LISTEN | Bongani Baloyi not eyeing mayor position again should ActionSA win 2024 elections

LISTEN | ‘I have no plans to be a local mayor again if ActionSA wins 2024 elections’, says Bongani Baloyi

ActionSA’s senate member Bongani Baloyi has revealed he has no intentions of becoming a mayor again should the party win the 2024 general elections.

The former DA Midvaal mayor resigned from the party in December after 14 years as a member. He joined Herman Mashaba’s movement a month later.

Speaking to TimesLIVE on Tuesday, Baloyi said he plans to focus on other spheres of government.

“I don’t intend on going back to the local government sphere. I think I’ve done well as mayor in the local government sphere. I think I must focus on other spheres of government.”

Baloyi said his focus in the party is to recruit as many people to ActionSA as possible, including some DA members.

He said there has been a positive response among residents in Vaal keen on following him to his new political home.

“Many people are quite excited with the prospect of ActionSA, and a number of them have been reaching out. I’ve been having back-to-back engagements with people within the business community, NGOs and ordinary members of the DA,” he said.

He believes ActionSA will recruit enough people around the country to secure a significant amount of votes in the next elections.

“I have recruited white Afrikaners and people who have been in the civil service for 40 years. Young, old, black white, coloured, professionals. We are recruiting quite a sizeable amount of diverse people which confirms we are an alternative party for everybody,” he said.

Baloyi said his work in local government and having a clean track record demonstrates to people he is capable of doing his job.

The Midvaal municipality, where Baloyi was mayor for several years, has received eight consecutive clean audits.

“People talk about me because of the work I have done, so I am a brand in my own right. I am stepping into ActionSA to build from the ground up and to do my work,” said Baloyi.

He said ActionSA is his final political home and he does not foresee joining or starting his own political party should there be a time when he leaves ActionSA.

“I am part of ActionSA and I intend continuing with it. The thought of leaving or joining another party does not exist. I’ve joined to work with fellow South Africans in ActionSA. I can’t keep starting something and not finishing it.

“I am person who, when they start something, they finish it. I finished my journey with the DA and I intend starting this very long journey with ActionSA. If at any point I leave ActionSA, I think I will be done with politics. I am not thinking of starting my own political party.”