Herman Mashaba says corruption and looting has made launch of his party timely
He said how the governing party has particularly handled the Covid-19 pandemic opened the door for his party to win over masses of disheartened citizens. During a virtual pre-launch media briefing on Thursday, Mashaba’s director of operations, Funzi Ngobeni – who also broke rank from the DA and joined Mashaba – said their new party has been seen as a new viable alternative.
The yet to be formally launched organisation has already managed to garner 60 000 signatures of volunteers. “The sense of momentum shifting towards our new party over the past two months has been quite unbelievable. South Africans are furious about the abuse of this national state of disaster for the looting of public funds,” said Mashaba. He added that what made the current corruption allegations even more appalling was that they were happening “at a time when our economy is reeling from the hardest lockdown in the world”. We will put down real solutions to the problems in South Africa. We will avoid the political pettiness and point-scoring that has become part of the politics of our country.“South Africans are losing their jobs, their businesses while our government behaves like a criminal syndicate,” said Mashaba. He said while the timing of the ANC’s latest corruption scandal was off-putting for South Africans, the launch of his party “could not have happened at a better time”. “South Africans, now more than ever before, want a real alternative to the ANC. They want a party that can achieve broad support, beyond the narrow focus of our current opposition parties. They want a way out of the mess we found ourselves in,” said Mashaba.He said the party he will unveil on Saturday “will be the hope that South Africans are looking for”. “We will put down real solutions to the problems in South Africa. We will avoid the political pettiness and point-scoring that has become part of the politics of our country. We will exist for the soul reason of unseating the ANC and providing an alternative, better future for our country,” he said.According to Mashaba, his party was funded mainly from his own pocket so its policies would not be influenced by external forces. I will serve as the party president and have appointed Michael Beaumont [who served as the People’s Dialogue chief executive] to serve as the national chairperson of the new party.He also assured South Africans that the party’s constitution does not allow members to do business with the state to avoid what has happened under the ANC’s leadership.The former mayor also announced the leadership of the party to be launched on Saturday. “I will serve as the party president and have appointed Michael Beaumont [who served as the People’s Dialogue chief executive] to serve as the national chairperson of the new party. Lerato Ngobeni, a former programme manager at the Thabo Mbeki African Leadership Institute, will serve as the national spokesperson.” Funzi Ngobeni, André Coetzee and Paul Boughey will form part of the leadership team. They have been with the organisation from its formative days. Other members are Makhosi Khoza, Vytjie Mentor, Lieutenant-General Deliwe de Lange, David Tembe and Vivien Law.
South Africa Latest News, South Africa Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Time to behave like a grown nation and stop making excuses | CitypressOPINION | As a nation, we cannot behave like a youngster who refuses to change but keeps making excuses for why change cannot happen. Covid-19 is leaving us with no choice but to act like a young adult who is serious about the future, writes Fidel Hadebe
Read more »
State publishes Covid-19 contracts amid corruption fury | CitypressGovernment has published the names of all companies that won Covid-19-related tenders in a bid to crack down on corruption, making it the first country on the continent to do so.
Read more »
Makhubo accused of purging senior officials hired by Mashaba | CitypressThe City of Johannesburg’s ANC-led administration has been accused of purging heads of various utilities and entities appointed by the former DA-led council under Herman Mashaba.
Read more »
Cabinet vows to act on Covid-19 corruption | CitypressMinister in the Presidency Jackson Mthembu has reiterated that those implicated in tender corruption relating to the Covid-19 coronavirus will be severely punished, and money stolen from the state by “unscrupulous” companies and individuals by inflating the prices of personal protective equipment will be recovered.
Read more »