We will unite South Africans from all communities in a new political home, built on the foundation of the principles and ideals of our National Constitution. To this end we will address poverty and imbalances in our society, inspired by our unifying love of our Country and its people.
The Core Values, which the United Democratic Movement will uphold and promote and upon which its fundamental policy positions are based, are as follow : respect for life, dignity and human worth of every individual; integrity in public- and private life; the individual rights and freedoms enshrined in our Country’s Constitution;
President of the UDM
Major General (Retired) Bantubonke ‘Bantu’ Holomisa co-founded the United Democratic Movement (UDM) on 27 September 1997, and serves as its elected President, which in 2022 celebrated its 25th year of existence. He was again elected as a Member of Parliament in the 2024 National and Provincial Elections and was appointed as the Deputy Minister of Defence and Military Veterans in the Government of National Unity in the 7th Administration in President Cyril Ramaphosa’s cabinet.
He was the Commander of the Transkei Defence Force and Head of the Transkei Government (former independent homeland from 1987 to 1994) up to the first National Elections in South Africa in 1994. He was one of the first two black persons accepted by the South African Army College to do a one-year senior staff course for officers in 1984.
Contribute For Us
The United Democratic Movement (UDM) has worked diligently to promote the interests of all South Africans over the years. Despite the challenges and stumbling blocks the party rose to the occasion and scored many political victories. Our successes are manifested in our public representation at various levels of government across the country, but also in the influence we have had irrespective of the ruling party’s parliamentary majority.
The UDM’s vision is to be “…the political home of all South Africans, united in the spirit of South Africanism by our common passion for our Country, mobilising the creative power inherent in our rich diversity, towards our transformation into a Winning Nation”.
Admin
18 Feb, 2026
Speech for Mr MM Peter, MP and Member of the NCOP for the United Democratic Movement at the State of the Nation Address 2026 debate CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY Honourable Speaker Honourable Members The United Democratic Movement (UDM) supports the State of the Nation Address as tabled by His Excellency, President Ramaphosa. But support does not mean silence. In the true interest of serving the people of South Africa, we rise to sharpen, strengthen and submit proposals that move this nation from promise to performance. 1. No country survives without law Mr President, on the issue of illegal immigrants, the UDM wishes to comment as follows - no country can function if its laws are optional, and anyone who comes to this country legally must be prepared to abide by the law or they will be shipped out. Fellow South Africans, you deserve a state that works, systems that speak to each other, and early warning mechanisms that stop crime before it spreads. Without accurate Financial Intelligence Centre Act (FICA) registration, South African Revenue Service (SARS) cannot collect revenue from all traders operating in our economy. Furthermore, law enforcement cannot properly trace or dismantle criminal syndicates operating in the underworld. South Africa urgently needs a coordinated security response plan with time frames and the strengthening of the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) as to be functional. South Africa’s liberation history teaches us solidarity. But protection must be credible and enforceable. If a person is granted asylum yet voluntarily returns to the very country they claim to be fleeing during holiday season, that status must be reviewed. You cannot be in danger today and on holiday tomorrow. Accountability is not hostility. It is fairness. It is security. It is sovereignty. 2. Skills development: from training to productivity We welcome the review of the Sector Education and Training Authorities (SETAs) as a corrective measure to ensure that skills funding delivers measurable results. Within the Department of Defence, the South African National Service Institute (SANSI) recently passed out over 500 young people. Mr President, do consider ring-fencing and redirecting SETA funding towards: • Funding into structured, outcome-based programmes such as SANSI. • Standardised study guides in mathematics, languages, accounting and entrepreneurship. • Mandatory practical and technical skill components. In 2001, Deputy Minister Holomisa, Matt Matthys, a maths teacher, Chantel Mulder, then Chief Executive Officer of the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA), and the then President of SAICA, Ignatius Sehoole spearheaded the Thuthuka Project, providing English, Mathematics, and Accounting study guides for Grades 9 to 12. Today, that project has produced over 2,000 Black Chartered Accountants. We may need to have a tailor made, or similar setup into skills development. 3. Public Investment Corporation: Mr President, in 2023 you called on the Minister of Finance to address the pension queries of former civil servants. The affected community is still waiting for feedback and progress reports. People are dying while the system drags its feet, and each day of delay is a day of injustice. It is even more painful to see that the funds meant to secure these pensions are being looted by the elite through the Isibaya Fund at the Public Investment Corporation (PIC). Resources meant for ordinary South Africans are being diverted to enrich a few, deepening inequality and betraying public trust. How we wish that money could instead be invested in South Africa’s infrastructure, generating real returns for the country and creating jobs. This is a guaranteed investment in the nation, not in private greed. The people deserve accountability and action, not corruption. I thank you.
Admin
18 Feb, 2026
Mr MC Ramaphosa President of the Republic of South Africa Private Bag X1000 Pretoria 0001 Dear Mister President A call for constitutional refinement of the Hate Speech Act prior to commencement 1. The United Democratic Movement (UDM) writes to you with deep respect for the constitutional office you hold, and with equal seriousness regarding the constitutional implications of the Prevention ofa Hate Crimes and Combating of Hate Speech Act, 2023 (‘the Act’). 2. We had intended to address this matter more fully during the SONA 2026 debate yesterday. However, due to the limited time allocated in the House, the UDM was unable to place our detailed constitutional concerns on record. 3. Given the significance of this legislation and its far-reaching implications, we believe the matter warrants fuller public and parliamentary engagement. It is for this reason that we now write to you directly, to place these concerns before the Head of State and to respectfully seek your consideration. 4. The UDM supports without reservation the protection of human dignity and equality, and a firm response to genuine hatred, incitement to violence, and discrimination. South Africa’s painful history demands vigilance against racism, xenophobia, and all forms of dehumanisation. However, in seeking to protect dignity, the State must take equal care not to erode the foundational freedoms that define our constitutional democracy. 5. It is our considered view that the Act, in its current form, goes beyond what section 16(2)(c) of the Constitution permits. South Africa already possesses effective legal mechanisms to address genuine hate speech and incitement, including common law offences and civil remedies under the Promotion of Equality and Prevention of Unfair Discrimination Act (PEPUDA), as affirmed and clarified by the Constitutional Court. The introduction of broad criminal sanctions, including imprisonment, therefore represents a significant and unnecessary expansion of state power over expression. 6. Of particular concern is the reliance on concepts that are either undefined or insufficiently defined in a criminal statute. The Act refers to hatred, emotional harm, social harm described as undermining social cohesion, and economic harm without providing the precision required for criminal liability. It further expands protected grounds to include gender identity, gender expression, and sex characteristics without statutory definitions, despite these being contested and evolving concepts in public discourse. In criminal law, vagueness is not a minor technical flaw. Citizens must be able to know clearly and predictably where the line between lawful expression and criminal conduct is drawn. 7. The implications for freedom of religion are especially serious. Faith-based organisations across the country have expressed anxiety that sincerely held religious beliefs, particularly on contested moral and social questions, may expose religious leaders and communities to prosecution or vexatious complaints. Religious freedom is not merely the freedom to believe privately. It includes the freedom to teach, preach, and publicly articulate doctrine without fear of criminal sanction. The current religious exemption clause is widely regarded within civil society as weak and circular, offering little practical protection against overreach. 8. Civil society organisations, including faith-based bodies representing diverse traditions, have consistently emphasised that international law does not require automatic criminalisation of hate speech in the expansive form adopted by the Act. The United Nations Rabat Plan of Action underscores that criminal sanctions should be a measure of last resort and subject to a high threshold. Many within civil society believe the present Act lowers that threshold in a manner that risks a chilling effect on lawful religious, moral, and public discourse. 9. The UDM does not seek to weaken protections against genuine hatred or incitement. Rather, we seek to ensure that dignity and equality are defended in a manner that is constitutionally sound, proportionate, and precise. Equality cannot be advanced by eroding freedom of expression and freedom of religion. Our constitutional order requires that these rights exist in principled balance. 10. We therefore respectfully urge that the Act be subjected to urgent constitutional review and aligned appropriately before it is brought into operation. While the Act has been assented to and promulgated, it has not yet been brought into operation, and this presents a narrow but important window of opportunity for corrective legislative alignment before constitutional uncertainty hardens into litigation. 11. Specifically, we call for alignment of the definition of hate speech with section 16(2)(c) of the Constitution, the provision of clear statutory definitions of hatred and harm with an appropriately high criminal threshold, the removal or tightening of vague and undefined concepts, and the strengthening of the religious exemption clause to ensure meaningful protection for bona fide religious expression. 12. In the spirit of cooperative governance and constructive constitutionalism, the UDM is also preparing a Private Member’s Bill to assist Parliament in addressing the identified defects. Our intention is not to dilute protections against genuine hatred or incitement, but to ensure that the legislation reflects a principled and constitutionally sound balance between dignity, equality, freedom of expression and freedom of religion. 13. Your Excellency, South Africa’s democracy was built on the protection of both dignity and liberty. We trust that under your leadership, legislation that touches so directly on the freedoms of conscience, religion, belief, and expression will be carefully refined to withstand constitutional scrutiny and to preserve the delicate equilibrium upon which our democratic order rests. 14. We remain committed to constructive engagement in this regard. Yours sincerely Deputy Minister Bantu Holomisa, MP President of the United Democratic Movement Copied to: • Mr Nqabayomzi Kwankwa, MP, UDM Deputy President and Leader in Parliament • Freedom of Religion South Africa (FOR SA)
Admin
17 Feb, 2026
Speech for Deputy Minister Bantu Holomisa, MP and President of the United Democratic Movement at the State of the Nation Address 2026 debate CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY Honourable Speaker Honourable Members The Government of National Unity (GNU) will not be judged by the promises tabled during the opening of Parliament, but by whether that skeletal plan is implemented with urgency, discipline and measurable results. South Africans have heard plans before. What they demand now is execution. 1. Security is the foundation of development The State of the Nation Address (SONA) emphasised economic recovery and energy stability, but sustainable growth also depends on protecting our environment and critical infrastructure from vandalism, illegal mining and sabotage that damage ecosystems and investor confidence. We are strengthening enforcement, deploying coordinated security and accelerating prosecutions because environmental protection, stability and growth are inseparable. The GNU further recognises that development cannot flourish without security. We therefore welcome: • The deployment of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) in support of South African Police Service (SAPS) in crime epicentres such as the Cape Flats and the broader Western Cape, and areas such as Randfontein in Gauteng. • The elevation of the security cluster as a national priority. • The use of Artificial Intelligence-driven systems for predictive policing and intelligence coordination. In line with the orders issued by the Commander-in-Chief, President Ramaphosa, I confirm that the Department of Defence is seized with operational requirements to support stabilisation interventions in consultation with the security cluster. This is just phase one of restoring normality. 2. Crime and consequences: the era of impunity is over Mqwathi, mandikuqinisekise amasela ixesha lawo liphelile. Yekani ii Law Enforcement Agencies zenze umsebenzi wazo, singaphazanyiswa. The honeymoon is over. Corruption and maladministration have not merely touched the state, they have engulfed it, reaching even into our law enforcement agencies. The rot did not spare the Department of Defence either. That is why we acknowledge the President’s decision to sign the proclamation authorising the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) to investigate these matters and more. Accountability cannot be selective. It must be decisive and it must reach everywhere. At a briefing to the Portfolio Committee and Joint Standing Committee on Defence, the SIU, the Military Police, and the Hawks assured us that we have recovered over R1.6 billion linked to corruption and mismanagement within Defence. This is just a start of restoring the image of our defence force. That is consequence management in action. If Special Courts could be established by the Department of Justice in partnership with the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), this will assist to accelerate the resolution of all pending military cases. Crime and corruption embarrass this country. They damage investor confidence. They weaken sovereignty. We have no choice but to confronting them head-on. 3. No country survives without law No country can function if its laws are optional, and anyone who comes to this country legally must be prepared to abide by the law or they will be shipped out. Fellow South Africans, you deserve a state that works, systems that speak to each other, and early warning mechanisms that stop crime before it spreads. Without accurate Financial Intelligence Centre Act (FICA) registration, South African Revenue Service (SARS) cannot collect revenue from all traders operating in our economy. Furthermore, law enforcement cannot properly trace or dismantle criminal syndicates operating in the underworld. South Africa urgently needs a coordinated security response plan with time frames and the strengthening of the NPA as to be functional. South Africa’s liberation history teaches us solidarity. But protection must be credible and enforceable. If a person is granted asylum yet voluntarily returns to the very country they claim to be fleeing during holiday season, that status must be reviewed. You cannot be in danger today and on holiday tomorrow. Accountability is not hostility. It is fairness. It is security. It is sovereignty. 4. The Public Investment Corporation Mr President, in 2023 you called on the Minister of Finance to address the pension queries of former civil servants. The affected community is still waiting for feedback and progress reports. People are dying while the system drags its feet, and each day of delay is a day of injustice. It is even more painful to see that the funds meant to secure these pensions are being looted by the elite through the Isibaya Fund at the Public Investment Corporation. Resources meant for ordinary South Africa are being diverted to enrich a few, deepening inequality and betraying public trust. How we wish that money could instead be invested in South Africa’s infrastructure, generating real returns for the country and creating jobs. This is a guaranteed investment in the nation, not in private greed. The people deserve accountability and action, not corruption. 5. Skills development: from training to productivity We welcome the review of the Sector Education and Training Authorities (SETAs) as a corrective measure to ensure that skills funding delivers measurable results. Within Defence, the South African National Service Institute (SANSI) recently passed out over 500 young people. Mr President, do consider ring-fencing and redirecting SETA funding towards: • Funding into structured, outcome-based programmes such as SANSI. • Standardised study guides in mathematics, languages, accounting and entrepreneurship. • Mandatory practical and technical skill components. In 2001, Matt Matthys, Chantal Mulder, the President South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA), Ignatius Sehoole, and I spearheaded the Thuthuka Project, providing English, Mathematics, and Accounting study guides for Grades 9 to 12. Today, that project has produced over 2,000 Black Chartered Accountants. We may need to have a tailor-made, or similar setup into skills development. 6. Prevention of Hate Crimes and Combating of Hate Speech Act The Prevention of Hate Crimes and Combating of Hate Speech Act, though intended to protect dignity and equality, goes beyond what our Constitution permits and places freedom of religion at risk. It criminalises expression using vague and undefined concepts and expands protected grounds without legal certainty. In a constitutional democracy, believers must be free to express their faith without fear of prosecution. Equality must never be advanced by eroding religious freedom. We therefore urge that the Act be constitutionally aligned through appropriate amendments before it comes into operation. 7. Conclusion: restoring dignity, restoring the state No country survives without law. No economy grows without stability. No democracy thrives without accountability. South Africans want safety, fairness, opportunity and a state that works. Through decisive, coordinated action on security reform, border integrity, infrastructure protection, skills development and consequence management, we will deliver. Judge us not by our words, but by the order we restore, the stability we secure and the future we build together. I thank you.
Admin
13 Feb, 2026
Statement by Zandile Phiri, Acting Secretary General of the United Democratic Movement It is with profound sadness that United Democratic Movement (UDM) reflects on the tragic circumstances surrounding the death of a five-year-old learner at Bernard Isaacs Primary School in Coronationville, Johannesburg. Parents entrust schools with the care and protection of their children every single day. That trust must never be compromised. The loss of a child in a school environment is not only a family tragedy, but also a national concern. We note that the Gauteng Department of Education has appointed an independent law firm to investigate this matter. The process must be thorough, transparent and credible. The family deserves clear answers. The community deserves clarity; and where accountability is required, it must follow without delay. Tragically, this is not an isolated incident. Earlier this year, an eight-year-old learner at Klapmuts Primary School in the Western Cape died during school hours under circumstances that required police investigation. In 2025, another eight-year-old learner at Alberview Primary School in Gauteng died after sustaining injuries while playing at school, prompting an independent departmental inquiry. When incidents of this nature occur repeatedly across provinces, they demand more than case-by-case responses. They demand systemic intervention. The UDM therefore calls on the Minister of Basic Education Siviwe Gwarube and her department to initiate a nationwide review of school safety protocols. This must include: 1. A comprehensive audit of supervision policies during school hours and school events. 2. A review of infrastructure safety, including classrooms, playgrounds and sanitation facilities. 3. Clear national minimum standards for emergency response procedures at schools. 4. Mandatory reporting and transparency frameworks when serious incidents occur. 5. Immediate psychosocial support mechanisms for learners, staff and families affected by school tragedies. The safety of children cannot depend solely on provincial capacity or individual school management. National leadership must set clear standards, enforce compliance, and ensure that preventative measures are implemented uniformly across the country. Schools must remain safe spaces for learning, not sites of preventable tragedy. If gaps exist, they must be closed. If policies are inadequate, they must be strengthened. If oversight is weak, it must be reinforced. Our thoughts remain with the family of the young learner and all families who continue to seek answers in similar cases. We owe it to them, and to every child in South Africa, to move from reaction to prevention.
