MOVE SA Launch: A New Force Set to Reshape South Africa’s Political Landscape

When Rali Mampeule steps onto the stage at the Riversands Incubation Hub this Sunday, 6 September 2026, he will be doing far more than launching a political party.

He will be testing a fundamental proposition: that South Africa’s failing municipalities can be saved not by career politicians, but by entrepreneurs who have already proven they can deliver. With local government elections set for 4 November, MOVE SA has just eight weeks to convince voters in Johannesburg, Ekurhuleni and Emfuleni that another logo on the ballot will finally make a difference.

But the party’s rapid mobilisation over 300 councillor candidates and more than 5,000 members within just over 30 days of formation suggests a hunger for alternatives that transcends the usual election cycle

From Boerewors Rolls to Boardrooms

Mampeule’s journey is not the typical political biography. Born on 22 December 1979 in Mokwasele village, Ga-Modjadji, in rural Limpopo, and raised in Daveyton township, he sold boerewors rolls from the boot of his mother’s car in Kyalami while studying for a BCom through UNISA.

At 22, he secured R26-million worth of property development in Midrand without traditional funding—preselling units to investors and generating a R7-million profit. He became the first Black South African to own a real estate agency franchise. Today, he is a member of the Forbes Real Estate Council—the first South African to join and a Harvard graduate of the Advanced Management Development Program in Real Estate.But what matters to voters in Emfuleni, where sewage flows through streets and into people’s homes, is not the CV. It is whether Mampeule can replicate what he has already achieved.

A Track Record That Speaks

Through the African Housing and Infrastructure Fund (AHIF), Mampeule has delivered 68,000 units of land housing opportunities across South Africa over the past five years, supporting more than 11,600 jobs -5. His investment in MetroFibre Networx has extended high-speed fibre internet to over 301,481 households.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, he donated 75 temporary housing units that provided shelter for 300 people. Through the Mampeule Foundation, established in 2019 with his wife Makentse, he has supported educational bursaries benefiting 60 students. He has also invested in Green Riders, a last-mile delivery business aiming to create 50,000 green jobs over the next five years.These are not abstract promises. They are delivered outcomes. The question is whether they can scale from private-sector projects to public governance.

The Three Battlefields

MOVE SA is targeting three municipalities—and each represents a different face of failure:

Emfuleni on the Vaal has become synonymous with collapse. Ageing infrastructure, persistent sewer spillages, intermittent water supply, illegal connections, and electricity outages define daily life. The South African Human Rights Commission has condemned conditions as unacceptable, with sewage flowing through communities and entering people’s homes.

Ekurhuleni, the industrial East Rand, has accumulated hundreds of millions of rand in irregular, unauthorised and fruitless expenditure while residents continue to live with polluted water sources and poor service delivery.Johannesburg, the commercial capital, faces poor revenue collection, deteriorating infrastructure, and unreliable performance reporting. The DA has called for national intervention, citing a collapse in service delivery driven by severe financial mismanagement.These are the councils MOVE SA wants to contest. Naming mayoral candidates at Sunday’s launch is a signal that the party is not a national protest brand but a local government player with a face on three Gauteng ballots.

Reshaping the Political Landscape

MOVE SA’s entry into South African politics is significant for several reasons that extend far beyond the upcoming local elections.

First, it introduces a new archetype to the political arena. South Africa’s political landscape has long been dominated by career politicians, liberation movement veterans, and traditional party machinery.

Mampeule represents something different: an entrepreneur-politician whose credibility rests not on party loyalty but on a demonstrated ability to deliver tangible results -10. His argument that private capital and business leadership should do the work that failing municipalities leave undone challenges the fundamental assumption that governance is exclusively the domain of professional politicians. Second, it taps into a growing disillusionment with traditional parties.

With youth unemployment at 47.4% and service delivery failures becoming the norm rather than the exception, voters are increasingly searching for alternatives -5.

MOVE SA’s rapid growth 300 candidates and 5,000 members in a single month suggests that this frustration is not limited to social media commentary but translates into genuine mobilisation -2-4. The party’s emphasis on accountable governance and citizen participation directly addresses the trust deficit that has eroded faith in established political organisations.

Third, it introduces a new governance model. MOVE SA’s five pillar responsive leadership, economic opportunity, accountable governance, service delivery, and citizen participation are not merely manifesto headings -9. They represent a deliberate attempt to shift the conversation from political rhetoric to practical solutions. The party’s focus on community-based leadership, bringing together young and experienced candidates to deliver practical solutions, signals a departure from top-down political structures.

Fourth, it could reshape coalition dynamics. With the political landscape fragmenting across multiple parties the ANC, DA, EFF, MK Party, ActionSA, and others any new entrant with a credible base could become a kingmaker in hung councils. MOVE SA’s focus on Gauteng’s economic hubs positions it strategically to influence coalition negotiations in some of the country’s most important municipalities.Fifth, it represents a broader trend of business leaders entering politics.

Mampeule is not alone in arguing that entrepreneurs should have a direct voice in government policy and leadership -10. His South African Entrepreneurs Movement has been calling for qualified business leaders to occupy key positions in municipalities, state-owned entities and government. This reflects a growing recognition that fixing South Africa’s broken municipalities requires not just political will, but management capability—the very skills that many entrepreneurs have honed in the private sector.

What This Means for People on the Ground

For a family in Boitumelo township, Emfuleni, where snakes and crabs emerge from sewer failures, MOVE SA’s launch is not about political theatre. It is about whether someone can finally fix the pipes.For a young person in Daveyton facing nearly 50% youth unemployment, it is about whether a party led by someone who created 11,600 jobs can create more.

For a small business owner in Ekurhuleni watching customers leave because potholes and power outages make trade impossible, it is about whether a businessman who understands cash flow and infrastructure can run a municipality like a business that delivers.Mampeule has framed his move into

politics as a direct response to citizens’ frustration with “politics as usual”. His pitch is simple: he has built things. He can build more .

The Challenges Ahead

Eight weeks is not much time. But a launch is not a victory.Voters will ask whether MOVE SA is on the ballot in enough wards to matter, or only in a handful of high-profile races. They will ask whether the mayoral candidates unveiled on Sunday are organisers or only names on a list. They will ask whether a party formed in 30 days can build the branch structures and ward-level presence needed to govern. Mampeule has already established over 70 branches in Gauteng. But branches are not votes.

And votes are not delivery.

A Defining Moment

Sunday’s launch at Riversands starting at 10h00 will be the first public test. The mayoral candidates for Johannesburg, Ekurhuleni and Emfuleni will be unveiled. The vision will be set out.

For Mampeule, the stakes are personal. He has built a career on defying expectations from roadside hawker to property mogul, from rural Limpopo to the Forbes Real Estate Council. His move into politics is the latest chapter in a life defined by a refusal to accept limitations.For the people of Gauteng’s failing municipalities, the stakes are even higher. They have lived through broken promises, empty manifestos, and politics that delivers nothing but frustration.

But for South Africa’s political landscape, MOVE SA’s launch may represent something more profound: the moment when the country’s long-standing assumption that politics is the preserve of politicians was finally challenged by those who have already proven they can build, deliver, and lead.

On Sunday, a businessman who has delivered 68,000 housing and land units, over 100 students benefited from the Mampeule foundation , through Metrofibre investment they have connected over 500 households with fast internet and have more than 6000 members and 90 branches with over 350 candidates on the IEC roll will ask voters to trust him with their councils. Between 6 September and 4 November, he will have to prove he is not just another

politician with a logo—but a leader who can finally turn the taps back on and reshape what South African politics looks like in the process.

Article by Amahle Sikhosana, RSA patriot and Social commentator