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.
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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”.
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03 Jul, 2026
Statement by Raymond Knock, UDM Whip in the King Sabata Dalindyebo Local Municipality The United Democratic Movement (UDM) in the King Sabata Dalindyebo (KSD) Local Municipality notes the resignation of Councillor Nyaniso Goodman Nelani as Executive Mayor of KSD, and the election of Nkosi Mkhanyiseli Dudumayo as the new Executive Mayor. The UDM in KSD respects the principle that every accused person is presumed innocent until proven guilty by a court of law. The UDM does not seek to prejudge Councillor Nelani or any other accused person. However, Councillor Nelani’s resignation as Executive Mayor cannot be used as a political escape hatch. It is now clear that he remains a councillor in the KSD Council. That raises an even more serious question: what influence does he still hold, what decisions can he still affect, and what further damage could be done if accountability is treated as a mere change of title rather than a serious consequence? Where allegations involving municipal funds are before the courts, the public is entitled to clarity, vigilance and consequence management. Resigning from the mayoral office cannot be allowed to create the impression that the matter has been dealt with, while the same public representative continues to sit in Council and participate in municipal processes. Where serious allegations involving municipal funds are before the courts, the public is entitled to clarity about the status and responsibilities of those implicated. Resigning as mayor must not be used to create uncertainty, avoid accountability, or quietly shift a public representative elsewhere while criminal and internal processes are still underway. Public office is not a hiding place. It is a public trust. This matter was initially reported by the UDM in KSD after concerns were raised regarding the alleged misuse of municipal resources. It was subsequently investigated through the Municipality’s Ad Hoc Committee, which completed its work and submitted its findings to Council. The resignation of the former Executive Mayor does not erase the allegations, the municipal processes, the criminal proceedings, or the need for consequence management. The people of KSD still deserve full answers about what happened, who was involved, how municipal controls failed, and what steps will be taken to recover public money where wrongdoing is proven. The election of a new Executive Mayor must not become a political reset button. Nkosi Dudumayo must now fix what is broken in KSD and walk the straight and narrow. He must act immediately to restore public confidence, strengthen financial controls, stabilise the municipality, protect public money, and ensure that service delivery is placed above factional politics and political protection. The UDM in KSD will be on high alert on behalf of the people. We will watch closely to ensure that the new mayor does not preside over business as usual, that the Ad Hoc Committee’s recommendations are dealt with lawfully, and that no implicated official or public representative is protected for political reasons. The UDM in KSD reiterates its call for all implicated municipal officials to be suspended in accordance with applicable labour law and disciplinary processes. Public representatives implicated in this matter should step aside while the criminal and internal processes run their course. KSD residents need a municipality that delivers services, protects public money, appoints competent people, and acts against corruption without fear or favour. They do not need another round of ANC damage control, internal deals and redeployments. The UDM in KSD will continue to exercise oversight in Council and will continue to insist that this matter is followed through to its lawful conclusion. The people of KSD deserve ethical, transparent and accountable leadership. UDM. Consistent. Present. Accountable.
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03 Jul, 2026
Statement by Cllr Yongama Zigebe, UDM National Chairperson, UDM Councillor in the City of Johannesburg and Chairperson of the Section 79 Committee on Gender, Youth and People with Disabilities The United Democratic Movement (UDM) in the City of Johannesburg notes with grave concern the deepening electricity crisis across Johannesburg, marked by prolonged outages, ageing infrastructure, cable theft, vandalism, illegal connections, overloaded networks, poor communication, billing failures and growing threats against City Power personnel. Recent reports that City Power employees, security officers and contractors have been attacked, robbed, held hostage and prevented from carrying out repair work are deeply disturbing. The electricity crisis in Johannesburg is no longer only a technical problem. It has become a service delivery, safety and governance crisis. The UDM in the City Johannesburg understands the anger of residents who are left without electricity for days. Families are left in the dark, food spoils, small businesses lose income, learners cannot study properly, and elderly and vulnerable residents are placed at risk. Electricity is not a luxury. It is a basic service that affects dignity, safety, livelihoods, education, health and local economic activity. However, no frustration can justify violence against workers who are sent to repair the very infrastructure communities depend on. Attacking electricians, security officers and contractors only delays restoration, endangers lives and deepens the suffering of residents. Johannesburg’s electricity crisis must be viewed from all perspectives. Residents are entitled to reliable electricity, fair billing, honest communication and reasonable repair timelines. City Power workers are entitled to safety, visible law enforcement support and proper protection when entering high-risk areas. The City of Johannesburg must accept responsibility for years of underinvestment, poor maintenance, unstable governance, weak consequence management, revenue leakage and failure to protect critical infrastructure. Communities also have responsibilities. Illegal connections, meter tampering, non-payment by those who can afford to pay, vandalism and cable theft damage the system, overload transformers and mini-substations, and punish paying residents. Law enforcement must treat attacks on electricity workers and infrastructure as serious crimes. The South African Police Service, Johannesburg Metro Police Department, City Power security and community policing structures must work together to protect workers, secure critical infrastructure and act against criminal syndicates. At the same time, the financial crisis between City Power, the City and Eskom cannot be ignored. Residents cannot be expected to carry the burden of poor financial management, weak revenue collection, unresolved billing disputes, non-payment and political instability. The City must get its house in order. This is why the UDM’s 2026 Local Government Elections Manifesto focuses on municipalities that do the basics properly. Local government must work again by delivering reliable services, protecting infrastructure, managing public money responsibly, appointing competent people, enforcing by-laws fairly, involving communities, supporting local economies and ensuring accountability. The UDM in the City of Johannesburg calls on the City to urgently implement an electricity recovery plan, including a ward-by-ward audit of outage hotspots, funded maintenance, safety protocols for City Power teams, honest outage communication, strong action against cable theft and illegal connections, fair revenue collection that protects indigent households, and consequence management for those who have failed residents. Johannesburg is South Africa’s economic engine. When electricity fails, businesses lose income, workers lose wages, learners lose study time, communities become unsafe and residents lose confidence in local government. The answer cannot be violence, excuses or endless blame-shifting between City Power, the City, Eskom, residents and law enforcement. The answer must be accountable local government that is consistent in action, present in communities and accountable to the people. UDM. Consistent. Present. Accountable. Local government that works.
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03 Jul, 2026
Statement by Bulelani Bobotyane, Secretary General of the United Democratic Movement The United Democratic Movement (UDM) welcomes reports that the Tshiamiso Trust has paid R2.7 billion in compensation to former gold mineworkers and the dependants of deceased mineworkers who suffered from silicosis and occupational tuberculosis. This is an important step towards justice for workers who carried the health burden of South Africa’s gold mining economy. For generations, mineworkers gave their labour, their health and, in many cases, their lives to an industry that created great wealth while many workers and their families were left with illness, poverty and loss. The UDM notes that this compensation arises from the historic class-action settlement involving major gold mining companies. It confirms what mineworkers, rural communities and labour-sending areas have known for decades: that the human cost of mining was carried not only underground, but also in homes, villages and communities across South Africa and the Southern African region. The UDM is particularly mindful of the Eastern Cape, Lesotho and other labour-sending areas, where many families have lived with the consequences of occupational disease long after mineworkers returned home sick, unable to work, or passed away without proper recognition of the cause of their illness. This matter must also be viewed alongside South Africa’s painful asbestos history. Former asbestos mineworkers and affected communities also had to rely on compensation mechanisms after exposure caused serious and often fatal disease. These experiences show that occupational and environmental health failures can damage workers, families and communities for generations. South Africa cannot keep repeating this pattern, where workers are exposed to danger, communities carry the consequences, and compensation comes only years or decades later after legal action, illness and death. While the R2.7 billion payment is welcome, the UDM remains concerned that many claims have not yet been finalised. The process must not become so technical, slow or inaccessible that vulnerable former mineworkers and dependants are excluded because they lack documents, medical records, proper death certificates or the resources to navigate the system. The UDM calls on the Tshiamiso Trust, the mining companies concerned, government departments, traditional leaders, municipalities and civil society organisations to intensify outreach, especially in rural areas, so that every qualifying former mineworker and dependant is assisted to lodge and complete a claim. However, this matter cannot only be about compensation after harm has already been done. It must also be about prevention. Companies must place the health and safety of employees at the centre of how they do business. Workers are not disposable, and no industry should be allowed to generate profit while long-term health costs are shifted onto workers, families, public health systems and poor communities. The UDM calls on mining companies and all employers in high-risk industries to strengthen occupational health systems, conduct regular medical screening, maintain proper employment and health records, provide safe working environments, invest in prevention, and act immediately when workplace conditions place employees or surrounding communities at risk. Government must also strengthen oversight and enforcement to ensure that companies comply with occupational health, safety and environmental obligations in practice, not only on paper. The UDM welcomes the progress made, but insists that the work is not complete until every qualifying claimant has been reached, assisted and paid what is due to them. Looking ahead, South Africa must ensure that no worker or community is ever again forced to sacrifice their health in silence, only for justice to arrive decades too late.
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02 Jul, 2026
Statement by Bulelani Bobotyane, Secretary General of the United Democratic Movement The United Democratic Movement notes recent media reports concerning Ms Nolubabalo Mcinga and her decision not to take up active political responsibilities in the Party at this stage. For context, the UDM confirms that it met with representatives of the Azania Movement in May 2026 at the UDM National Office in Pretoria, following an approach by the Azania Movement regarding its members joining the UDM and using the UDM as their political vehicle. The meeting was attended by representatives of both the UDM and the Azania Movement, including Ms Mcinga in her capacity as President of the Azania Movement. At that meeting, it was made clear that any persons from the Azania Movement who wished to be part of the UDM would have to take up UDM membership and be subject to the UDM Constitution, structures and processes. A further meeting was envisaged, but the next step rested with the Azania Movement. Nothing materialised from that process. The UDM also places on record that its engagement was with the Azania Movement as a civic formation. It was not an engagement with the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), any former EFF structure, or any other political party with which Ms Mcinga may previously have been associated. Her previous political affiliations did not form part of the UDM’s consideration and were never the subject of any arrangement. The only matter before the UDM was the proposal submitted by the Azania Movement and whether any collaboration, integration or alignment with UDM structures could be considered in terms of the UDM Constitution and approved Party processes. During that engagement, the Azania Movement presented a proposal for cooperation with the UDM in areas such as civic education, community engagement, public participation, poverty eradication, youth empowerment and community mobilisation. The Azania Movement also proposed a possible coordination framework in which its structures and programmes could align with UDM outreach mechanisms. The UDM considered the approach in good faith. However, the Party also made it clear that any such process would have to comply with the UDM Constitution, its internal structures and its established organisational and electoral processes. The UDM’s own assessment of the engagement recorded that the Azania Movement had not provided a clear or verified number of members it intended to bring into any arrangement, despite a formal request from the then Office of the Acting Secretary-General. The Party also noted that no detailed framework, budget or implementation plan had been submitted to support any request for resources or operational support. The UDM further confirms that no individual, grouping or external structure has been granted automatic leadership status, candidate placement, organisational recognition or access to Party resources outside the approved processes of the UDM. All persons who join the UDM do so as members subject to the UDM Constitution, its structures, its code of conduct and its candidate-selection procedures. Any member who wishes to serve as a public representative must go through the ordinary democratic and organisational processes of the Party. The UDM notes Ms Mcinga’s reported decision not to assume active political responsibilities at this stage, as well as her reported statement that she remains a member of the Party. The Party will verify the relevant membership records and, subject to that verification, respects her stated decision. The UDM also notes her support for former Azania Movement members who have joined the Party and her positive remarks about the UDM in the Eastern Cape, particularly in Buffalo City Metro. The UDM welcomes all South Africans who genuinely wish to contribute to ethical, accountable and community-centred politics. At the same time, the Party will continue to protect its structures, its credibility and its election processes from any arrangement that bypasses the UDM Constitution or creates preferential treatment for any individual or group. The UDM’s focus remains on strengthening its structures after our recent 6th National Congress, preparing for the 2026 Local Government Elections, and offering communities a consistent, present and accountable alternative.
