Almost a year after he resigned abruptly from the DA and from his post as mayor of Johannesburg, Herman Mashaba is ready to contest the municipal elections.
The 61-year-old businessman launches his new party, The People’s Dialogue, later this week (29 August). He will unpack his manifesto and what South Africans can look forward to in a webinar with veteran broadcaster Tim Modise.
Mashaba began his career as a cleric at Spar in late 1980 and joined Motani Industries where he worked for two years. In 1985 he started his own hair care business, Black Like Me which was a successful product catering for the local market.
According to the African Leadership Academy, where Mashaba is on the board, he runs his own investment company, Lephatsi Investments (Pty) Ltd, with investments in various sectors of the South African economy: real estate, financial services, insurance brokerage, bulletproof materials, private security, fuel distribution, global cleaning services, facilities management and construction aggregates.
In 2016, Mashaba was appointed the mayor of Jo’burg and left three years later to start his own political party. Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane, who has question marks over her political links with former president Jacob Zuma, accused him in 2019 of flouting supply chain management processes, conflict of interest and making irregular appointments.
Mashaba had allegedly appointed several people who were not qualified for senior posts in the council and was said to have used metro funds for a clean-up project which was his own. The draft report containing the findings were leaked to the media and Mashaba responded that it was a ploy to distract from his autobiography which was due to be released in June this year.
Read also: Herman Mashaba: Why he might draw the crowds at election time – Chuck Stephens
In an interview with BizNews Founder Alec Hogg, Mashaba said he would contest three municipalities out of 278.
“At the moment I’m targeting three. That is Johannesburg, Tshwane and Ekurhuleni. We might consider one or two others depending whether those municipalities are winnable. Also, if I can identify credible leadership, ethical leadership, because I would not want people who are going to embarrass us.
“And also, then I can have the resources to contest those municipalities. But for sure – with my family’s resources – we will put money towards contesting those three if the business community doesn’t want to come to the party. Fortunately, now ordinary South Africans are coming, giving us 500 there, 250 here – it helps. But I’m committed to ensuring that we can save this country. I don’t have anywhere else to go,” he said.
South African are waking up to the fact that career politicians will not solve our problems as a country.
Too many have never built a business, never arrested a criminal, never healed a sick person.
Our future lies in the hands of the people 🇿🇦☝🏾#Launching29August pic.twitter.com/mFB3D0Q03x
— Herman Mashaba (@HermanMashaba) August 25, 2020
Sign up for the webinar and register here:
https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/2632221349207190800
