Durban — Well-known party hopper Sindi Mashinini-Maphumulo’s fledgling political career received a boost after the Allied Movement 4 Change Party (AM4C) appointed her as caretaker leader ahead of the 2026 local government elections.
Mashinini-Maphumulo, a former IFP, NFP and UDM member, joined the AM4C, led by the ailing Ahmed Munzoor Shaik Emam, before the May elections.
Her appointment to this crucial position comes as the country is celebrating Women’s Month.
“I am happy and want to thank my party for showing confidence in my leadership. I will do everything in my power to make sure that the party is stable and powerful ahead of the 2026 local government elections,” said Mashinini-Maphumulo.
She was once NFP’s deputy president and led the women’s wing of the party during the tenure of the late party founder Zanele KaMagwaza-Msibi.
The party contested the May 29 elections but failed to win seats in the KZN provincial legislature and the National Assembly after bagging just over 40○000 votes.
Despite this, Mashinini-Maphumulo was confident that the party would fare better in the upcoming local government elections.
“We are working very hard on the ground to make sure that we win some wards in 2026.
“It is the party president’s wish to see the party performing well and winning some wards,” she said.
Leader Emam, a former NFP MP, took ill after he suffered a heart attack following the May elections, which led to his hospitalisation in Durban.
Maphumulo-Mashinini’s appointment was green-lighted by the party’s highest authority, the national executive committee, to grant Emam more time to recover after surgery.
“I will make sure that the party is in safe hands as he recovers at home,” said Mashinini-Maphumulo.
She said the party was fine-tuning its strategy ahead of the local polls.
“We have identified the loopholes in our campaign. We are working now to make our strategy better appeal to the people. We are confident that we will do better in the local government elections.
“We have conducted a post-election assessment and will fix things and move on,” she said.
Following her appointment, Mashinini-Maphumulo said she would embark on a nationwide charm offensive to build party structures.
“We want to have a presence in all the provinces. We don’t want to be a regional party,” she said.
“We are proud that as a new political party, we managed to rank among the top 10 organisations in KZN after the general elections.”
Mashinini-Maphumulo said the party was planning a massive event to thank party supporters.
Mashinini-Maphumulo said the party would fight for equal economic opportunities and advocate for women’s rights.
“Ours is to make sure that all South Africans have an equal share in the economy and that women are not abused. We will fight for women’s rights in our country. Things such as GBV should not be tolerated in our country,” she said.
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