As the election season gears up, the Good party has announced that Brett Herron will be the party's Cape Town mayoral candidate should the party garner enough votes to see his election through.
South Africans were expected to head to the polls on October 27 for the local government election, although this is now subject to a decision by the Constitutional Court.
Good party leader Patricia de Lille announced Herron's nomination as a mayoral candidate on Sunday following “a candidate selection process”.
De Lille said she was not done with the City of Cape Town and the work that had been promised to its residents, referring to her time as mayor of the city.
Herron currently serves as a member of the Western Cape provincial legislature, a position he has held since 2019 following the national and provincial elections.
He is known for being outspoken about issues regarding the DA's governing of the Western Cape.
Herron left the DA in November 2018 following De Lille's resignation as a member of the DA and that of the mayor of Cape Town.
Herron had served as a mayoral committee member for transport and urban planning, a position he held for eight years.
On Sunday he vowed to run a competitive campaign for the Good party. He said the City of Cape Town had regressed development issues that he and De Lille had planned for the city.
He said he had launched the first inner-city affordable housing scheme, which had then been halted by the DA.
Herron said Good would use the City's surplus to build and maintain infrastructure and ensure that jobs were created. He also pledged to help repair the City's relationship with the taxi industry.
“We will govern with guts and be firm in our values and true to our word. And we care equally for all residents and will fight and narrow the inequalities in our residents' living environment. It will be our mother city,” Herron said during a short speech on Sunday.
“We will launch a robust campaign and take our message to every community in Cape Town and reconnect with soul for the city of Cape Town and what they need to save their lives,” he said.
Herron said the City's budget had to be all-inclusive and citizens had to have a say in how money was spent.
He also bemoaned what he called the collapse of the city's public transport. He said the MiCiTi service had to be connected and working to serve communities such as Khayelitsha and Mitchells Plain.
Herron emphasised that a better city would serve everyone.
“My gloves are on. I am committed to take on the Good fight. I am ready to continue the work we started without colleagues who do not support our ideas,” he said.
De Lille explained that the Herron was picked following a selection process which included scoring and experience.
She said if Herron was elected, the national executive of the party would decide who would take up Herron’s seat at the provincial legislature.
Political Bureau