Rise Mzansi (RISE) is a

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 ...

n political party founded in April 2023. It is led by Songezo Zibi, a former newspaper editor and co-founder of the ''Rivonia Circle''

think tank A think tank, or public policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-governme ...

. The party characterises their ideology as

social democratic Social democracy is a Social philosophy, social, Economic ideology, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports Democracy, political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achi ...

but has been defined elsewhere as

neoliberal Neoliberalism is a political and economic ideology that advocates for free-market capitalism, which became dominant in policy-making from the late 20th century onward. The term has multiple, competing definitions, and is most often used pej ...

Formation

Rise Mzansi was launched on 19 April 2023 at Constitution Hill in

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...

. Songezo Zibi was named as party leader. Zibi is former associate editor of the '' Financial Mail'' and former editor of ''

Business Day A business day normally means any day except a legal holiday. It may also mean a business day of operation, any of the days an organization operates. It depends on the local workweek which is dictated by local customs, religions, and business ...

'' as well as the Rivonia Circle think tank co-founder. The party's national leadership includes former Democratic Alliance public representative Makashule Gana, former anti-apartheid activist Ishmael Mkhabela, Mandla Isaacs former speechwriter for Minister

Malusi Gigaba Knowledge Malusi Nkanyezi Gigaba (born 30 August 1971) is a South African politician who represents the African National Congress (ANC) in the National Assembly. He served as a cabinet minister between 2010 and 2018, with stints as Minister o ...

, and Nick Binedell, founder of the GIBS business school. The party intends on contesting the 2024 general elections with Zibi as the party's presidential candidate. In August 2023, Member of Parliament Nomsa Marchesi resigned from the Democratic Alliance and joined Rise Mzansi as the party's Free State convenor. In November 2023, student leader David Kabwa's party, MOVE SA, announced that it would contest the 2024 elections under the banner of Rise Mzansi. In January 2024, Khume Ramulifho, another former member of the DA joined the party.

Politics

Rise Mzansi's leader, Songezo Zibi, has described himself as a

social democrat Social democracy is a Social philosophy, social, Economic ideology, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports Democracy, political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achi ...

and used to give other politicians copies of the book ''

The Third Man ''The Third Man'' is a 1949 film noir directed by Carol Reed, written by Graham Greene, and starring Joseph Cotten as Holly Martins, Alida Valli as Anna Schmidt, Orson Welles as Harry Lime and Trevor Howard as Major Calloway. Set in post-Worl ...

'', a memoir by

Peter Mandelson Peter Benjamin Mandelson, Baron Mandelson, (born 21 October 1953) is a British politician, lobbyist and diplomat who has served as British Ambassador to the United States since February 2025. A member of the Labour Party, Mandelson serve ...

that documents and advocates

third way The Third Way is a predominantly centrist political position that attempts to reconcile centre-right and centre-left politics by advocating a varying synthesis of Right-wing economics, right-wing economic and Left-wing politics, left-wing so ...

politics as implemented by

New Labour New Labour is the political philosophy that dominated the history of the British Labour Party from the mid-late 1990s to 2010 under the leadership of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. The term originated in a conference slogan first used by the ...

in the UK. He has also written in support of the third way. Zibi describes Rise Mzansi as a "typical European centrist party." The party has been described by commentators as "leaning towards social democracy" or as

with social democratic rhetoric. The party's manifesto for the 2024 election has been described as focused on professionalising the government of South Africa and reducing corruption. According to their website, they stand for the following principles: * "A constitutional democracy, where the constitution is the supreme law. * A government based on the will of the people and elected by the people. * Free, fair and regular elections that are run independently. * South African people enjoying their freedoms without the fear of criminals. * All South Africans having access to quality basic services and opportunities to live a better life. * Public representatives who serve the people and are accountable, ethical and do their duty with care."

2024 campaign

Rise Mzansi's campaign slogan for the general elections is "

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 ...

Is Our 1994", in reference to South Africa's first democratic elections. In April 2023, Rise Mzansi rejected calls to join the Democratic Alliance-initiated "Moonshot Pact" (later Multi-Party Charter) of opposition parties on the grounds that the pact is solely based on removing the ANC and keeping the EFF from national power. Rather than forming itself only around opposing the ANC, Rise Mzansi says it is focused on developing substantive alternative politics and policies. The party's head of strategic communications was

Mark Gevisser Mark Gevisser (born 1964) is a South African author and journalist. His latest book is ''The Pink Line: Journeys Across the World's Queer Frontiers'' (2020). Previous books include ''A Legacy of Liberation: Thabo Mbeki and the Future of the Sou ...

, who disclosed this after the elections in October 2024. In the 2024 general

election An election is a formal group decision-making process whereby a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold Public administration, public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative d ...

, Rise Mzansi won two seats in the Parliament (National Assembly) with 0,42% of the vote. In June 2024, Rise joined the Government of National Unity (GNU), but was not allocated any positions in the Cabinet, nor any deputy ministers. However, its leader, Songezo Zibi, was appointed as chairperson of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts in the National Assembly.

Funders

Rise Mzansi was the subject of public controversy due to the apparently large amount of funding it possessed in the absence of any declaration of its funding sources, which led to allegations that it might be funded by a foreign government. Party leaders were evasive when answering questions and initially claimed that the party "is only funded by ordinary South Africans". The

IEC The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC; ) is an international standards organization that prepares and publishes international standards for all electrical, electronic and related technologies. IEC standards cover a vast range of ...

released donor information for the period 1 October to 31 December 2023 showing that Rise Mzansi raised R16.7 million: more than any other party during that period. Of this amount, R15million came from a single donor: billionaire Rebecca Oppenheimer, daughter of apartheid mining magnate

Nicky Oppenheimer Nicholas F. Oppenheimer (born 8 June 1945) is a South African billionaire businessman. He was formerly the chairman of De Beers diamond mining company and of its subsidiary, the Diamond Trading Company, and former deputy chairman of Anglo Ame ...

. The party subsequently received significant criticism for this, with leader of the opposition EFF party Julius Malema saying: “How can you give Rise Mzansi so many millions even when they don’t have a track record of being a legitimate political party? Let us unite black people to fight against the Oppenheimer money. Let us not be bought by the Oppenheimers.” In the IEC's release of donor information for the first quarter of 2024, immediately before the elections, it was revealed that the party had received a further R33,895,000. Again, R15million of this came from Rebecca Oppenheimer. Another R15million came from an unknown, recently registered non-profit organisation called 'We Are The People', leading to further controversy. The third largest donor was The Tempyr Trust, an anonymous trust registered in Luxembourg.

Collaboration with Good

In August 2024, Axolile Notywala, the party's candidate for Premier of the Western Cape during the

2024 Western Cape provincial election The 2024 Western Cape provincial election was held on 29 May 2024, concurrently with the 2024 South African general election, to elect the 42 members of the List of members of the 7th Western Cape Provincial Parliament, 7th Western Cape Provinci ...

, was appointed by

Good In most contexts, the concept of good denotes the conduct that should be preferred when posed with a choice between possible actions. Good is generally considered to be the opposite of evil. The specific meaning and etymology of the term and its ...

to fill a vacancy in the

City of Cape Town The City of Cape Town (; ) is a Metropolitan municipality (South Africa), metropolitan municipality that forms the metropolitan municipality (South Africa), local government of Cape Town and surrounding areas. As of 2022 it has a population of ...

council. Rise Mzansi stated that the arrangement "cements the two parties' commitment to revive conversations about realigning social democratic politics" and did not not rule out the possibility of a merger, while Good's Brett Herron said that "we are confident that this is only the beginning of a much broader and richer project".

Election results

National Assembly elections

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

, Songezo Zibi , 67,975 , 0.42% , , 2 ,

National Council of Provinces elections

, - ! Election ! Total # of
seats won ! +/– ! Government , - !

, , New ,

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 , - !

, 0.29 , , 0/73 , 0.28 , , 0/30 , 0.98 , , 1/80 , 0.11 , , 0/80 , 0.15 , , 0/64 , 0.19 , , 0/51 , 0.36 , , 0/38 , 0.16 , , 0/30 , 0.51 , , 0/42

References

{{South African political parties 2023 establishments in South Africa Political parties in South Africa Political parties established in 2023 Social democratic parties in South Africa