Durban - Newly appointed chairperson of ActionSA in KwaZulu-Natal, Zwakele Mncwango, said it was the encouragement he received from current DA members and members of the public that led him to decide to join the party.
In a media briefing yesterday, he said after resigning from the legislature and the DA, he received messages of support after a rumour emerged about his move to ActionSA.
“What was encouraging to me was that members from the former party and other parties, when the speculation about me joining ActionSA (started), they were saying, ‘Zwakele if this is true, we are on board’.
“There are so many people who are already excited about the vision of ActionSA which then meant to me that I am not making a mistake. This is the right decision. What is encouraging is that it is not only members of the DA, it is members across the political spectrum which is good, as it says we can build something here.
“I don’t want a ‘light’ DA in the province. I want to build from what is there already,” he said.
Mncwango also revealed that there were former ActionSA members in eThekwini and other parts of the province who had left the party but expressed interest in returning if he took up the position of provincial chair.
He said it was important to engage with those members and other people to grow the party, saying the fortunes of the country were now tied to the growth of ActionSA. “Without growing ActionSA, South Africa will fail,” he said.
Mncwango’s departure from the DA to ActionSA has worsened the relations between the two parties.
ActionSA recently accused the DA of offering inducements to one of its councillors in Newcastle to resign his seat and join the party. The DA has rubbished that allegation and threatened to sue.
ActionSA said it was not only the DA that had made inducements to the councillor; other parties had done the same. It alleged that one party had offered the councillor R2.5 million to resign his seat, which would trigger a by-election.
On his hopes as ActionSA KZN leader, Mncwango said he joined the party “to save South Africa”.
While delivering his maiden address during the briefing he spoke of different issues that needed to be tackled ranging from crime to competent management of municipalities and improving service delivery.
He also touched on the issue of undocumented immigrants which ActionSA was fiercely opposed to.
“The Home Affairs (department) must play their part in dealing with undocumented illegal immigrants, we have to,” he said.
He said the Durban South Beach area used to be one of the best areas in the city where people could relax and were safe; “the question is what is this government doing about undocumented illegal immigrants (there).”
Mncwango said over the coming days and months, he would be engaging with all stakeholders, including ordinary community members and leaders, in the quest to grow ActionSA.
ActionSA leader Herman Mashaba said working with Mncwango had long been his hope and it was a privilege to work with him directly.
He said in the days when they were both in the DA, he found Mncwango to be an extraordinary human being.