UDM

About the party

The United Democratic Movement (UDM) was co-founded by Roelf Meyer, a former prominent National Party leader and General Bantu Holomisa, a former ANC and Transkei homeland leader on September 27, 1997. Since its inception, the UDM has experienced a steady decline in South African local government. Its strongest municipal performance was in 2000, when it won 228 municipal seats and took outright control of the King Sabata Dalindyebo Local Municipality in the Eastern Cape, though it soon lost this majority due to floor-crossing legislation. By 2006, the party's national vote share halved to 1.3% (97 seats), and fell further to 0.6% (65 seats) in 2011. Although the party’s vote dropped further in 2016 resulting in 58 seats, it was able to act as a kingmaker, joining a short-lived, DA-led coalition in Nelson Mandela Bay, where the late UDM councillor Mongameli Bobani served as Executive Mayor from 2018 to 2019. In the 2021 election, the party hit a historic low, capturing just 0.52% of the national vote and 55 seats. The UDM is part of the multi-party Government of National Unity, with leader Bantu Holomisa appointed Deputy Minister of Defence and Military Veterans.