Rise Mzansi leader Songezo Zibi said South Africa’s Government of National Unity (GNU) “needs a reset instead of lurching from crisis to crisis while the country itself is in crisis.”
Zibi was briefing the media on Monday about the party’s first year in Parliament and addressed pressing national issues in Johannesburg.
Zibi, who chairs Parliament’s Standing Committee on Public Accounts (SCOPA), was joined by Gauteng MEC for Agriculture and Rural Development Vuyiswa Ramokgopa and National Assembly Whip Makashule Gana.
They used the briefing to account for their work in the GNU, the Gauteng Provincial Government of Unity (PGU), and to respond to rising public concerns around leadership, service delivery and national security.
Zibi was critical of the current arrangement in the GNU, warning that the coalition is undermined by internal squabbles, particularly between the ANC and the DA, and lacks cohesive political management.
“We need a single agreement signed by everybody, with mutual obligations to one another,” he said.
Zibi said Rise Mzansi will be writing to the ANC, as convenor of the GNU, to demand regular leaders’ meetings, a GNU Lekgotla to resolve interpersonal issues, and the reactivation of the dormant Clearing House Mechanism.
Reflecting on Parliament, Zibi said the party’s limited resources have not stopped them from holding ministers accountable and proposing solutions.
“We ensure that despite only being afforded three-minutes during debates, that we deliver speeches that are well researched, speak to the issues that face the people of South Africa and provide workable and achievable solutions,” he said.
Zibi confirmed that Gana,whom he described as “the so-called ‘Hardest Working Member of Parliament’”, has pushed parliamentary questions on crime, policing, economic development, and the deteriorating state of transport entities like PRASA, Transnet and the Road Accident Fund (RAF).
SCOPA, which Zibi chairs, will be launching a formal inquiry into the RAF after the September recess, calling it a test of the committee’s ability to combat corruption.
“We believe that we are on the right track, with deliberate attempts made for SCOPA not to deal with this matter. I therefore welcome the support of the Minister and Deputy Minister of Transport,” Zibi said.
Rise Mzansi is also tackling the explosion in gambling addiction, pointing to an eightfold increase in “problem gamblers” seeking help between 2020 and 2024. Zibi said, “Rise Mzansi takes this matter seriously, and we starting to see other political parties and the Government also take the matter seriously.”
In Gauteng,Zibi said Ramokgopa is working with a R671-million budget to address hunger, industrialisation and corruption. She has championed urban community gardens, escalated a suspicious farming project to the SIU, and launched the province’s first Agro Processing Convention.
Zibi also addressed the crisis of political leadership, saying that too many capable leaders are silent while older politicians dominate the discourse.
“A 74-year-old woman who will be 75 next year has announced that she will be running for mayor of Johannesburg.”
He said in the same instance, an 81-year-old Helen Zille could be president in 2029
“This is not for lack of talent, but lack of belief in new, capable leadership.”
He confirmed that Rise Mzansi will contest a by-election in Ward 64, eThekwini, with local community leader Jackie Conclave as their candidate.
He said the party is also exploring electoral collaboration ahead of the 2026 local government elections, but warned against “big man or woman politics” and urged civil society to play a stronger role.
Zibi said, “We all have to accept that no one political party, or even all of them combined, has the talent and the solution to exclude non-aligned South Africans who want to contribute.”
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