Mashaba says it will be ‘very easy’ to win Joburg against Zille

While ActionSA finalises the selection of its mayoral candidate for Johannesburg, it is speculated that the party will choose its founder and leader, Herman Mashaba, who has thrown his hat in the ring for the job. 

If chosen, Mashaba would be going up against his political opponent, Helen Zille, the Democratic Alliance’s (DA) mayoral candidate for Johannesburg. 

Mashaba was previously the DA’s mayor of Johannesburg, but left the party in 2019 following a conflict with party leadership. This conflict, Mashaba insists, was spearheaded by Zille. 

Speaking to Bongani Bingwa on Radio 702, Mashaba said that going up against Zille will be “easy”.

He said Zille underestimates him. “When she looks at me, she doesn’t see a 66-year-old man; she sees a boy, which is an advantage for me.”

“When she engages with me, she engages on a basis of superiority,” he said. He views this as a strategic advantage. 

He added that he left the DA because the party was against him providing services to poor black communities during his tenure as mayor.

Zille has fervently insisted that Mashaba resigned from the party because he feared he would face a vote of no confidence regarding his management of the city.

On Monday, ActionSA’s Central Candidate Selection Committee met to finalise its selection of the party’s Joburg mayoral candidate.

A shortlist of five ActionSA members was compiled, and the candidates were interviewed. In addition to the party’s leader, co-founder and main funder, Mashaba, the four other candidates are Michael Beaumont, Lerato Ngobeni, Dereleen James and Funzi Ngobeni. 

The committee will announce its selection on 21 February, but Mashaba remained silent when Bingwa suggested that his selection is a foregone conclusion. 

Mashaba’s plans for Johannesburg

Mashaba said that if he, or ActionSA, were to take over the city, his first order of business would be to end cadre deployment. 

Following the placement of competent individuals as MMCs and finding a “competent, committed and professional” city manager, Mashaba said he would conduct an audit of all the cadres. 

“Get rid of all the cadres. I don’t really play games. In fact, I’m personally warning all the cadres who are occupying positions due to their proximity to politicians. They must run before we take over,” he said.

Mashaba refused to outline his top three priorities as mayor, saying that he’s “not going to handle three issues” but rather “all the issues”.

“I’m not going to have the 10 MMCs responsible for the various portfolios to wait for someone else to deliver first. All of them must hit the ground running.”

This includes the infrastructure backlog, transport, water, electricity and revenue collection, according to Mashaba.

He added as a key priority that “without any failure, we need to engage home affairs to please get rid of illegal undocumented foreign nationals in our city.”

Mashaba claims that the budget for the city is calculated on legal residents, over 6 million people, but that services are being provided to closer to 8.9 million people. “If any people are not happy with this, then don’t vote for us,” He said. 

Zille’s agenda

Speaking to Newsday recently, Zille outlined her plans for the metro should she be elected mayor, focusing on anti-corruption measures and infrastructure renewal. 

Zille blames Johannesburg’s problems on years of ‘entrenched corruption under the ANC.’

She says self-enrichment schemes have turned basic services into profit-making opportunities, with even the city’s water and billing systems deliberately sabotaged to benefit cronies.

She has plans to establish a forensic auditing system and a safe system for reporting corruption that protects whistleblowers. 

She further said her priorities include fixing the broken water systems, stabilising the electricity grid, expanding the sewerage network, and detecting leaks to reduce water loss.

While the two seasoned politicians prepare to fight for the city, the African National Congress (ANC) and the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) have yet to announce their mayoral candidates.

The Patriotic Alliance (PA) recently announced that its Deputy President and former businessman, Kenny Kunene, will be its candidate for the job.