- One South Africa, led by Mmusi Maimane, has said it aims to target 2.1 million voters for the upcoming local elections.
- Last month, Maimane announced that OSA would participate in this year's elections by supporting select independent candidates.
- The party unveiled its plans at Constitution Hill in Johannesburg on Friday.
One South Africa (OSA), led by Mmusi Maimane, will play a role in 10 municipalities in October's local government elections.
The newly formed political forum said it would support independent candidates and community-led organisations.
Just last month, Maimane announced that OSA would participate in this year's elections by providing select independent candidates and community-led organisations with management skills to contest elections.
Speaking at Constitution Hill in Johannesburg on Friday, Maimane said OSA aimed to use the upcoming local elections to demonstrate the power and potential of such candidates. He said it would be a "proof of concept" of what can be achieved at national and provincial government level in 2024 and beyond.
Last year, the Constitutional Court ruled that the electoral system should allow for independents not aligned to any political party to run for office in the general elections.
The 10 municipalities where the party will contest the upcoming elections are:
- Emfuleni Local Municipality - Gauteng
- Greater Letaba Local Municipality - Limpopo
- Enoch Mgijima Local Municipality - Eastern Cape
- Lepelle-Nkumpi Local Municipality - Limpopo
- J.S. Moroka Local Municipality - Mpumalanga
- Moses Kotane Local Municipality - North West
- Beyers Naude Local Municipality - Eastern Cape
- Ubuntu Local Municipality - Northern Cape
- Cederberg Municipality - Western Cape
- Knysna Local Municipality - Western Cape
"Each community-led independent organisation in these municipalities will register under Section 15A of the Electoral Commission Act, a mechanism that allows for the registration of an organisation or movement to participate in municipal elections without being registered as a traditional political party with political party structures," Maimane said.
OSA said by using this mechanism, independent candidates will be able to stand for election in various wards, while also registering as a conglomerate of independent candidates to benefit from the proportional representation (PR) vote.
Maimane said:
OSA said it had provided its candidates and organisations with technical and management expertise and rolled out of professionalised election campaigns, tailor-made for each municipality.
The forum said later this month the Independent Candidate Association of South Africa (ICA) will be formed. The ICA is a statutory body that will be the custodian of all independent candidates in national, provincial and local government elections.