Former ANC national parliamentarian Jacob “Boy” Mamabolo is banking on his deep roots in Seshego and his years of political experience to propel his newly formed Born to Win Party into the political mainstream in Limpopo.
With the 4 November local government elections approaching, Mamabolo says his party is particularly confident about its prospects in the Polokwane City Municipality, where he is the party’s mayoral candidate, and in his home area of Seshego.
Mamabolo told Africa Daily that Born to Win has fielded candidates across all five regions of Limpopo, although he admits the party is not expecting an immediate breakthrough everywhere.
“As much as we don’t expect much in the other regions, we are positive that Polokwane and Seshego is a must win for us,” said the confident Mamabolo.
The campaign represents another major chapter in the political career of a man whose journey through the ANC has been marked by rapid political advancement, controversy, internal battles and, ultimately, a dramatic breakaway from the organisation he served for almost three decades.
From Seshego to Parliament
Mamabolo, whose full name is Jacob Boy Mamabolo, comes from Masakeng in Seshego. His political roots stretch back to the ANC’s youth structures, where he became involved in student and youth politics alongside people who would later become major figures in South African politics.
He was involved in the Congress of South African Students (COSAS) and later the ANC Youth League. He was COSAS provincial secretary at a time when Julius Malema was serving as the organisation’s national president. The two men, who grew up in the same Seshego community, were once politically close before their relationship deteriorated.
Mamabolo eventually rose through the ANC’s ranks in Limpopo and became a prominent provincial political figure.
His breakthrough onto the national political stage came in the 2019 general elections, when he was placed second on the ANC’s regional list and elected to the National Assembly.
He served as an MP from 22 May 2019 until the end of the Sixth Parliament in May 2024.
During his time at Parliament, he served on committees including the Portfolio Committee on Sports, Arts and Culture and the Standing Committee on the Auditor-General.
His parliamentary career, however, was not without controversy.
A turbulent relationship with the ANC
Mamabolo’s relationship with the ANC became increasingly strained, particularly towards the end of his parliamentary career.
He later alleged that he had been unfairly removed from the parliamentary list and accused senior ANC figures in Limpopo of manipulating the process.
The ANC rejected his demands for reinstatement. Among the issues raised against him was that he had allegedly failed to present his matric certificate during interviews for parliamentary deployment
Mamabolo subsequently challenged aspects of the process and said the dispute had cost him financially, claiming he was left with legal costs of about R300,000.
By 2025, the relationship had deteriorated even further.
The ANC in Limpopo temporarily suspended him in April 2025 following allegations that his social-media statements had brought the organisation into disrepute. The party said the decision was taken in terms of its constitution and that the matter would be dealt with through its disciplinary structures.
Mamabolo’s departure eventually became inevitable.
In September 2025, after approximately 29 years as an ANC member, he formally terminated his membership and announced plans to establish his own political party. In his resignation letter, he described leaving the ANC as difficult and emotional and accused the organisation of having failed him.
The Mandela for President controversy
But before Born to Win emerged, Mamabolo’s proposed political vehicle had a very different name.
He initially sought to establish a party called Mandela for President.
That move immediately put him on a collision course with the ANC and the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC).
The IEC rejected the proposed party name and branding, raising concerns that the name and its green-and-black colours could mislead voters into believing that the organisation was connected to Nelson Mandela or the ANC.
There were also issues concerning the party’s registration requirements and founding documentation.
The ANC objected to the proposed registration, while Mamabolo accused his former political home of deliberately attempting to frustrate his political ambitions.
Rather than continue the fight over the name, Mamabolo changed direction.
Mandela for President became Born to Win.
He said the new name reflected his belief that every South African, regardless of background, was “born to win”.
Mamabolo claimed the new party had already gathered thousands of signatures during its registration campaign and said it wanted to attract disaffected ANC and EFF supporters as well as people who had never belonged to a political organisation.
From ANC insider to ANC challenger
The transformation is significant.
For years Mamabolo was part of the ANC machinery. He was an elected ANC representative in Parliament and a product of the organisation’s youth and provincial structures.
Now he is asking ANC voters to abandon the party and put their faith in a political organisation led by one of its former insiders.
His message is centred heavily on local government, corruption and service delivery — issues that have become increasingly important in Limpopo’s municipalities.
Mamabolo has previously criticised the ANC’s performance in municipalities and accused the governing party of failing to address corruption and poor service delivery effectively. He has particularly identified Polokwane and Mogalakwena as municipalities where he believes voters are dissatisfied.
That makes Polokwane the natural battlefield for his first major electoral test.
The Seshego factor
For Mamabolo, however, the contest is about more than winning a municipality.
Seshego is home.
It is the community where he grew up and where his political journey began. It is also a place where his political history intersects with that of Julius Malema, another prominent Limpopo politician who went on to leave the ANC and establish the Economic Freedom Fighters.
Mamabolo’s challenge now is to convert his name recognition and history into votes.
His confidence that Polokwane and Seshego are “a must win” illustrates the importance he attaches to the area.
But the election will also test whether his personal political following is strong enough to survive outside the ANC machinery.
A veteran politician in a new fight
Mamabolo is now in his early 50s. Although a precise date of birth is not reliably established in the authoritative sources reviewed, he is no longer the young ANC activist who rose through COSAS and the Youth League structures.
His political career has already spanned almost three decades.
He has experienced the inside of the ANC, reached Parliament, fought political battles within the organisation, lost his parliamentary position, faced suspension and eventually walked away to establish his own party.
Born to Win is therefore not simply another new political party entering the crowded South African local-government landscape.
It is the latest chapter in Mamabolo’s long political journey — and the November 4 elections will provide the first serious test of whether his break from the ANC can translate into electoral power.
For the former ANC parliamentarian, Polokwane and Seshego are where that political gamble begins.