Mangaung Independent Candidates push community-first politics
Independent candidates in Mangaung in the Free State, have urged voters to prioritise their communities over party-driven politics in the upcoming local government elections.
As the November local government elections draw closer, independent candidates have joined the fray to woo those, who have lost interest in voting.
Rather than relying on promises, independent candidates say they want to be councillors who account for their performance.
Independent Candidates continue to feature prominently in South Africa’s multi-party democracy.
Even though independent candidates feel the playing field is not level enough to contest on an equal footing, they are willing to embark on the road less travelled.
An independent candidate, Themba Zweni, says many communities have become disillusioned by political parties and are looking for an alternative.
Zweni says despite facing financial hurdles and the high costs of participating in elections as an independent candidate, they remain committed to their mandate of rebuilding their communities.
WATCH | The Electoral Commission is urging political parties and aspiring independent candidates to take advantage of the opportunity to submit their candidate nomination and supporter list through the Online Candidate Nomination System.
IEC’s James Aphane explains. pic.twitter.com/n4mgDTeIxK — SABC News (@SABCNews) July 22, 2026 “That is why you find that there are very serious challenges with regard to financial barriers to entry for us as independents.
You pay R1800 to contest a ward as an independent candidate but a party that gets funded pays R46.53 in the Mangaung area to contest a ward.
What is that huge disparity? Why should we have that, you know, is to ensure that we do not have many independent candidates.
Which is a major departure from what I have said.
The Freedom Charter was very clear and said every man and woman shall stand and be elected,” says Zweni.
Zweni is currently a community activist but has previously served as a councillor.
5News aggregated this summary from the outlet’s public feed. The full article, with all the context, is on www.sabcnews.com — the content belongs to SABC News.
