Floyd Shivambu Confirms Afrika Mayibuye Will Contest 2026 Elections, South Africans Not Surprised

• Floyd Shivambu confirmed his plans going forward for his Afrika Mayibuye Movement
• The former Secretary General of the uMKhonto weSizwe (MK) Party wants to contest elections
• South Africans weighed in on Shivambu's plans, saying that the decision wasn't a surprise

Briefly News journalist Byron Pillay has dedicated a decade to reporting on the South African political landscape, crime, and social issues. He spent 10 years working for the Northern Natal Courier before transitioning to online journalism.

GAUTENG – The Afrika Mayibuye Movement will contest the Local Government Elections in 2026.

That’s been confirmed by Floyd Shivambu, who said that the movement had already started the process of applying to contest the elections next year. Shivambu started the movement after he was sacked as the Secretary General of the uMKhonto weSizwe (MK) Party in June 2025.

What are Shivambu’s plans?

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Speaking at the Johannesburg City Hall on Sunday, 10 August 2025, Shivambu indicated the movement's plans to contest next year’s elections as well as all others after that. The movement originally started as a consultation process to see if South Africans needed a new political party, something Shivambu and his members already seem to have decided.

While addressing members, he said community consultations would be finished by September 2025. Afrika Mayibuye would then be registered as a party. A youth, women’s, student, and professional league would be set up afterwards.

Is Shivambu planning to take votes from the MK Party?

During his address, Shivambu said he’s been receiving requests from people in KwaZulu-Natal, who stated that they had ‘almost made a mistake’ last year with their votes and wanted to fix that. While he didn’t mention which party the people voted for, Jacob Zuma’s MK Party did receive 45.93% of the votes in the province during the National Elections in May 2024.

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“The people of KwaZulu-Natal have been saying to us, ‘Please come to KwaZulu-Natal’. We almost made a mistake last year. We want to correct that mistake. So please come and listen to us so that we can make a contribution as to what the nature and character of the movement is,” Shivambu said.

Shivambu then seemingly took a shot at the MK Party and the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), speaking about what made his party different from others.

“This process is taking a clear direction toward founding a revolutionary political movement grounded in sound principles, not a cult and not run by a family.”

Shivambu previously described the EFF as a cult, while the MK Party is often criticised as being run by the Zuma family.

How did South Africans react to the news?

Many social media users were not surprised by Shivambu’s statement, with many saying that there was never a consultation process and it was always going to be him starting his own political party.

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Mzingisi Sam Mxaba said:

“He wants to see himself in Parliament, even if it's just one seat, just for himself.”

Wilson Mohale joked:

“One day they are going to expel him from his own party, and he will start to say, ‘I formed Mayibuye, I wrote the constitution, its policies, and I named it Mayibuye’. 😂 Everything will be about him, and he will remain president for life.”

Philani Goba said:

“But they didn't consult with me.”

Ndips Jwarha Mazaleni stated:

“My guy is just thirsty for a government position. If Malema agreed to be in the GNU, he would still be in the EFF.”

DT Sdlubula Dlamini added:

“That was the plan from the onset. You think we're all from Malamulele.”

King Mugari joked:

“I'm sure there will be 40 parties on the ballot paper next elections. There are so many parties🤣.”

Thabang Geeza added:

“Lol, this one thinks we are fools. He didn’t even need to have fake consultations; he was always going to open a political party.”

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Khutšo CharltonVibez agreed:

“People can't see he's fishing for signatures. There is no consultation process.”

Pat Van asked:

“ANC, then EFF, then MK, and now a new party. Who is insane enough to follow this political party jumper🤣?”

Shivambu's MK Party membership terminated

Briefly News reported that Shivambu's MK Party membership has been officially terminated.

The party explained the decision to remove Shivambu during a press briefing on 8 August in Sandton.

The former Secretary-General of the MK Party was removed from his post on 19 June 2025.

Source: Briefly News