THE new kid on the block, Rise Mzansi, is ready to contest the 2024 general elections.
This comes after they officially received their party’s registration certificate at the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) headquarters in Centurion, Tshwane on Tuesday, 10 October.
Rise Mzansi, led by former newspaper editor Songezo Zibi, was unveiled in April 2023.
Party deputy national chairwoman Cilna Steyn said it was 174 days ago, on 19 April 2023, that Rise Mzansi unveiled itself as a political party that intends to contest the 2024 national and provincial elections as an alternative to the political establishment that has run out of ideas and is without a vision to build the "South Africa we all deserve".
She said this moment, where Rise Mzansi receives official certification to contest the 2024 elections, comes days after they convened a three-day People’s Convention at Constitution Hill, attended by 800 delegates from across the country.
Steyn said their mission is not for themselves, as many of them have walked away from high-paying corporate jobs and the security of a salary because what they're doing can't be done by standing on the sidelines or merely using their thumbs as a form of activism.
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“It's a sacrifice bigger than our personal needs. But rather, it's about the needs of all 60 million South Africans who have not received the dividends of the country’s hard-earned democracy,” Steyn said.
“We have all walked different paths to get here, but now we all walk the same journey. We're asking all South Africans to walk this necessary but difficult journey with us. We do this because it's not normal that families go without three square meals each day.”
She said that they have sacrificed because racism still divides them.
“We have formed this political movement because far too many are without work. Hence, we declared that a Rise Mzansi government will eradicate poverty, end racism, end inequality, and ensure the employment of all our people,” said Steyn.
