PRETORIA, Monday 28 September 2026 — GOOD has terminated Sarah Mabotsa’s party membership, removing her from the Tshwane council and mayoral committee and prompting GOOD and RISE Mzansi to withdraw her as their joint mayoral candidate little more than a month before the 4 November local government elections.
GOOD and RISE Mzansi announced the decision in a joint statement on Monday, saying Mabotsa’s membership had been terminated following breaches of GOOD’s constitution.
The parties did not disclose details of the breaches.
Mabotsa had served as Tshwane’s Member of the Mayoral Committee for Economic Development and Spatial Planning and was announced in July as the joint GOOD-RISE Mzansi candidate to become the capital’s next mayor.
Her removal leaves the parties without their announced Tshwane mayoral candidate during the final stretch of the election campaign.
GOOD terminates party membership
GOOD and RISE Mzansi said Tshwane Executive Mayor Nasiphi Moya and city manager Johann Mettler had been informed of the decision.
“The termination follows breaches of the party’s Constitution,” the parties said in their joint statement.
They added that serving as a public representative was a privilege carrying responsibilities and accountability.
“This is a non-negotiable principle regardless of position or proximity to an election,” they said.
The statement did not identify the provisions of GOOD’s constitution that Mabotsa was found to have breached or provide details of the conduct behind the decision.
GOOD’s termination of her membership also ends the political basis on which she occupied the party’s seat in the Tshwane council.
The city manager’s office confirmed it would inform the Electoral Commission of the council vacancy.
RISE Mzansi mayoral candidacy withdrawn
Mabotsa’s removal has immediate consequences for the 2026 election campaign.
GOOD and RISE Mzansi entered into a strategic co-operation agreement ahead of the election while retaining their separate political identities.
Under that agreement, Mabotsa was selected as their joint Tshwane mayoral candidate.
The parties announced her candidacy on 25 July at an event in Montana, Pretoria, presenting her as an experienced municipal leader who would campaign on economic development, inclusive government and clean administration.
Monday’s joint statement confirmed that the arrangement has now been withdrawn.
“In view of GOOD’s cooperation agreement with RISE Mzansi, Mabotsa will be withdrawn as the RISE Mayoral Candidate for Tshwane,” the parties said.
GOOD and RISE Mzansi said they remained committed to nominating ethical and credible leaders.
They had not announced a replacement mayoral candidate by the time of publication.
Mabotsa exits Tshwane mayoral committee
Mabotsa’s removal also creates an immediate vacancy in Moya’s multiparty municipal executive.
She joined the mayoral committee in October 2024 after Moya replaced DA mayor Cilliers Brink.
Moya’s administration brought together ActionSA, the ANC, EFF and GOOD following Brink’s removal through a motion of no confidence.
Mabotsa was assigned responsibility for Economic Development and Spatial Planning.
The City of Tshwane acknowledged on Monday that she would no longer serve as either a councillor or a member of the mayoral committee.
Moya thanked Mabotsa for her contribution to the municipality, including work involving the township and informal economy, business licensing and the city’s investment programme.
The mayor said Mabotsa had served during an important period in Tshwane’s economic-revitalisation programme.
No replacement MMC was immediately announced.
Candidate change reshapes smaller-party Tshwane campaign
Mabotsa’s withdrawal changes the Tshwane mayoral field at a late stage in the campaign.
RISE Mzansi and GOOD had sought to combine their political resources in the metro through their strategic co-operation agreement, with Mabotsa providing the joint campaign with an incumbent municipal executive and established councillor as its mayoral face.
Her candidacy also allowed the two parties to campaign against both the existing coalition arrangement and the DA while pointing to Mabotsa’s experience inside the current administration.
That strategy will now have to be adjusted.
The parties must decide whether to designate another mayoral candidate for the remainder of the campaign and how Mabotsa’s removal affects their election messaging.
Tshwane contest already crowded
Tshwane is expected to be one of the country’s most closely contested metropolitan councils on 4 November.
DA former mayor Cilliers Brink is attempting to return to office as his party’s mayoral candidate.
Incumbent mayor Nasiphi Moya is leading ActionSA’s campaign, while the EFF has selected Omphile Maotwe and the MK Party has nominated Nkele Annie Matime.
The Freedom Front Plus has separately indicated that its preferred post-election governing arrangement would be a coalition with the DA if the election produces sufficient council support.
No party has governed Tshwane alone since the ANC lost its majority in the 2016 municipal election.
Coalition negotiations have consequently determined the leadership of the capital through much of the past decade.
Council vacancy also requires administrative process
Mabotsa’s departure has consequences before the election as well as for the campaign.
Her removal creates a vacancy in the existing council only weeks before voters elect its replacement.
The city manager is expected to notify the IEC of the vacancy.
The applicable party-list process will determine how the vacant proportional representation seat is dealt with for the remainder of the current council’s term.
Moya must separately decide how to deal with Mabotsa’s vacant Economic Development and Spatial Planning portfolio.
For GOOD and RISE Mzansi, the more immediate political decision is who, if anyone, replaces Mabotsa as the face of their campaign for the capital.
With voting scheduled for 4 November, the parties have little more than five weeks to restructure a Tshwane campaign that had been built around her candidacy since July.
