Deed of Foundation

Founding Document of the Service Delivery Party (SDP)

Preamble

We, the founders and supporters of the Service Delivery Party (SDP), united in our commitment to transforming governance in South Africa through unwavering focus on efficient, accountable, and citizen-centered service delivery, hereby establish this political party.

Born from the recognition that electoral politics must prioritize tangible outcomes for communities over partisan gridlock, the SDP seeks to empower elected representatives to drive real change without bureaucratic interference.

This Founding Document serves as the Deed of Foundation, affirming our principles, objectives, and foundational commitments in accordance with Section 15 of the Electoral Commission Act, 1996 (Act No. 51 of 1996), and the Regulations for the Registration of Political Parties, 1998.

The SDP embraces a model of collaborative autonomy where elected officials operate with substantial freedom to ensure the delivery of services at affordable tariffs, in keeping with their solemn oath to keep faith with voters, each in their own field of expertise, so as to remain fully anchored to voter mandates and the requirement of the Constitution in section 1(d) which requires public representatives “to ensure accountability, responsiveness and openness.”

We will pursue the objectives of the National Development Plan at the national and provincial level; and at the local level those of the respective newly minted Integrated Development Plans (IDP), and the Neighbourhood Development Partnership Grant (NDPG) with its accompanying toolkits, to propose, advocate, and execute community-driven projects linked to multi-level development in partnership with the private sector and with grassroots participation both for the sake of their intrinsic value as well as for individual investment opportunities and economic benefits from growing the local economy.

We undertake to create networks such as WhatsApp supporter groups to ensure cooperation, accountability, openness, responsiveness and inclusivity.

Core Values

We, the SDP, commit to living our underpinning values of Freedom (empowering citizens to access quality services without bureaucratic barriers), Equality (ensuring equitable delivery across all communities), Justice (holding leaders accountable for historical service failures), Solidarity (collaborating with grassroots networks like WhatsApp groups for collective progress), and Integrity (upholding transparency in all actions in line with electoral compliance and fiduciary integrity). We stand for a merit-based public service that prioritizes service delivery expertise and are opposed to discrimination in resource allocation, and any hindrance to legitimate and much needed citizen-driven projects.

Founding Principles

  1. Service Delivery as the Core Mandate: The SDP exists primarily to accelerate and enhance the delivery of essential services—water, sanitation, electricity, housing, resilience, roads, education, healthcare, public transport, safety, climate amelioration, sports, art, and wide-ranging economic opportunities, at all levels of government. Every policy, decision, and action must demonstrably advance the goal of service delivery.
  2. Autonomy with Accountability: Elected representatives shall enjoy broad autonomy to advocate, initiate, and push for the implementation of plans aligned with community needs, free from undue party interference, provided they comply with constitutional, statutory, and high ethical standards. Accountability shall be enforced through a requirement that public representatives will continuously interact with and report to constituents via digital platforms, including a dedicated website and WhatsApp groups, and by being subjected to periodic performance audits by independent evaluators.
  3. Grassroots Empowerment: The party commits to leveraging digital tools, including WhatsApp supporter networks, for real-time consultation, project ideation, and feedback. Proposed projects where possible, shall utilize NDPG toolkits to ensure practicability, desirability, feasibility, funding alignment, and measurable impact.
  4. Merit-Based Leadership and Candidacy: Leadership and candidate selection shall patently prioritize competence over patronage, evaluating individuals on objective criteria such as digital presence, managerial experience and acumen, essays on sectoral expertise, communication skills, and legal literacy (e.g., familiarity with the RSA Constitution, and at the local government level, Municipal Finance Management Act, 2003 (MFMA); Local Government: Municipal Structures Act, 1998; and Local Government: Municipal Systems Act, 2000) and particularly with Chapter 3 of the Constitution. Familiarity with innovations in their respective fields in governments at the relevant level around the world will be a requirement.  
  5. Revolving Leadership for Renewal: To prevent the entrenchment of any one individual as a leader and to promote fresh perspectives and opportunities, party leadership shall rotate annually, ensuring growth for public representatives and manifesting the SDP’s evolution as a centre of leadership excellence.
  6. Compliance and Ethical Governance: The SDP pledges full adherence to the Electoral Act, 1998 (as amended), the Electoral Commission Act, 1996, the Political Party Funding Act, 2018 (Act No. 6 of 2018), and all relevant legislation. We uphold the values of non-racialism, non-sexism, democracy, ubuntu and Batho Pele, strenuously and intolerantly rejecting corruption, nepotism, loss of focus and divisiveness.

Objectives

  • To contest elections at national, provincial, district, and municipal levels to secure positions from which to vigorously champion service delivery.
  • To build a network of autonomous yet coordinated representatives who collaborate on cross-sectoral initiatives for the greater gain of all citizens.
  • To develop and promote policies that integrate technology, particularly artificial intelligence (A)), community input, and evidence-based planning for sustainable development and resilience in the face of the accelerating climate crisis.
  • To educate and mobilize citizens on their rights under key laws, empowering them as active participants in governance and self-development.

Founders’ Affirmation

We, the undersigned registered voters of the Republic of South Africa, numbering at least 1,000 for national registration purposes, affirm our support for the establishment of the Service Delivery Party (SDP) and commit to upholding its principles. This Deed of Foundation shall be signed in the presence of a commissioner of oaths and submitted to the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) alongside the party’s constitution, logo, and application form as required by law.

Date of Founding: December 20, 2025 Place: Cape Town, South Africa

In the pages that follow are the names, ID Numbers and Signatures of 1,000+ Founders.

This Founding Document constitutes the initial manifesto of the SDP and shall inform all future policies. Amendments require a two-thirds majority vote at a National Congress.