Former ANC Mpumalanga treasurer Mandla Msibi has resurfaced with a hardline populist campaign targeting ANC power brokers in Mpumalanga, invoking tribal identity, local economic anger and anti-outsider sentiment after his political downfall at the party’s 114th provincial conference in Mbombela.
Now operating under the banner of the newly formed Service Delivery Party (SDP), Msibi is attempting to convert the frustrations of unemployed locals into a ballot-box revolt against the ANC leaders who politically isolated him before he resigned from the party in April.
The man once regarded as one of the ANC’s most effective election mobilisers in Mpumalanga is now aiming directly at the ANC-run Mbombela Local Municipality. His mayoral candidacy carries added political intrigue because the current executive mayor is Sibongile Makhushe-Mazibuko, the same leader who emerged from the ANC provincial conference as the province’s new treasurer, effectively taking over the position once occupied by Msibi.
Speaking before hundreds of supporters at eNkomeni Sports Ground in Pienaar township this week, where he was unveiled as SDP national convener and Mbombela mayoral candidate, Msibi adopted rhetoric increasingly associated with grievance-driven populist movements globally.
“It is not easy to start an organisation. I’ve just joined today, but I can see there’s a challenge with just T-shirts. They brought T-shirts to my home. I had asked for 5 000 of them, but they brought 800,” Msibi told supporters. “Let’s not depend on T-shirts to vote for SDP.”
But it was his comments that dramatically shifted the political tone of the rally. “We have graduates in Mbombela who are unemployed. There is a database of educated young people in Mbombela, but they are not working,” he said in isiSwati. “You have a Venda traffic officer in Mbombela, but you’ll never find a Swati officer in the Venda community. You need balance.”
Msibi intensified the message by arguing that locals were being economically sidelined.
“We must fix that. Our children must pursue education knowing that Mbombela is theirs and they will be hired here. We can’t have a situation where all the senior managers are from outside the province and every Friday they travel back to their homes. It must just come to an end.”
He also entered the politically sensitive debate around foreign-owned township businesses. “There’s a structure called Local Economic Development in the municipality. You take that fund and start budgeting for locals to own spaza shops in their communities,” he said. “Foreigners do bulk buying, which is something we must do.”
Political analyst Gakwi Mashego criticised Msibi’s strategy, arguing that he was deploying tribal populism in the wrong political terrain. “Even if you did a tribe audit, the municipality has a majority of Swati workers. The people of Mbombela are largely Swati and, therefore, don’t perceive other tribes as a threat. The Mbombela population is not divided.”
Mashego argued that such politics would likely resonate more strongly in Bushbuckridge “His brand of politics would work brilliantly in Bushbuckridge “where contestation runs along tribal lines between the Shangaans and Mapulana”.
Mashego argued that Msibi was overestimating his political weight outside the ANC.
“He himself used to drive the service delivery bus under the ANC. Now that he decided to get off the bus, he expects Mbombelans to get off in protest,” he said.
“For Msibi, the SDP is just a pit stop. His pedigree is MKP. He’s only trying to run up the numbers which he will use towards 2029, saying, ‘The MKP lobbied me.’”
Inside ANC circles, however, there remains unease about Msibi’s ability to weaponise local frustration against the party that expelled him from power. Now he is attempting to remove them from office using the anger of the very communities both sides claim to represent.
- Former ANC Mpumalanga treasurer Mandla Msibi has re-emerged with a strong populist campaign.
- His campaign targets ANC power brokers within Mpumalanga, challenging the current leadership.
- Msibi’s rhetoric emphasizes tribal identity and appeals to local economic frustrations.
- He also promotes anti-outsider sentiment as part of his political message.
- This resurgence follows his political setback at the ANC’s 114th provincial conference in Mbombela.
Former ANC
Now operating under the banner of the newly formed Service Delivery Party (SDP), Msibi is attempting to convert the frustrations of unemployed locals into a ballot-box revolt against the ANC leaders who politically isolated him before he resigned from the party in April.
“It is not easy to start an organisation. I’ve just joined today, but I can see there’s a challenge with just T-shirts.
But it was his comments that dramatically shifted the political tone of the rally. “We have graduates in
Msibi intensified the message by arguing that locals were being economically sidelined.
“We must fix that. Our children must pursue education knowing that
He also entered the politically sensitive debate around foreign-owned township businesses. “
Political analyst Gakwi
“He himself used to drive the service delivery bus under the ANC. Now that he decided to get off the bus, he expects
“For Msibi, the SDP is just a pit stop. His pedigree is MKP. He’s only trying to run up the numbers which he will use towards 2029, saying, ‘
Inside ANC circles, however, there remains unease about Msibi’s ability to weaponise local frustration against the party that expelled him from power. Now he is attempting to remove them from office using the anger of the very communities both sides claim to represent.
