Disgruntled former ANC member of parliament Boy Mamabolo remains resolute about not changing the name of his new political party from ‘Mandela for President’ despite the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC)’s rejection to register it under that name.
In an interview with Sunday World, Mamabolo said he is not going to entertain the African National Congress (ANC) by bowing to the “selfish demands” that he refrain from using Mandela’s name. This was after the ANC and the Mandela Foundation lodged a complaint to the IEC to object to Mandela’s name on Mamabolo’s party.
“I don’t see anything wrong with using the iconic Mandela name for our political party. After all, there are so many local businesses using the same name from all corners of this country,” said Mamabolo.
Criteria not met
In rejecting Mamabolo’s party name, the IEC indicated in a statement the party did not provide the minimum number of valid signatures required for registration nor meet the threshold for the number of registered voters.
Moreover, the IEC said it was concerned about potential voter deception from the party’s name, Mandela for President, which is paired with its striking green and gold colours.
That is the reason we have gone back to the drawing board to amend some of these things so that we can meet the criteria for the party’s registration with the IEC, he said. “But definitely the name change is not anywhere near discussion because we are not going to change that. We will in fact justify our decision about the name.”
Pending cases
Mamabolo’s decision to establish the new political party comes despite the fact that has a pending disciplinary hearing against him, which was postponed several times. It was last postponed on July 21. His disciplinary hearing is in line with his utterances on social media, where he mocked the passing of former Limpopo ANC Youth League member Matthews Malebana in April.
Malebana lived with albinism.
Heeding a call from supporters
Mamabolo, 42, said they will be resubmitting documents for the party’s registration on Friday. He confirmed that the plan to establish the party was influenced by his supporters and some of the ANC members who felt that he was being exploited by the party even after being a loyal member for a long time.
“I was approached by a number of people who encouraged me to start a political party in April, which I took up. The party was meant to have been registered on 15 May 2025, but we postponed that. We went on to draft everything about the party and even placed it in the Government Gazette which was somehow leaked to the ANC Secretary-General Fikile Mbalula,” he said
Asked if he still considers himself an ANC member, Mamabolo said: “It is up to them to decide whether I am still their member or not.”
Mamabolo has also taken the ANC to court for “unfairly” removing him from the candidate list in 2021. “We are going to court in September, and my wish is to twist the court to force the ANC to pay me over R6-million, which was to be my salary for five years.”
