View source for United Democratic Movement

{{short description|Political party in South Africa}}
{{about|the South African political party|the political party in Kenya|United Democratic Movement (Kenya)|the anti-Apartheid organisation|United Democratic Front (South Africa)}}
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{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox political party
| name             = United Democratic Movement
| abbreviation     = UDM
| founder          = [[Bantu Holomisa]] & [[Roelf Meyer]]
| logo             = UDM SA logo.svg
| logo_size        = 225
| colorcode        = {{party color|United Democratic Movement}}
| president        = [[Bantu Holomisa]]
| secretary_general = Yongama Zigebe
| leader1_title    = Chairperson
| leader1_name     = [[Bongani Msomi]]
| leader2_title    = Deputy President
| leader2_name     = [[Nqabayomzi Kwankwa]]
| founded          = {{Start date|1997|09|27|df=y}}
| dissolved        = <!-- {{End date|YYYY|MM|DD}} -->
| headquarters     = Ground Floor<br />CPA House<br />101 Du Toit Street<br />[[Pretoria]]<br />[[Gauteng]]
| student_wing     = United Democratic Students' Movement
| youth_wing       = United Democratic Movement Youth Vanguard
| wing1_title      = [[Women's wing]]
| wing1            = United Democratic Movement Women’s Organisation
| ideology         = [[Social democracy]]
| position         = [[Centre-left politics|Centre-left]]
| national         = [[Progressive Caucus (South Africa)|Progressive Caucus]] (2024)
| colours          = {{colour box|#FFB300|border=darkgray}} Yellow<br> {{colour box|#00835A|border=darkgray}} Green<br>{{colour box|#F30000|border=darkgray}} Red
| split            = [[African National Congress]]
| seats1_title     = [[National Assembly (South Africa)|National Assembly]] seats
| seats1           = {{Composition bar|3|400|hex={{party color|United Democratic Movement}}}}
| seats2_title     = [[National Council of Provinces|NCOP]] seats
| seats2           = {{Composition bar|1|90|hex={{party color|United Democratic Movement}}}}
| seats3_title     = [[Provincial legislature (South Africa)|Provincial Legislatures]]
| seats3           = {{Composition bar|3|487|hex={{party color|United Democratic Movement}}}}
| seats4_title     = [[City of Cape Town|Cape Town City Council]]
| seats4           = {{Composition bar|1|231|hex={{party colour|United Democratic Movement}}}}
| flag             = [[File:UDM flag.svg|200px]]
| website          = {{URL|udm.org.za}}
| country          = South Africa
}}

The '''United Democratic Movement''' ('''UDM''') is a [[Centre-left politics|centre-left]], [[Social democracy|social-democratic]], [[Politics of South Africa|South African]] political party, formed by a prominent former [[National Party (South Africa)|National Party]] leader, [[Roelf Meyer]] (who has since resigned from the UDM), a former [[African National Congress]] and [[Transkei]] [[Bantustan|homeland]] leader, [[General officer|General]] [[Bantu Holomisa]], and a former ANC Executive Committee member, John Taylor. It has an anti-[[Separatism|separatist]], pro-[[Multiculturalism|diversity]] platform; and supports an [[Individualism|individualist]] South Africa with a strong moral sense, in both [[social]] and [[Economy|economic]] senses.

[[Mongameli Bobani]] was the Executive Mayor of the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality from 2018 to 2019 and the first mayor from the UDM since the party governed [[King Sabata Dalindyebo Local Municipality]] (2000-2002).

In the 2024 general [[2024 South African general election|election]], UDM got three seats with 0.49% of the vote in Parliament (National Assembly).<ref>{{cite web |title=Election Results and Allocation of Seats in Parliament (National Assembly) and Provincial Legislatures: 2024 |url=https://pmg.org.za/blog/Election%20Results%20and%20Allocation%20of%20Seats%20in%20Parliament%20National%20Assembly%20and%20Provincial%20Legislatures%202024 |website=pmg.org.za/ |access-date=2 August 2024}}</ref>

In June 2024, United Democratic Movement agreed to join the ANC-led [[Government of National Unity (South Africa)|government of national unity]] (GNU).<ref>{{cite web |title=ANC WELCOMES POLITICAL PARTIES TO THE GOVERNMENT OF NATIONAL UNITY – ANC |url=https://www.anc1912.org.za/anc-welcomes-political-parties-to-the-government-of-national-unity/}}</ref> Leader of the UDM, Bantubonke ‘Bantu’ Holomisa, became  the Deputy Minister of Defence and Military Veterans in the Government of National Unity.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Admin |first1=U. D. M. |title=Bantu Holomisa Résumé |url=https://udm.org.za/bantu-holomisa-resume/ |website=United Democratic Movement {{!}} UDM}}</ref>

==Formation==

===The National Consultative Forum===

During his testimony at the [[Truth and Reconciliation Commission (South Africa)|Truth and Reconciliation Commission]] (TRC), Holomisa made reference to a possible bribe that was paid to the former Prime Minister of [[Transkei]], Chief [[George Matanzima]] and Miss [[Stella Sigcau]], the then incumbent Prime Minister. Holomisa was expelled from the ANC because of these allegations. In November 1996, Holomisa publicly announced consulting South Africans on the need or not for a new political party. With this objective, the National Consultative Forum (NCF) was established on 8 February 1997.

===The New Movement Process===

Roelf Meyer left the National Party on 17 May 1997, along with fellow politicians [[Nilo Botha]], [[Takis Christodoulou]], [[Kobus du Plessis]], and [[Annelizé van Wyk]], some of whom had resigned their seats in the Gauteng Legislature. At a three-day strategic planning conference in May 1997, it was decided that a political movement should be established capable of unifying people around shared values across racial, historical, ideological and social dividing lines. The New Movement Process (NMP) was then established.

Bantu Holomisa and Roelf Meyer (who had met with Meyer still representing the [[National Party South Africa (2008)|National Party]] to discuss the process for a new movement) again met at Loftus Versveld, in mid-1997, to discuss working together and agreed in principle to explore the possibility of formal cooperation. A Joint Committee (JC) between the NCF and the NMP was formed to look into matters of common interest. The JC amalgamated its two (NCF and NMP) technical support teams into a Technical Committee (TC) to act as its executive body to implement the brief of the JC. This was to “look into matters of common interest between the two sides… consider… the establishment of a new party at an appropriate time… (and) in regard to the latter question… (investigate) matters of strategy, time scales, policy and funding”. The TC was jointly chaired by Kobus du Plessis (NMP) and Joel Mafenya (NCF) and its first meeting took place at the Carlton Hotel on 22 June 1997. After a joint strategic session at the Vaal Dam in July 1997 it was agreed that a new political party should be formed. The United Democratic Movement was launched at the World Trade Centre, in [[Kempton Park, South Africa|Kempton Park]], on 27 September 1997.{{sfn|Holomisa|Meyer|1999|p=}} Bantu Holomisa was elected the party's first president at its first national congress in June 1998.

===First elections===

As one of several newcomer parties, UDM was among the most successful in the [[1999 South African general election|1999 general election]]; the party garnered 3.4% and earned seats in six of the nine provincial legislatures. It also became the official opposition in the Northern Province and its stronghold, the Eastern Cape.

==Decline==

In the 2000 municipal elections, the UDM won control of the [[King Sabata Dalindyebo Local Municipality]]. The party lost the council during the [[floor crossing (South Africa)|floor crossing period]], however, and this would begin a time of decline; In the [[2004 South African general election|2004 general election]], nine members were elected to the National Assembly, five fewer than were elected in the 1999 election. The UDM lost its position as the official opposition in the Eastern Cape after two of its members in the Eastern Cape Legislature had defected to the splinter [[United Independent Front]] in 2005.

On October 8, 2008, the UDM announced its kickoff of the [[2009 South African general election|2009 general election campaign]]. It also welcomed over 300 former members of the ANC who had left their former party following the deposition of former president [[Thabo Mbeki]] in September 2008. Almost 1,000<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dispatch.co.za/article.aspx?id=253028|title=DispatchLIVE}}</ref><ref>http://www.sabcnews.com/politics/the_parties/0,2172,177814,00.html{{Dead link|date=July 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> former [[African National Congress]] members joined the party after the ANC recalled President Mbeki and replaced him with [[Kgalema Motlanthe]]. Nevertheless, the election would continue the downward trend of the UDM, with the party retaining only four MPs with 0.8% of the vote and losing its representation in all provinces except the Eastern Cape, where it was pushed into fourth place.

In 2014, a faction of the [[Congress of the People (South African political party)|Congress of the People]] led by [[Mbhazima Shilowa]] joined the UDM.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.enca.com/south-africa/live-udm-cope-announcement|title=Shilowa, Holomisa join forces|access-date=26 June 2014|archive-date=4 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304083632/http://www.enca.com/south-africa/live-udm-cope-announcement|url-status=dead}}</ref> This helped to strengthen the party in its Eastern Cape stronghold, where it likely gained support from many previous COPE supporters. In the [[2014 South African general election|2014 general elections]], UDM support remained at very low levels in eight of the provinces, and it failed to re-establish itself nationally, but made a convincing rebound in the Eastern Cape, where it overtook COPE to become the third-largest party. The increase was especially convincing in the King Sabata Dalindyebo region. However, this new growth had largely evaporated by the time of the 2016 local elections.

The [[2019 South African general election|general election of 2019]] saw its support drop further. The UDM lost half of its seats both nationally and in the Eastern Cape, becoming the seventh-most supported party nationally, and fourth-most in the Eastern Cape. In the [[2021 South African municipal elections]], party support declined even further, leaving the UDM as the twelfth-most supported party nationally.

== Election results ==

=== National Assembly elections ===

{{election table}}
|-
! Election
! Party leader
! Total votes
! Share of vote
! Seats 
! +/–
! Government
|-
! [[South African general election, 1999|1999]]
| rowspan=6 |[[Bantu Holomisa]]
| 546,790
| 3.42%
| {{Composition bar|14|400|hex={{party color|United Democratic Movement}}}}
| New
| {{no2|in opposition}}
|-
! [[South African general election, 2004|2004]]
| 355,717
| 2.30%
| {{Composition bar|9|400|hex={{party color|United Democratic Movement}}}}
| {{decrease}} 5
| {{no2|in opposition}}
|-
! [[South African general election, 2009|2009]]
| 149,680
| 0.85%
| {{Composition bar|4|400|hex={{party color|United Democratic Movement}}}}
| {{decrease}} 5
| {{no2|in opposition}}
|-
! [[South African general election, 2014|2014]]
| 184,636
| 1.00%
| {{Composition bar|4|400|hex={{party color|United Democratic Movement}}}}
| {{steady}} ±0
| {{no2|in opposition}}
|-
! [[South African general election, 2019|2019]]
| 78,030
| 0.45%
| {{Composition bar|2|400|hex={{party color|United Democratic Movement}}}}
| {{decrease}} 2
| {{no2|in opposition}}
|-
! [[2024 South African general election|2024]]
| 78,448
| 0.49%{{efn|From 2024, seats in the National Assembly are determined by a combination of the national ballot, and the nine regional ballots. Only the national ballot figures are shown here.}}
| {{Composition bar|3|400|hex={{party color|United Democratic Movement}}}}
| {{increase}} 1
|{{yes2|[[African National Congress|ANC]]–[[Democratic Alliance (South Africa)|DA]]–[[Inkatha Freedom Party|IFP]]–[[Patriotic Alliance|PA]]–[[Good (political party)|GOOD]]–[[Pan Africanist Congress of Azania|PAC]]–[[Freedom Front Plus|VF+]]–UDM–[[Rise Mzansi|RISE]]-[[Al Jama-ah|ALJ]] coalition government}}
|}
{{notelist}}

===Provincial elections===

{{election table}}
! rowspan=2 | Election<ref name="dash">{{Cite web |url=https://www.elections.org.za/NPEDashboard/app/dashboard.html |title=Results Dashboard| website=www.elections.org.za |access-date=2019-05-11}}</ref>
! colspan=2 | [[Eastern Cape]]
! colspan=2 | [[Free State (South African province)|Free State]]
! colspan=2 | [[Gauteng]]
! colspan=2 | [[KwaZulu-Natal|Kwazulu-Natal]]
! colspan=2 | [[Limpopo]]
! colspan=2 | [[Mpumalanga]]
! colspan=2 | [[North West (South African province)|North-West]]
! colspan=2 | [[Northern Cape]]
! colspan=2 | [[Western Cape]]
|-
! % !! Seats
! % !! Seats
! % !! Seats
! % !! Seats
! % !! Seats
! % !! Seats
! % !! Seats
! % !! Seats
! % !! Seats
|-
! [[South African general election, 1999|1999]]
| 13.60% || 9/63
| 1.67% || 0/30
| 1.95% || 1/73
| 1.17% || 1/80
| 2.51% || 1/49
| 1.42% || 1/30
| 1.29% || 0/33
| 0.90% || 0/30
| 2.40% || 1/42
|-
! [[South African general election, 2004|2004]]
| 9.23% || 6/63
| 0.88% || 0/30
| 0.99% || 1/73
| 0.75% || 1/80
| 1.72% || 1/49
| 1.00% || 0/30
| 0.96% || 0/33
| 0.45% || 0/30
| 1.75% || 1/42
|-
! [[South African general election, 2009|2009]]
| 4.13% || 3/63
| 0.36% || 0/30
| 0.40% || 0/73
| 0.23% || 0/80
| 0.35% || 0/49
| 0.26% || 0/30
| 0.51% || 0/33
| 0.15% || 0/30
| 0.17% || 0/42
|-
! [[South African general election, 2014|2014]]
| 6.16% || 4/63
| 0.21% || 0/30
| 0.44% || 0/73
| 0.17% || 0/80
| 0.27% || 0/49
| 0.13% || 0/30
| 0.88% || 0/33
| 0.09% || 0/30
| 0.48% || 0/42
|-
! [[South African general election, 2019|2019]]
| 2.60% || 2/63
| 0.09% || 0/30
| 0.21% || 0/73
| 0.10% || 0/80
| 0.09% || 0/49
| 0.08% || 0/30
| 0.30% || 0/33
| 0.06% || 0/30
| 0.28% || 0/42
|-
! [[South African general election, 2024|2024]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=NPE Results Dashboard 2024 |url=https://results.elections.org.za/dashboards/npe/ |access-date=2024-06-11 |website=results.elections.org.za}}</ref>
| 3.71% || 3/73
| 0.12% || 0/30
| 0.19% || 0/80
| 0.07% || 0/80
| 0.06% || 0/64
| 0.08% || 0/51
| 0.24% || 0/38
|  || 
| 0.30% || 0/42
|}

===Municipal elections===

{{election table}}
|-
! Election
! Votes
! %
|-
! [[South African municipal election, 2000|2000]]
| 
| 2.6%
|-
! [[South African municipal election, 2006|2006]]
| 334,504
| 1.3%
|-
! [[South African municipal election, 2011|2011]]
| 168,351
| 0.6%
|-
! [[South African municipal election, 2016|2016]]<ref name="iec_summary">{{cite web | url=http://www.elections.org.za/content/LGEPublicReports/402/Detailed%20Results/National.pdf | title=Results Summary - All Ballots | publisher=elections.org.za | access-date=11 August 2016}}</ref>
| 238,000
| 0.62%
|-
! [[2021 South African municipal elections|2021]]<ref name="iec_summary_2021">{{cite web | url=https://results.elections.org.za/home/LGEPublicReports/1091/Detailed%20Results/National.pdf | title=Local Government Elections 2021 Results Summary - All Ballots | publisher=elections.org.za | access-date=12 November 2021}}</ref>
| 157,700
| 0.52%
|-
|}

==See also==

{{Portal|South Africa|Politics}}

* [[List of political parties in South Africa]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{refbegin}}
*{{cite book|last1=Holomisa|first1=Bantu |author-link1=Bantu Holomisa|last2=Meyer|first2=Rudolph Adriaan |author-link2=Roelf Meyer|title=A better future: United Democratic Movement towards a winning nation in ten years|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WUowAQAAIAAJ|year=1999|publisher=UDM|isbn=978-0-620-24041-3}}
{{refend}}

==External links==
*[https://udm.org.za/ United Democratic Movement] (official site)
*[http://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/za%7Dudm.html Flag of the UDM]

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