PIETERMARITZBURG, KwaZulu-Natal — As the 2026 local elections approach, the Abantu Batho Congress (ABC) in KwaZulu-Natal is projecting confidence, leveraging its municipal governance track record to win over voters despite a delayed campaign start.
The party is currently contesting 15 wards across three municipalities in the province, which includes the eThekwini metropolitan area. Founded in January 2020, the ABC made its electoral debut in the 2021 local government elections, securing 25 seats overall—23 in KwaZulu-Natal and two in Limpopo.
Philani Mavundla, a businessman, philanthropist, and the party’s leader, is standing as the ABC’s mayoral candidate for the eThekwini metro. Following the 2021 elections, the ABC acted as a kingmaker in the municipality. Mavundla successfully brokered a coalition deal to keep the African National Congress (ANC) in power after the party failed to secure an outright majority. Consequently, Mavundla was elected deputy mayor of the metro. However, he was removed from the position the following year after a political fallout with the ANC.
Following his departure from eThekwini, Mavundla shifted his focus to the uMzinyathi district municipality, where he was elected mayor in June 2023. He believes this hands-on executive experience has given his party a significant advantage in running municipalities effectively.
Reflecting on his time in office, Mavundla emphasized that his willingness to expose governance failures directly improved service delivery for residents.
“When I moved to expose things, those are the things that today have helped the people with service delivery,” Mavundla stated. “Who would have known how bad it was if I did not make the statement that I made to show people what was happening? I can tell you now more than half of the wastewater works that I was complaining about have been fixed. If I didn’t make noise, it would not have happened.”
Looking ahead to the upcoming polls, Mavundla predicts that no single party will secure an outright majority in the municipalities where the ABC is contesting.
As a close ally of uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) party leader Jacob Zuma, Mavundla has already clarified the ABC’s post-election coalition strategy, firmly ruling out any future cooperation with the ANC.
Speaking on the party’s political relationships, Mavundla said, “Our relationship with the MK party is 101%. With others, it is 100%. Our relationship with the ANC is ‘zilch’, if there’s such a thing.”
The party’s push for the 2026 elections follows a period of internal instability. The ABC has been beset by leadership frictions since 2023, when an internal faction challenged Mavundla’s legitimacy as party president. Addressing the dispute, Mavundla confirmed that the matter has since been fully settled through the courts, allowing the party to move forward with a unified front.
