FORMER Tshwane MMC and acting mayor Abel Tau has declared his intention to become the capital city's next executive mayor.
This was during the party's media briefing on Tuesday in Sandton, where he also threw his hat into the ring for the mayoral candidate for ActionSA.
In line with the ActionSA's candidate election system, Tau has been pitted against two other candidates from the party to contest for the mayoral candidacy.
The system allows for public members to directly elect the candidates they prefer to represent ActionSA on the ballot papers in the municipal polls.
The party also unveiled its mayoral candidates for the metros of Joburg and Ekurhuleni.
As expected former Joburg executive mayor Herman Mashaba made it in the list of the three contestants for the mayoral position in Joburg.
Mashaba will be up against community activist Suraya Holt and former Joburg councillor Lincoln Machaba.
Holt strongly called for women to be instrumental in bringing about changes by voting in numbers for ActionSA during the coming elections.
Mashaba, on the other hand, vowed to prioritise service delivery should he emerge as the winner after the local government elections.
Mashaba said: "The first thing we should be able to do is to remove the ANC for us to be able to move forward."
He promised to instil professionalism in the public service and also conduct a lifestyle audit and skills audit of all cadre deployment "because these are the people who are working with the corrupt politicians responsible for the mess we are in".
He also said he would engage the Home Affairs Department to deal with the issue of undocumented foreign nationals.
His other priorities would be to expedite the rebuilding of government derelict buildings and declare corruption public enemy number one.
Tau believed he was a suitable candidate to improve the financial situation in Tshwane, especially after incumbent mayor Randall Williams recently announced that the City was bankrupt.
"The mayor of Tshwane recently confirmed that the City is bankrupt. We know that through the crime stats that Tshwane is the most unsafe city in the country. In fact, Tshwane has made it in the list of the most unsafe cities in the top 10 in the world," he said.
He said the fortunes of the metro needed to be changed by "a man who knows the city and who can turn the city around".
One of his contenders for the mayoral candidacy is Morris Muhlaule, a business professional.
Muhlaule said: "I will deal with the issue and concerns of the residents regarding undocumented citizens. This one is a very serious issue our communities are crying for. The crime happening in the City of Tshwane is a very serious issue."
In Ekurhuleni, the race for the position of the mayoral candidate will be between the metro's former media liaison officer Letlhogonolo Moseki, ActionSA national spokesperson Lerato Ngobeni and social development practitioner Eleanor Moropa.
Pretoria News