Established GOOD Party politician, Brett Herron, has been announced as their candidate for Mayor of Cape Town ahead of the 2026 Local Government Elections (LGE2026). The announcement of his candidacy was made on Sunday in Wesbank, near Blue Downs, by GOOD Leader, Patricia de Lille, and RISE Mzansi Leader, Songezo Zibi.
Image: Ayanda Ndamane/Independent Newspapers
Established GOOD Party politician, Brett Herron, has been announced as their candidate for Mayor of Cape Town ahead of the 2026 Local Government Elections (LGE2026).
The announcement of his candidacy was made on Sunday at a packed Wesbank school hall, near Blue Downs, by GOOD Leader, Patricia de Lille, and RISE Mzansi Leader, Songezo Zibi.
Zibi was joined by Rise Mzansi’s candidate for the City of Johannesburg, Lukhona Mnguni.
The GOOD Party and RISE Mzansi previously announced the unification of their campaigns into a new political partnership ahead of the LGE2026.
De Lille and Herron have worked together for many years across different chapters of public service and political life.
Herron, who previously served as the Mayco member for transport and urban development in the City of Cape Town, before he and De Lille announced their resignation from the Democratic Alliance in 2018.
Established GOOD Party politician, Brett Herron, has been announced as their candidate for Mayor of Cape Town ahead of the 2026 Local Government Elections (LGE2026).
Image: Ayanda Ndamane/Independent Newspapers
Herron also ran for mayor as GOOD’s candidate in the 2021 Local Government Elections.
De Lille described Herron as someone who steps forward, asks the right questions, offers practical solutions, and then works tirelessly to make them happen.
“When I proposed Brett as a mayoral candidate for the City of Cape Town, it was because I had seen first-hand his integrity, his courage, his commitment to public service, and his ability to turn ideas into action,” she said.
Herron holds a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology and Legal Studies, an LLB degree, is an admitted attorney, and completed a Master of Science in Cities at the London School of Economics, one of the world’s leading centres for urban studies and city planning.
“Brett has always challenged us to look beyond the postcard image and ask a more important question: who gets to share in that opportunity? He understands that the true measure of a successful city is not how beautiful it appears to visitors, but whether all its residents can access dignity, safety, opportunity and prosperity.
“He understands that where you live should not determine the quality of your education, your access to work, your daily commute, your safety, or your prospects. And he understands that cities are shaped by choices,” De Lille said.
Herron was joined by Rise Mzansi’s candidate for the City of Johannesburg, Lukhona Mnguni.
Image: Ayanda Ndamane/Independent Newspapers
De Lille tasked Herron with ensuring that he makes the unfinished bridges of Cape Town a priority, as they are symbolic of the work that still lies ahead.
“The work of reconnecting communities. The work of reducing congestion. The work of bringing affordable housing into well-located areas of our city. The work of ensuring that economic opportunity is not determined by geography.
“So, Brett, I want to leave you with a challenge,” De Lille said. “Complete the bridges we started building together.”
Herron said that they anticipate that Cape Town will be governed by a coalition government, and when that happens, they will strive to position the City as a builder, not a bystander.
“Establish a municipal housing developer with a mandate to build public housing at scale on well-located public land. Adopt a formal council resolution to stop the nonsense of selling public land and public buildings.
“Public land must serve the public. Homes must be for living in, not for speculation. Second homes must be taxed at a higher rate. Property developers must contribute to inclusionary housing through the land-value-sharing principle, and the use-it-or-lose-it principle must be applied to abandoned buildings.
“Short-term rentals must be regulated. You should not be priced out of your own city. Rent must be stabilised in high-pressure areas,” Herron said.
Established GOOD Party politician, Brett Herron, has been announced as their candidate for Mayor of Cape Town ahead of the 2026 Local Government Elections (LGE2026).
Image: Ayanda Ndamane/Independent Newspapers
He added that stronger tenant protections must be implemented, and that basic services must be regarded as rights, not privileges.
“Expand free basic water and electricity. And introduce progressive tariffs based on income, not property value. Concerning public safety, we say this: Safety is built,” Herron said.
He said that violence prevention must be refocused on urban upgrading, and because human dignity is inseparable from functioning infrastructure, “Cape Town must invest in stormwater, sanitation and roads in places like Dunoon, Khayelitsha and Mitchells Plain”.
Zibi added that it is only people like this Herron who will know there is a difference between giving somebody a house and allowing somebody to have a home.
“The difference between a housing project and a community. Because those two are not the same thing. But that change in mindset can only happen when we've got different leaders.
“So it is important that the story of how South Africa changes in the future begins in Cape Town. Because the walls of apartheid began to fall when the United Democratic Front was founded in Cape Town. And that was because ordinary people, community organisations, social movements decided: ‘no more and no further — this system is going to fall’. That decision needs to be taken again,” he said.