SA Celebrates New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani Who Grew Up in Cape Town

• South Africans, including the Economic Freedom Fighters, congratulated the new Mayor of New York City, Zohran Mamdani
• Mamdani, who ran as a Democratic candidate, promised voters that there would be city-owned grocery shops and free bus fares
• The EFF celebrated his achievement and noted that his father was a professor at the University of Cape Town

Tebogo Mokwena, affiliated with Briefly News, covered local and international relations, political analysis, and interviews in South Africa for Daily Sun and Vutivi Business News during his 10 years of experience.

NEW YORK CITY, USA — The Economic Freedom Fighters celebrated the election of the new New York City mayor, Zohran Mamdani, the Democrat candidate who took New York City in a hotly contested election. Mamdani also has ties to South Africa.

According to Sky News, Mamdani won with 60.5% of the votes counted against New York's former state governor, Andrew Cuomo. Mamdani is the youngest person to be elected as a mayor in the city. He is also the first Muslim and South Asian to be elected to the position. More than two million people voted in the elections, an increase from 2021's elections, where just under 1.15 million people voted.

Read also

MK Party fires chief whip Colleen Makhubele after expose

EFF congratulates Mamdani

The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) released a statement in which it celebrated Mamdani's victory. The party posted a statement on its @EFFSouthAfrica X account. In the statement, the party said it applauds Mamdani's support for the people of Palestine and said the stance represented a necessary moral awakening within American politics. The party further said Mamdani's courage has made him a symbol of principled leadership.

"The EFF is confident that Mamdani's leadership will serve as the beginning for pogressive global relations and renewed solidarity between Africa, the United States, and the Global south. The EFF believes that a new relationship between Africa and the United States ust be forged, one free from the neo-colonial arrogance and exploitative interests that have defined past US foreign policy, particularly under the Trump administration," the party said.

Read the full statement on X here:

Mamdani's link with South Africa

Read also

MK Party president Jacob Zuma visits Burkina Faso leader Ibrahim Traore

EFF member Sinawo Thambo posted his message celebrating Mamdani on his @Sinawo_Thambo X account. Sinawo noted that Mamdani's father, Mahmood Mamdani, was appointed the inaugural holder of the AC Jordan chair of African studies at the University of Cape Town in 1998. He left the university after he clashed with the leadership over a proposed new Afrocentric curriculum for the university's Centre of African Studies. Zohran attended school at St. George's Grammar School in Cape Town for two years.

View the X tweet here:

3 Briefly News stories about the EFF

Thambo withdrew posts he made on social media about Patriotic Alliance (PA) deputy-president Kenny Kunene and issued a public apology on 14 October 2025 for a post he made on 8 and 10 October 2025. Thambo alleged that Kunene paid the R400,000 bail for Katiso Molefe, who was arrested for the murder of DJ Sumbody.

The EFF also filed criminal charges against Operation Dudula after the group's campaign allegedly caused a child's death by denying the mother clinic access. The party's Gauteng Chairperson, Nkululeko Dunga, opened the case at the Alexandra Police Station on 20 September 2025.

South Africans applaud Mamdani

Netiens saluted Mamdani's political victory.

EverydaySocial said:

"Love this. Zohran actually studied in South Africa for two years, which is kinda ironic, seeing how much anti-immigrant sentiment there is now."

Solomon Bareebe said:

Read also

Sizwe Dhlomo applauds EFF for donating a house: Mzansi reacts with mixed feelings

"Don't forget, he wanted to make SA his home. But failed."

A said:

"He's a phenomenal academic."

Mephisto said:

"Mamdani books and lectures should be prescribed readings in SA universities."

EFF hands house over to Polokwane resident

in a related article, Briefly News reported that the EFF's president, Julius Malema, handed over a house to a resident in Polokwane, Limpopo. The man, Sello Mamabolo, is a wheelchair-bound Seshego resident.

Maema handed Mamabolo his house on 1 November 2024. This was after he pledged three months before building Mamabolo a house which met his specific needs.

Source: Briefly News