Thohoyandou – The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) has unveiled a high-profile slate of mayoral candidates, deploying several of its top leaders to strategic metros as it intensifies its campaign for the 2026 local government elections.
Speaking at the party’s manifesto launch and 13th anniversary celebrations in Thohoyandou on Saturday, EFF leader Julius Malema said municipalities needed greater financial support to improve service delivery.
“We want more money for local government, because it is local government that deals directly with our people,” Malema said.
Malema defended the party’s governance record, claiming the EFF had improved sanitation, water provision and financial management in Ekurhuleni and helped keep Tshwane clean.
“The EFF in Ekurhuleni has made sure that it gives our people dignified sanitation and water… The EFF stabilised the finances of Ekurhuleni,” he said.
#MALEMA: I want to call the people who are going to represent us in Strategic Cities as Mayors…:
– Buffalo City Mayor, Mkhululi Dlevu…
– Nelson Mandela Metro mayor, Sinawo Thambo.
– King Sabata Dalindyebo, Ncedo Kolanisi.
– Mangaung Metro, Sam Matiase.
– Ekurhuleni Metro,…— Economic Freedom Fighters (@EFFSouthAfrica) July 25, 2026
He also praised the party’s contribution in Tshwane, saying: “Today, Tshwane is clean, you would have mistaken it for London.”
The party’s mayoral candidates include former UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Health Dr Tlaleng Mofokeng for Johannesburg, EFF national chairperson Nontando Nolutshungu for Cape Town, MP Omphile Maotwe for Tshwane, former Ekurhuleni Speaker Nthabiseng Tshivenga for Ekurhuleni, inaugural deputy secretary-general Hlengiwe Mkhaliphi for eThekwini, National Assembly whip Sam Matiase for Mangaung, spokesperson Sinawo Thambo for Nelson Mandela Bay, and MP Mkhululi Dlevu for Buffalo City. The EFF also named deputy president Godrich Gardee as its mayoral candidate for Mbombela, alongside candidates for several other strategic municipalities.
The deployment of senior leaders indicates the party’s strategy to make significant gains in key coalition battlegrounds ahead of the 4 November local government elections, particularly in major urban centres where it hopes to strengthen its electoral support.
Malema said the party’s experience in government showed that service delivery depends on accountability rather than political rhetoric.
“Where the EFF is in government, we have proven that political conviction alone cannot fix infrastructure or rebuild institutions.”
The party added that “accountability and being of service to the people is what matters.”
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Compiled by Betha Madhomu
