South Africa: Bantu Holomisa Clings to Power As UDM Turns 26

22 September 2023
Scrolla (Johannesburg)

Road to 2024: Bantu Holomisa walked out of the ANC 26 years ago to build an alternative for the black majority. Zukile Majova asks, how is that going?

Establishing and sustaining a political party in South Africa is no mean feat.

UDM leader, General Bantu Holomisa, who left the first ANC breakaway party in the post-1994 era is due to reflect on 26 years of the UDM at a political jamboree at WSU Stadium in Mthatha this weekend.

But what is there to celebrate?

Holomisa launched the party on 27 September 1997 and became its first president in June 1998.

A year later he led the party to the 1999 elections and secured 14 seats in parliament after a campaign that had little budget and limited time to build branches.

In 2002 he stunned the ANC in its heartland of Umtata to win King Sabata Dalindyebo Local Municipality.

Down the road from the council offices is Nelson Mandela's beloved Qunu village where the global paragon of peace rests in eternity.

Such was the power and influence of Holomisa and his UDM which was seen by many as likely to become a thorn in the side of the ANC for many years.

But Holomisa who is now one of the longest serving members of parliament seems intent on destroying his very own creation.

He has clung to power for 25 years and remains determined to lead the party's campaign in the 2024 national general election.

All this while claiming to be a democrat at heart. As Holomisa prepares his keynote address to his supporters on 23 September, it is worth noting that he presides over a party that has shrunk from 14 seats in parliament to just two seats after the 2019 elections.

Just 78,000 of the 17.67 million voters who participated in the 2019 election, voted for the UDM earning Homolisa and his deputy Nqabayomzi Kwankwa the only UDM seats in the 400 seat National Assembly.

Ahead of the 2024 elections, Holomisa has refused to join the DA-led multi-party charter for South Africa and has so far rejected joining ANC coalitions at local government level.

This is not a matter of principle for the so-called centre-left party because it has been in a coalition with the ANC in Nelson Mandela Bay Metro and has been part of a DA-led coalition that governed the City of Johannesburg when Dr Mpho Phalatse was the executive mayor.

General Holomisa may still be relevant as the founder of the UDM, but if he does not hand over power to young leaders, he will take his party to his political grave with him.

 

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