ActionSA brings hope for Free State, Eastern Cape & Mpumalanga

13 February 2024

Note to editor: These remarks were made by ActionSA President, Herman Mashaba, at the announcement of our three Premier Candidates for the Free State, Eastern Cape and Mpumalanga. These remarks were made in Johannesburg this morning.

Good morning,

Members of the media,

And most importantly, you my fellow South Africans,

We are gathered here this morning to take another leap forward in building a credible alternative to the failed political establishment to fix South Africa. 

This morning we are putting words to action by announcing premier candidates for three provinces which other political parties have neglected or taken for granted. 

Three provinces which form the backbone of South Africa’s economy and national identity, but have failed to reach their full potential due to corruption and mismanagement. 

The candidates we are announcing today embody the value of ethical leadership which ActionSA was founded on three and a half years ago. 

They come from diverse backgrounds and bring a wealth of knowledge and experience which will be invaluable as we work to fix South Africa. 

And I do not doubt that they represent the calibre of leadership needed to turn around our provinces. 

Announcing these candidates today shows how serious ActionSA is about taking on the established political parties in the upcoming elections to disrupt the status quo, and bring hope and action to communities long forgotten. 

My fellow South Africans,

This year, for the first time in a democratic South Africa, the real opportunity exists to remove the ruling party from government, and replace it with a government that put the needs of South Africans first.

For the very first time since 1994, South Africans have the opportunity to try something new from which have been failed in the past.

We have the opportunity to elect a new government which can end load shedding, create millions of new jobs and restore the rule of law which have broken down under the ruling party’s control.

But for that to happen, it will require patriotic South Africans to take action to remove the ruling party from power.

To bring about positive change, we have to be bold.

We have to be courageous.

We have to try something new.

We have to take action!

ActionSA is leading this march towards positive change in South Africa.

The announcement of our premier candidates today is the next step in ActionSA’s growth since we were launched three and a half years ago. 

When ActionSA was born at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic on the 29th of August 2020, we were born with the mission to remove the ruling party from government and fix South Africa. 

We set out a program of action that would build up to ActionSA contesting in all nine provinces in the 2024 national elections. 

All across South Africa, voters have been inspired by the message ActionSA has to offer. In 2021, over 550,000 voters chose us to represent them in the six out of 278 municipalities we contested, - making us the sixth largest political party nationwide as a result.

Remember, we contest as a logo. Compliments of the IEC.

And in every single municipality we contested, we dramatically reduced the support of the ruling party - giving many voters the alternative they were long looking for.

Since the municipal elections, Actioners across the country have been hard at work. We appointed nine provincial chairpersons, set up structures, launches branches and daily work to spread the message of hope ActionSA has to offer.

In September, we hosted our inaugural policy conference where over 600 delegates from across the country adopted innovative and pragmatic solutions to fix South Africa.

From ending load shedding, to the first real alternative to the failed B-BBEE Act of 2003, ActionSA has a plan to turn around the decay and steer the country towards prosperity.

When we launch our national manifesto in March, South Africans won’t hear pie-in-the-sky dreams, but a practical plan of action from the first day we step into office.

Since we were founded three and a half years ago, ActionSA has today grown into an organisation with over 250,000 members nationwide.

Over 1500 branches have been launched in nine provinces, with the aim to have launched 60% of branches nationwide by the time we contest the national elections this year.

From Makhanda in the Eastern Cape, to Middleburg in Mpumalanga; from Kwa Nongoma in KwaZulu-Natal to Mossel Bay in the Western Cape, ActionSA have been moving.

This is just the beginning.

Fellow South Africans,

Let me be clear: ActionSA is ready to contest elections.

We look forward to the proclamation of an election date by the president.

In storehouses across the country, we have millions of posters ready to be flighted as soon as the election date is proclaimed.

We have trained thousands of activists to keep oversight at voting stations, and thousands more to spread the message of ActionSA countrywide.

And we have recruited some of the best people in the country to represent South Africans in their provincial legislatures and in the national assembly.

Our candidates have undergone rigorous testing. From formal written testing to panel interviews, our candidates have proven themselves worthy.

And many have heard the call and many have made themselves willing to contribute to the project to fix South Africa.

I look forward to surprising many of you in the weeks when we announce the high profile South Africans who have decided to join ActionSA to represent our people in legislatures countrywide. 

When ActionSA goes to parliament, we will have a real depth of expertise unlike anything that is on offer today.

We will be sending people to legislatures who don’t just talk, but have done the work. People who are ready to take action.

Fellow South Africans,

It therefore gives me great joy to announce premier candidates for the Eastern Cape, Free State, and Mpumalanga. Candidates who are ready to bring positive change to their provinces.

Their announcement today follows the appointment of Kgosi Kwena Mangope as our North West Premier Candidate, Zwakele Mncwango, as our KwaZulu-Natal Premier Candidate, Andrew Louw, as our Northern Cape premier candidate and Kgoshi Letsiri Phaahla as our Limpopo premier candidate.

Since the announcement of their candidature last year, they have been hard at work to show voters what they have to offer compared to the current failed political establishment.

The candidates we are announcing today will follow in their footsteps. They all hold impeccable professional credentials and have proven themselves to embody ethical leadership.

They hold governance experience to hit the ground once elected, and have long been active in the communities they service.

In no particular order, I am happy to announce the following ActionSA premier candidates.

I am happy to announce Thoko Mashiane as our premier candidate in Mpumalanga.

Mashiane is a former municipal manager and a former provincial women’s leader of the ruling party. She has over the past few months proven herself able to quickly build structures in Mpumalanga and have been able reach far flung regions of the province.

She brings with her governance expertise in a province which have been plagued by a breakdown in the rule of law, including open borders, unreliable service delivery and where the poorest have fallen victim to the VBS scandal.

In the Eastern Cape, I am happy to announce Athol Trollip as our premier candidate.

As the former mayor of the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality, he brings with him invaluable understanding of governance in a province which have been hallowed out by the ruling party. He knowns how to efficiently run an administration, and will therefore be able to hit the ground running to fix the province.

Trollip has a long history of  activism in the Eastern Cape and brought that knowledge to ActionSA where he helped launch hundreds of new branches and establish a formidable ground operation to take on the ruling party. 

I am happy to announce Patrica Kopane as our Free State Premier Candidate.

Kopane, a former nurse, has in-depth knowledge of South Africa’s broken healthcare system, having served as a shadow minister of health and on the portfolio committee of health in the national assembly.

In a province were state capture crippled the state, Kopane will be able to bring the practical solutions necessary to restore frontline service delivery to improve the lives of all residents living in the province. During her time in parliament, she has proven herself as a true corruption buster – something which the Free State sorely needs.

Fellow South Africans,

Our plan was to announce the Western Cape Candidate today, but in consultation with the Western Cape PEC, we took the decision last night to postpone the announcement and do it alongside the announcement of our Gauteng Candidate. In the Western Cape there is a great chance that ActionSA will be part of the Provincial government after the upcoming elections. It is therefore important that the opportunities presented by the PEC should not be ignored. 

Furthermore, Gauteng holds strategic importance for ActionSA and we therefore believed it best to wait to announce our premier candidate for the province at a standalone briefing at a later stage.

This is because we believe in Gauteng exists strong chance of unseating the party through a coalition, including a probability of ActionSA achieving an outright majority.  

Several thousand activists have been working tirelessly in Gauteng over the past three years, led by Provincial Chairperson, Funzi Ngobeni.

During the 2021 Local Government Elections, where we only contesting in three out of the nine Municipalities, ActionSA achieved just under 11% of the province. Residents of Gauteng are ready for ActionSA provincial government. And we are excited to soon tell voters the person we believe are best fit to fix the province.

Fellow South Africans,

The three provincial premier candidates announced here today represent the calibre of leadership ActionSA presents to voters in the upcoming elections.

Their marching orders are clear: the months ahead they will have to work tirelessly in their respective provinces to bring the message of hope ActionSA has to offer to communities long forgotten by the established political parties.

They have to be active in both rural and urban areas, and have to be visible to guarantee that voters have heard ActionSA’s message by the time they head to polls.
Because our experience has taught us that when people hear ActionSA’s message, they have proven likely to change their vote as they have done in the 2021 municipal elections.

The choice to voters this year is clear: do we continue to do the same thing by voting for corrupt and unethical unpatriotic leaders?

Leaders who have proven unable to turnaround the decay in their provinces, and instead have taken things from bad to worse?

Or do we do something new, be brave enough to try something new and vote for an alternative that have proven it is able to bring action to the communities it serves?

New leaders who bring with them the necessary experience to root out corruption, restore the rule of law and improve the lives of all South Africans? 

This year, real change is possible in South Africa by removing the ruling party from power and voting to fix the country.

But for that to happen, it will require that patriotic South Africans take action to vote to remove the ruling party, and vote for a credible alternative that has proven itself able to fix South Africa.

Because, only if we take action will we be able to South Africa.

I thank you.

Issued by Herman Mashaba, President, ActionSA, 13 February 2024