The African Transformation Movement (ATM) took a brave step by holding its fifth anniversary celebrations on Saturday at the 46,000-capacity Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Gqeberha — it barely managed to fill a quarter of the stadium.

While empty seats were a noticeable aspect of the event, another was about who actually is at the helm of the party. The media and Parliament may be quick to identify 36-year-old Vuyo Zungula as the ATM leader, but events on Saturday seemed to show otherwise.  

While the stadium was draped with images of Zungula’s face, there were also plenty of posters of the ATM’s spiritual father, Caesar Nongqunga, the “chief apostle” of the Twelve Apostles’ Church in Christ (TACC) worldwide.

Nongqunga occupied the main chair on stage and was listed as the keynote speaker at the event above Zungula.

When it was Nongqunga’s turn to address the crowd, a black Mercedes-Benz C220d, which retails at over R900,000, was driven on to the field.

Nongqunga announced that it was a gift to Zungula from the church, which also gave the party’s secretary-general, Thandisizwe Khaluka, a 4×4 vehicle. 

African Transformation Movement supporters at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Gqeberha on 28 May 2023 during the launch of the party’s 2024 election campaign. (Photo: Queenin Masuabi)

“We are very thankful for the work you have done. We have decided that we will give you that Mercedes-Benz,” Nongqunga said to Zungula on stage. “You are the leader of the ATM, you cannot be driving a Polo.”  

Later, Nongqunga explained to Daily Maverick what his position as an elder in the party entailed.

“You have seen the DA with a Federal Council, which is the same thing with us — we have a council for elders and I am the head of the council,” he said.

WATCH| ATM supporters sing and dance ahead of leader, Vuyo Zungula’a speech. pic.twitter.com/vRC9CIIcEY

— Queenin Masuabi (@Queenin_M) May 27, 2023

Following of millions

The TACC  is part of the SA Council of Messianic Churches in Christ, which has a following of 6.8 million members.  

Carien du Plessis has written that Nongqunga had a plan in 1971 to unify the ANC, the PAC and Inkatha, with Jacob Zuma representing the ANC.  

Failing this, he wrote that all African independent churches should be unified to form “a strong African Transformation Congress to bring peace between the PAC and the ANC”.

Nongqunga apparently believes this was a prophecy of sorts, which came to fruition in 2018 when the African Transformation Movement was formed. The “congress” in the name was replaced by “movement” when the name was registered with the Independent Electoral Commission so as not to have the ANC objecting about possible confusion, he said.

Five years of ATM

Since then, the ATM has been one of the smaller parties which have tried to make their mark by holding the governing party accountable. Notably, Zungula compelled the Public Protector to launch an investigation into President Cyril Ramaphosa’s possible violation of the Executive Members’ Ethics Act in connection with the Phala Phala scandal.

Read more in Daily Maverick: Ramaphosa’s Farmgate scandal – a timeline of what we know (and don’t know) so far

However, the ATM still works with the ANC at local government level and its alliance with the governing party has landed it its first mayoral position — Danny Thupane, who was elected as mayor of Mogale in April with 43 votes: 31 from the ANC, 11 from the EFF and one from his own party.  

Read more in Daily Maverick: Mogale City — Meet the African Transformation Movement’s first mayor, Danny Thupane  

The ATM will head to the 2024 national elections having lost one of its prominent members, Jacob Zuma Foundation spokesperson Mzwanele Manyi. He joined the party in 2019 and headed the policy department, but is now an ordinary card-carrying member of the EFF after recently ditching the ATM.   

The ATM’s policy revolves around the amalgamation of politics and religion. The party believes that the justice system should reintroduce capital punishment for repeat offences of murder and rape.  

Nongqunga believes the party should shoot for the stars and prepare to govern come 2024. 

“We will manage to make headway in the 2024 elections. Look at us — there is no one funding us but we can do everything for ourselves. We manage our homes and our church; what is managing the government? Because the church on its own is the government. We cannot talk about capacity if you are talking to us about governing. We cannot be a watchdog only, this is a transformation movement, we need to transform the whole system. We are not just going to be just a watchdog,” he said.

The party first contested elections in 2019 just a year after its formation and received 76,830 votes, ensuring it would be represented in Parliament by two members, Zungula and Thandiswa Marawu. 

At Saturday’s rally, Zungula mentioned the many societal ills facing South Africans and urged citizens to come out in their numbers to vote in the national elections next year.

“We need to be active politically… we cannot be bystanders in the governance of our country. It’s political decisions that shape the direction of the country and we must participate. We removed the National Party through a vote and we will remove the ANC through a vote in 2024,” he said. DM