ActionSA's Mashaba to run for Joburg mayor only if party can't find suitable candidate

ActionSA president, Herman Mashaba, said that he was available to run for Johannesburg mayor again, only if his party could not find a suitable candidate.

Mashaba was Joburg mayor from 2016 to 2019, when he was still a Democratic Alliance (DA) member.

ActionSA said that it plans on contesting at least 42 municipalities in the upcoming government elections, up from six in 2021.

Mashaba previously ruled himself out of the Johannesburg mayoral race, saying that he was too old.

However, across the aisle, the DA is running Helen Zille as its Johannesburg mayoral candidate, who is almost a decade older than Mashaba.

Speaking during an event in Thembisa this weekend, Mashaba said that his focus was on finding a young, capable leader to put forward for Johannesburg.

"In the event we don’t find someone, Herman Mashaba is still available. Fortunately, enough I've still got some energy. Obviously, I don’t have age on my side, I am 66 but the energy is there. If I have to serve, by the time I am 70, I will ask the party to let me go back into the private sector and enjoy my life instead of doing this terrible job."

Mashaba has recently been quoted by the Sunday Times, saying that he was approached by former DA parliamentary leader, Lindiwe Mazibuko, to be ActionSA's Johannesburg mayoral candidate.