Herman Mashaba’s ActionSA ready for local elections in October

Action SA leader Herman Mashaba and his legal team meet with Mamelodi flood victims and promised to provide them with legal support. Picture: Thobile Mathonsi/African News Agency(ANA)

Action SA leader Herman Mashaba and his legal team meet with Mamelodi flood victims and promised to provide them with legal support. Picture: Thobile Mathonsi/African News Agency(ANA)

Published Apr 22, 2021

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Johannesburg – Former Joburg mayor Herman Mashaba’s ActionSA has welcomed the announcement of the local government elections, saying his party was ready.

Mashaba, who left the DA and relinquished his mayoral chain two years ago, said the organisation had garnered over 200 000 volunteers. He said they were ready for the upcoming poll.

President Cyril Ramaphosa announced on Wednesday that the local government elections would take place on October 27.

“The Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs will follow the necessary legal process to proclaim the date and undertake other requirements.

“The president urges eligible – and especially first-time voters – to ensure they are registered to participate in the elections which provide the basis for development and service delivery closest to where citizens live,” said the Presidency on Wednesday night.

ActionSA’s president, Mashaba, said they welcomed the president’s announcement of the election date.

“As an organisation, we have generated a level of momentum that is unprecedented for a newly registered political party, amassing more than 200 000 volunteers.

“We stand ready to present our offer in this campaign of a political party built around a track record of government in Johannesburg, proven achievements in fighting corruption and an ability to grow in all communities to unify South Africans behind our call to Act as One for a more prosperous South Africa.

“Currently, rather than distractions of by-elections to elect councillors, ActionSA is focusing on its offer for residents to participate in our internal system of candidate elections. Currently thousands of residents have registered as voters despite the system having just opened.

“A central part of our offer is fixing the broken political system where parties choose candidates but being the first party in South Africa to include communities in the decision over which ActionSA candidate will contest the elections,” he said.

Mashaba also hit out at political parties that had called for the local government elections to be postponed to at least 2024. The EFF and the IFP were among parties that had called for the local elections to be postponed so as to allow the country to have a single local, provincial and general election.

The parties had also cited Covid-19 concerns in terms of electioneering.

“ActionSA welcomes this election date, while other parties tried to unconstitutionally postpone these elections because they know South Africans have had enough of the established political parties,” said Mashaba.

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