Shivambu Pledges Municipal Debt Write-Off For Poor Households
Afrika Mayibuye leader Floyd Shivambu has pledged to write off municipal debt owed by poor and child-headed households if his party wins municipalities in the 4 November local government elections.
Shivambu made the pledge on Saturday at the party’s manifesto launch in Thembisa, Ekurhuleni.
He said the write-offs would be done through lawful municipal processes, while pensioners and low-income households would receive the largest rebates allowed by law.
Shivambu also pledged that Mayibuye-run municipalities would take responsibility for broken schools, clinics, police stations and roads in their areas, even when those facilities fall under another sphere of government.
“When a clinic is broken, a school is collapsing, a road is impassable … residents do not experience separate spheres of government. They experience one failure of government,” he said.
Shivambu said the party chose Thembisa because of what he described as poor service delivery, including water shortages, sewage problems and broken streetlights.
The Afrika Mayibuye Movement, launched by Shivambu in September 2025, is contesting the 2026 local government elections, with Ekurhuleni among its key targets.
The party has previously pledged to scrap historic Soweto electricity debt if it takes control of the City of Johannesburg.
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