Boerewors seller turned property mogul enters Joburg mayor race

Ralebala “Rali” Mampeule, the businessman who became South Africa’s first black real estate franchise principal, is standing for mayor of Johannesburg in the November 4 local government elections as the candidate of his newly formed party, MOVE SA.

As Sunday World reported on 13 October, Mampeule has entered a contest that includes DA veteran Helen Zille, a former Cape Town mayor, and ActionSA leader Herman Mashaba, who ran Johannesburg between 2016 and 2019. The ANC has not confirmed its Johannesburg mayoral candidate. Incumbent mayor Dada Morero looms large in the party’s internal contest, with deputy mayor and regional chairperson Loyiso Masuku among the frontrunners and party veteran Frank Chikane also named in the mix.

Mampeule’s pitch to voters is built on his business record. He says his experience in property development and infrastructure investment can turn around a city he describes as battling deteriorating infrastructure, financial pressure and service delivery failures.

“You can’t keep building in a city that’s broken,” he said. “I got tired of watching good people fail inside a system that was never built to help them. I can build a house. I can fund a project. But I cannot make a city pay its suppliers, fix its roads or hire on merit unless I am the one running it.”

MOVE SA is campaigning on ending cadre deployment, appointing qualified municipal officials, improving infrastructure, accelerating housing development and ensuring businesses that supply the municipality are paid on time. The party is also contesting elections in Ekurhuleni, with a campaign centred on economic development, accountable governance and partnerships between government and private investors.

“It is not about one party or one mayor. It is about a habit. We reward who you know instead of what you can do, and ordinary people pay for it every single day,” Mampeule said.

His own biography is unusual for a mayoral candidate. He was born in Mokwasele village in Limpopo’s Modjadji area and grew up in Daveyton, Gauteng, studying commerce through the University of South Africa while selling boerewors rolls in Midrand to make ends meet.

An encounter with the Everitt family, owners of the Chas Everitt property group, opened the door to real estate. He started as an assistant estate agent in 2001 and acquired a Chas Everitt franchise in Midrand in 2004, becoming the country’s first black real estate franchise principal. He went on to establish Phadima Group Holdings and Rali Properties, with interests in residential, commercial and industrial development. He completed an Advanced Management Development Programme in Real Estate at Harvard University in the United States, founded the South African Housing and Infrastructure Fund in 2019, and holds interests in digital infrastructure including MetroFibre Networx. His philanthropic work includes the Mampeule Foundation and initiatives in education and healthcare.

What Johannesburg voters will weigh is whether that record transfers. Municipal decisions depend on elected councils, public finance legislation and competing political interests rather than the authority of a single executive. Mampeule’s answer is that residents should judge him on delivery.

“Do not vote for me because I speak well. Vote for me if what I have built matches what I say. And if I fail, you will know where to find me,” he said.

The November 4 elections will test whether a first-time party led by a first-time candidate can convert a business reputation into votes in Africa’s commercial powerhouse, where the ANC is fighting to retain influence after years of declining electoral support.