ActionSA names premier candidates for Free State, Eastern Cape and Mpumalanga

ActionSA leader Herman Mashaba unveiled premier candidates for three of the country's nine provinces, saying he believes they represent the calibre of leadership needed to turn around the provinces.

Mashaba said the candidates hold impeccable professional credentials and have proved themselves to embody ethical leadership which will benefit the people of the Free State, Mpumalanga and the Eastern Cape.

“They hold governance experience to hit the ground once elected and have long been active in the communities they service. Candidates who are ready to bring positive change to their provinces,” he said.

Thoko Mashiane was announced the premier candidate in Mpumalanga, Athol Trollip for the Eastern Cape and Patricia Kopane will represent the party in the  Free State. 

“Mashiane is a former municipal manager and former provincial women’s leader of the ruling party. She has over the past few months proven herself able to quickly build structures in Mpumalanga and has been to able reach far-flung regions of the province.

“She brings with her governance expertise in a province which has been plagued by a breakdown in the rule of law, including open borders, unreliable service delivery and where the poorest have fallen victim to the VBS scandal.”

Mashaba said he had faith in Trollip as a former mayor of the Nelson Mandela Bay metropolitan municipality.

“He brings with him invaluable understanding of governance in a province which has been hollowed out by the ruling party. He knows how to efficiently run an administration, and will therefore be able to hit the ground running to fix the province.

“Trollip has a long history of activism in the Eastern Cape and brought that knowledge to ActionSA, where he helped launch hundreds of new branches and establish a formidable ground operation to take on the ruling party.”

The ActionSA leader said Kopane's nursing background will bring in-depth knowledge of South Africa's broken healthcare system.

“She has served as a shadow minister of health and on the portfolio committee of health in the National Assembly. In a province crippled by state capture, Kopane will be able to bring the practical solutions necessary to restore frontline service delivery to improve the lives of all residents in the province. During her time in parliament, she has proved herself a true corruption buster, something the Free State sorely needs.”

Mashaba believes the candidate's diverse backgrounds and wealth of knowledge and experience will help the party fix South Africa.

“Announcing these candidates shows how serious ActionSA is about taking on the established political parties in the upcoming elections to disrupt the status quo, and bring hope and action to communities long forgotten.”

Since its inception three years ago, the party contested its first election in the 2021 local government polls and received more than 550,000 votes. It is represented in six municipalities.

“In every municipality we contested, we dramatically reduced support for the ruling party, giving many voters the alternative they were long looking for.”

The party boasts a membership of 250,000 across the country with more than 1,500 branches launched in the nine provinces.

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