The African Transformation Movement (ATM) has gone all-in on Johannesburg, deploying its former president Vuyo Zungula as its mayoral candidate for the country’s richest metro in a bold bid to end what it calls the “era of municipal failure.”
The party unveiled its 11 mayoral candidates for Gauteng on Sunday ahead of the November 4 local government elections, but it is the decision to field Zungula himself in the City of Johannesburg that has set the tone for ATM’s campaign.
Zungula, the long-time president of the ATM and its parliamentary leader, will lead the party’s charge to reclaim Joburg from a revolving door of coalitions, decay and service delivery collapse.
ATM spokesperson Zama Ntshona said the choice of Zungula was deliberate – Johannesburg needs a political heavyweight who cannot be ignored.
“Gauteng is the economic heartbeat of South Africa, yet millions of its people continue to endure dry taps, sewage spills, potholes, failing infrastructure, electricity disruptions, unemployment, crime, poverty and collapsing municipal services. This contradiction cannot continue,” Ntshona said.
“The people are not asking for miracles. They are demanding a government that works. That is why we are deploying our president to Johannesburg. We are not contesting to occupy seats, we are contesting to govern.”
The ATM’s full Gauteng slate is:
City of Tshwane – Mncedi Ndzwanana, City of Johannesburg – Vuyolwethu Zungula, City of Ekurhuleni – Velaphi Ernest Ndaba, Sedibeng District – Khayalethu Goodman Nkenkwezi, Midvaal – Dimakatso Pinkie Masopha, Lesedi – Pulane Mokhanedi, Emfuleni – Siyanda Afrika, West Rand District – Danny Molefi Thupane, Mogale City – Reneilwe Tiny Thupane, Merafong City – Andiswa Xesibe, Rand West City – Nnini Rebecca Mokoena.*
Since founding the ATM in 2018 after breaking from the ANC, he has built his reputation in the National Assembly as a fierce critic of corruption and state capture.
Now he is taking that fight to the streets of Johannesburg.
Ntshona said Zungula’s mandate is to fix a city that has become synonymous with financial crisis, water outages, billing chaos and infrastructure collapse.
“These candidates are not being deployed to become celebrities of political office. They are being deployed to become servants of the people. Their mandate is simple: listen, serve, fix, build and account,” Ntshona said.
“Johannesburg has been reduced to a municipality that cannot keep the lights on, cannot provide water, cannot fix a pothole. We refuse to accept a Gauteng where enormous wealth is generated while ordinary families are denied the most basic dignity of reliable water, sanitation, electricity, safe roads and functioning communities,” Nthsona said.
He added that the party was framing the 2026 elections as a referendum on municipal decline, particularly in Gauteng’s metros where coalition politics have led to chronic instability.
Johannesburg has had eight mayors in five years.
The party said if it takes control, it will turn municipalities into engines of economic transformation.
“Our municipalities must become engines of economic transformation. Municipal procurement must, within the law, deliberately stimulate township and local economies. Local farmers, artisans, cooperatives, manufacturers, young entrepreneurs and small businesses must participate meaningfully in the billions spent by government,” Ntshona said.
“Young people cannot remain spectators in the economy of their own communities.”
The ATM also issued a blunt warning to those it accuses of treating municipalities as personal ATMs.
“We send an unequivocal warning to those who regard municipalities as personal ATMs: the looting must end. There will be no tolerance for tender corruption, ghost employees, political patronage, incompetent appointments or officials who steal resources meant for poor communities,” Ntshona added.
Zungula will face a crowded field in Johannesburg, including the DA, ANC, ActionSA, EFF and Patriotic Alliance, but the ATM believes deploying its top leader gives it name recognition and moral authority that smaller parties lack.
“The time for excuses is over. The time for transformation has arrived. The ATM is ready to govern. The ATM is ready to serve with honesty,” Ntshona said.
“The people of Gauteng deserve municipalities that work. They deserve leadership that serves rather than rules, builds rather than destroys, and protects public resources rather than looting them.”