A new political party drawing heavily on the legacy of former Bophuthatswana leader Lucas Mangope has entered South Africa’s political arena, promising to contest municipalities across five provinces in this year’s local government elections.
The Bophuthatswana Civil Movement (BCM) announced this week that it had secured registration with the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC), clearing the way for it to participate in the polls.
According to the party’s registration certificate, the IEC approved the organisation as a nationally registered political party on July 3. The party is headquartered in Mahikeng, North West.
Its president, Kagiso Monyadiwa, described the registration as the beginning of a political project aimed at reviving what he called the legacy of the former homeland.
Monyadiwa said BCM would use the local government elections as its first electoral test. “This crucial milestone enables our participation in the upcoming local government elections, marking a significant step forward for our collective aspirations,” he said.
The movement seeks “to reclaim, regain and restore the enduring legacy of Tautona Kgosi Lucas Manyane Mangope. He was a visionary leader who, from humble beginnings, built Bophuthatswana into a thriving and beautiful nation.”
The party said it intended to contest municipalities in Gauteng, North West, Free State, Mpumalanga and Northern Cape.
“We eagerly anticipate talented and qualified citizens stepping forward to dedicate themselves to the service of our communities,” Monyadiwa said.
The emergence of the BCM adds another voice to an increasingly fragmented political landscape in which smaller parties are attempting to occupy spaces left vacant by the country’s established political formations.
Its ideological appeal is built around a positive reassessment of the Bophuthatswana homeland, arguing that its model of self-sufficiency and community development offers lessons for present-day governance. That places it at odds with the African National Congress (ANC)’s historical position, which regarded the apartheid-era homeland system as a central instrument of racial segregation.
Monyadiwa has also positioned the party alongside calls for tighter immigration controls.
In a statement issued ahead of nationwide anti-illegal immigration protests on June 30, he criticised the government’s handling of migration.
He argued that deploying security forces without addressing underlying institutional failures risked deepening tensions.
Using the slogan “Reclaim. Regain. Restore”, the BCM is now preparing to test whether nostalgia for the former Bophuthatswana homeland can be converted into electoral
support in democratic South Africa.
- A new political party drawing heavily on the legacy of former Bophuthatswana leader Lucas Mangope has entered South Africa’s political arena, promising to contest municipalities across five provinces in this year’s local government elections.
- The Bophuthatswana Civil Movement (BCM) announced this week that it had secured registration with the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC), clearing the way for it to participate in the polls.
- According to the party’s registration certificate, the IEC approved the organisation as a nationally registered political party on July 3.
- The party is headquartered in Mahikeng, North West.
- Its president, Kagiso Monyadiwa, described the registration as the beginning of a political project aimed at reviving what he called the legacy of the former homeland.
