Siphiwe Mhlongo, formerly the ANC branch chairperson in Mabopane outside Pretoria, will contest the November elections under the Freedom Front Plus, part of a party push to build an organisational presence in townships long treated as untouchable territory for the African National Congress. He is not alone. Daniel Makgobola, a long serving ANC member in Soweto, will carry the FF Plus banner in his own township.
Their candidacies are the practical expression of a strategy aimed at converting local standing into votes in areas where the governing party has historically dominated. Both men have deep roots in the communities they now hope to represent.
The candidates frame their move in terms of delivery: jobs, safer streets and local economies that can stand on their own feet. Mhlongo said the choice was driven by necessity rather than convenience. “Not because it is popular and not because it is fashionable but because it is necessary. We want to create jobs, our townships to develop, our townships to be safer and our township to have its own economy without relying on the government subsidy. My community is happy with the decision, and they are supportive; and we are going to surprise everybody with the FF Plus and we are going to take this ward.”
The party he now represents carries a political identity that might seem an awkward fit in a township ward. The FF Plus is associated with Afrikaner self-determination and has opposed policies such as Black Economic Empowerment and Affirmative Action. Mhlongo says he is not deterred. In his telling, the party is a vehicle for rescuing a country badly governed over decades, with food security and safety among the urgent challenges.
His argument rests on economic delivery rather than party tradition. He says the FF Plus is needed to build a country that belongs to all races, and he frames inclusion as a practical requirement for getting the economy working. “South Africa belongs to all who lives in it, so if we respect the constitution and we love the reconciliation project, I am challenging everybody to say we are going to build the economy that has white people in it; not the economy that isolates them because there is a bitter history between us in economic history. Yes, we want to address those things, but we cannot address while the other part is being isolated. We want to bring into the table and say to them we know your experience in farming; you have experience in industrialisation, we need those experiences. Now is time to change to interact meaningfully and economically.”
Whether that argument persuades township voters will be tested at the ballot box in November. What is already clear is that the contest in these wards will not be a formality. The FF Plus has fielded candidates who can claim local histories and community support, and Mhlongo has gone as far as predicting victory in his ward.
Meanwhile, the campaign itself signals something about the state of political competition on the ground. A party historically identified with a very different constituency is now actively recruiting from within the ANC’s base, through individuals who once held positions inside the ruling party’s own branch structures. For voters in Mabopane and Soweto, November will offer a measure of whether a pitch centred on jobs, safety and township economies translates into support at the polls.