frustrations South Africans live with, and against this backdrop comes the announcement: “We’re forming a new political party to save the country!”
The 600-plus already on the books haven’t exactly changed the game. Seventeen made it to Parliament, and most of those have minuscule support.
Now Shivambu has revealed plans to register his consultation process, Mayibuye, as a political party with a mission to “represent the people of South Africa”.
Those are noble intentions but what convinces anyone that yet another despondent electorate will suddenly be inspired?
Produced by: Malaika Ditabo
With unemployment at record highs and millions struggling to make ends meet, will adding yet another party to South Africa’s 600-strong list change anything? We set out to find out.
Analyst Sipho Seepe says it does not depend on Shivambu.
“Whether South Africa needs another party is not going to be determined by him [Floyd Shivambu] or any other leader. It will be determined by the support he is able to win from the would-be supporters of a new party. So it will be something that depends on appetite, and it is not about any individual.”
The question isn’t whether we need more parties, but whether they’ll be different — and whether they’ll deliver.
“The challenges that we face as a country are known and those are the challenges that are spoken about on a regular basis — there are issues of high unemployment, issues that relate to education, social issues and, indeed, the divisions we have in society between the rich and the poor,” analyst Levy Ndou said.
He put it bluntly: “I don’t see anything new that will come from new political parties. In terms of the challenges confronting South Africa, we all know them, and what is only required is implementation, which appears to be lacking.”
In a country where there were some 14,800 candidates competing for about 800 seats in the 2024 elections, there’s clearly no shortage of political players.
It’s up to Shivambu to demonstrate what he would do differently to capture the interest of South Africans.
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