The African Transformation Movement (ATM) is a political party in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. It was formed with the backing of the South African Council of Messianic Churches in Christ (SACMCC), which together are supported by millions of congregants.

History

ATM was founded in 2018 by the South African Council of Messianic Churches in Christ. It was led from its formation until June 2025 by Vuyolwethu Zungula. However, there were claims that former president

Jacob Zuma Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma (; born 12 April 1942) is a South African politician who served as the fourth president of South Africa from 2009 to 2018. He is also referred to by his initials JZ and clan names Nxamalala and Msholozi. Zuma was a for ...

's faction of the

African National Congress The African National Congress (ANC) is a political party in South Africa. It originated as a liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid and has governed the country since 1994, when the 1994 South African general election, fir ...

had a hand in its formation. Ahead of the 2019 election, a key Zuma ally, Mzwanele Manyi, joined the party, though he would later leave in 2023. Following the

2024 South African general election General elections were held in South Africa on 29 May 2024 to elect a new National Assembly (South Africa), National Assembly as well as the Provincial legislature (South Africa), provincial legislature in each of the Provinces of South Africa, ...

, the party joined the Progressive Caucus, a left-wing parliamentary faction which includes the

Economic Freedom Fighters The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) is a South African communist and black nationalist political party. It was founded by expelled former African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) president Julius Malema, and his allies, on 26 July 20 ...

and uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) parties. In March 2025, ATM and MK announced they would be entering a pact to work together electorally and in parliament. In June 2025, Zungula was replaced as president by Caesar Nongqunga, who was also Chief Apostle of the Twelve Apostles Church in Christ. Zungula continued as party leader in parliament.

Policy

In January 2019, it was announced that the party, if brought to power, would return the

death penalty Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence ordering that an offender be punished in s ...

and scrap low pass marks in public schools. Mzwanele Manyi, the former chief of policy and strategy for the ATM, further states that the party plans to bring about capital punishment regardless of the constitution not consenting to such matters. Manyi claims that this is due to South Africa being abused as a "haven" for people who commit crimes and need a place to evade the law. In December 2021, the party said that it opposed mandatory vaccinations against COVID-19.

Election results

The party contested its first elections in

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

, winning two seats nationally, as well as one each in the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal legislatures.

National Assembly elections

, - ! Election ! Party leader ! Total votes ! Share of vote ! Seats ! +/– ! Government , - !

, rowspan=2 , Vuyolwethu Zungula , 76,830 , 0.44% , , New , , - !

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

, 63,554 , 0.40% , , 0 ,

Provincial elections

! rowspan=2 , Election ! colspan=2 ,

Eastern Cape The Eastern Cape ( ; ) is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. Its capital is Bhisho, and its largest city is Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth). Due to its climate and nineteenth-century towns, it is a common location for tourists. It is also kno ...

! colspan=2 , Free State ! colspan=2 ,

Gauteng Gauteng ( , ; Sotho-Tswana languages, Sotho-Tswana for 'place of gold'; or ) is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. Situated on the Highveld, Gauteng is the smallest province by land area in South Africa. Although Gauteng accounts f ...

! colspan=2 ,

Kwazulu-Natal KwaZulu-Natal (, also referred to as KZN) is a Provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa that was created in 1994 when the government merged the Zulu people, Zulu bantustan of KwaZulu ("Place of the Zulu" in Zulu language, Zulu) and ...

! colspan=2 ,

Limpopo Limpopo () is the northernmost Provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa. It is named after the Limpopo River, which forms the province's western and northern borders. The term Limpopo is derived from Rivombo (Livombo/Lebombo), a ...

! colspan=2 ,

Mpumalanga Mpumalanga () is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. The name means "East", or literally "The Place Where the Sun Rises" in the Nguni languages. Mpumalanga lies in eastern South Africa, bordering Eswatini and Mozambique. It shares bor ...

! colspan=2 , North-West ! colspan=2 ,

Northern Cape The Northern Cape ( ; ; ) is the largest and most sparsely populated Provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa. It was created in 1994 when the Cape Province was split up. Its capital is Kimberley, South Africa, Kimberley. It includes ...

! colspan=2 ,

Western Cape The Western Cape ( ; , ) is a provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa, situated on the south-western coast of the country. It is the List of South African provinces by area, fourth largest of the nine provinces with an area of , an ...

, - ! % !! Seats ! % !! Seats ! % !! Seats ! % !! Seats ! % !! Seats ! % !! Seats ! % !! Seats ! % !! Seats ! % !! Seats , - !

, 1.52% , , 1/63 , 0.78% , , 0/30 , 0.25% , , 0/73 , 0.49% , , 1/80 , 0.28% , , 0/49 , 0.61% , , 0/30 , 0.39% , , 0/33 , 0.24% , , 0/30 , 0.24% , , 0/42 , - !

, 1.55% , , 1/73 , 0.71% , , 0/30 , 0.29% , , 0/80 , 0.18% , , 0/80 , 0.09% , , 0/64 , 0.43% , , 0/51 , 0.16% , , 0/38 , 0.10% , , 0/30 , 0.28% , , 0/42

Municipal elections

, - !Election !Votes !% !Seats , - !

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

, 189,943 , 0.62% , 53

References

{{South Africa political parties 2018 establishments in South Africa Capital punishment in South Africa Christian democratic parties in South Africa Conservative parties in South Africa Political parties established in 2018