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It is exactly one-year since RISE Mzansi was born as a people-centred, alternative political movement rooted in communities, working with and for the people.

From the moment that we announced RISE Mzansi on 19 April 2023, we have captured the political imagination of South Africans from all walks of life, in villages, towns and cities. This is testament to the diligence and care of the brave South Africans who have stepped forward to build a movement with the credibility of a larger, older organisation. 

On behalf of the National Leadership Collective (NLC), I want to pay a special tribute to our Organisers, Volunteers and Supporters who wake up every day to organise and mobilise South Africans in their communities. With out them, there would be no RISE Mzansi.

Today we celebrate their work and commitment to ensuring that we fundamentally change South Africa’s future, uniting South Africans behind the vision of a safe, prosperous, equal and united society in one generation. They are ensuring that on 29 May 2024, new leaders are elected to serve in Parliament and Provincial Legislatures.

Over the last year, RISE Mzansi has held thousands of community meetings in all nine provinces. 

We have listened to South Africans through these meetings, which took us to the People’s Convention in October last year, where 800 people converged to draft the People’s Declaration. This was followed by, the People’s Manifesto, which we unveiled before more than 4,000 Volunteers, Organisers, Supporters and Leaders. The People’s Manifesto put forward RISE Mzansi’s political offer to the people of South Africa, based on the inputs of the ordinary people the established political parties have taken for granted or ignored for so long. 

To mark our 1st birthday, we will not have an elaborate rally, instead we will have a countrywide RISE Mzansi Weekend of Service, where on Saturday we will erect soup kitchens managed by Leaders, Organisers and Volunteers. On Sunday, we will lead clean-up campaigns in communities.

On behalf of RISE Mzansi, I would like to thank every Organiser, Volunteer, Supporter and Leader who have truly made this organisation work, as well as those who have a donated – small and big – to ensure that we are able to have posters, gazebos, events, pamphlets, and t-shirts.

Here is to many more good years of transforming society through the constitutional and social democratic values of freedom, equality, integrity, solidarity and justice.

We RISE, together!

Issued by RISE Mzansi