Herman Mashaba calls for opposition parties to unite ahead of Sona

10 February 2021 - 07:30 By unathi nkanjeni
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ActionSA leader Herman Mashaba says SA cannot succeed if the ANC remains in power.
ActionSA leader Herman Mashaba says SA cannot succeed if the ANC remains in power.
Image: Sunday Times / File photo

ActionSA leader Herman Mashaba has called for unity among political parties, with the exception of the ANC, ahead of the state of the nation address (Sona). 

President Cyril Ramaphosa is set to deliver the address on Thursday.

On Tuesday, Mashaba said the mismanagement of the Covid-19 pandemic exposed the worst of the ANC, claiming the party was not capable of putting citizens and livelihoods above corruption and looting.

“While our government was focusing on alcohol, cigarettes and open-toed shoes, other governments were getting in line ahead of us to procure the vaccine. Covid-19 demonstrated what we already know, that our country cannot succeed if the ANC remains in power,” said Mashaba.

He said solutions for the problems faced by the country, which many are hoping to hear, will not come out of Ramaphosa’s address.

He said there was still hope for SA but only if ANC is removed from power by 2024.

“For SA to succeed, the ANC must be out of government. It is that simple. Everything we have experienced with the mismanagement of this pandemic has been a front-row seat to how the ANC has destroyed the capabilities of our civil service,” Mashaba said.

“The project to fix SA is not only about our colonial and apartheid past, but it must also reverse the damage of the last 27 years of ANC government.

“While this project must unseat the ANC in 2024, it must begin with unseating the ANC in as many municipalities as possible in this year’s local government elections. That is why ActionSA has written to the leaders of like-minded opposition parties to propose a multiparty platform to establish a common ground in our mutual object to unseat the ANC.”

Mashaba said if one truth can emerge from this year’s Sona, it must be to get SA working.

“For South Africans to realise they are the solution and not parliament. We must believe  our country can be fixed. We must come together and start the hard work of getting SA working,” he said.


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