Members of the media,
Fellow Actioners,
And most importantly: you, my fellow South Africans,
I greet you in Manenberg in the City of Cape Town – an area defined by escalating gang violence, widespread poverty, unemployment, and chronic underdevelopment – to announce ActionSA’s Western Cape Premier candidate.
Since arriving in the Western Cape, I have been overwhelmed by the level of support ActionSA enjoys here from diverse communities. I have been overwhelmed by the well wishes from fellow South Africans as I walk in the streets who all believe in our promise of fixing South Africans.
But, I have also been overwhelmed by the stark inequalities present in the province where some residents live first-world lives, while the majority have been left behind in communities suffering from joblessness, crime and drug abuse.
The area where we are today represents the contrasting realities of the Western Cape. While one side features picturesque suburbs, the other reflects the harsh reality, particularly on the Cape Flats, of communities that have been forgotten for far too long.
ActionSA is committed to ensuring that the forgotten communities across the Western Cape have the opportunity to share in the province’s progress.
For too long, many people in this province have been left out of the progress that has been achieved, having to battle unemployment, gang violence and the scourge of drug addiction which plague communities.
The better together approach promised in the Western Cape has not translated into a better life for all.
Fellow South Africans,
When ActionSA was launched on 29 August 2020, we were launched with the intention to remove the ruling party and fix South Africa for all those who living in it.
We set out to build a non-racial vehicle which was able to improve the lives of all South Africans and to start the work of undoing the harmful legacy of Apartheid and 30 years of ANC rule.
We imagined a future of integrated cities where everyone has an equal opportunity to achieve success. A safer future where our children could play in the streets without fear of gun violence.
ActionSA’s mission to fix South Africa has always been to achieve a united country, not a country where some are allowed to live in separate enclaves.
It is for this very reason that we do not support the independence of the Western Cape, but instead believe the Western Cape forms part of South Africa’s national identity.
We believe most people living in the Western Cape are proud to be South African and want to live in a country where the state works for all its people.
We believe most people living in the Western Cape do not believe that the separate development of the province is the solution but want to support a political vehicle which has proven itself able to fix the entire country.
There is no use in being able to win support in one province if it fails to build momentum nationwide to topple the ruling party. There is no use in having Cape Town working if South Africa is not working.
It is for this reason that ActionSA decided to contest in the Western Cape despite the criticism we faced because we want to build a non-racial integrated South Africa. A non-racial South Africa we can all be proud of.
We want the people of Manenberg, Khayelitsha, Kyalami and Thembalethu to enjoy the same privileges as those enjoyed by their suburban peers.
Fellow South Africans,
ActionSA has proven to be the only political party which is able to support across the board. In the 2021 municipal elections – we achieved the same level of support in Soweto as we did in Midrand.
We became the first political party in the history of a democratic South Africa that enjoyed the same level of support in townships as we did in suburban areas.
Our performance in Gauteng has shown that we are the only political party which appeals to all South Africans. We are not going to apologise for this.
Subsequent by-elections in Ennerdale, Johannesburg; Nongoma in rural KwaZulu-Natal; and ward 64 in Pretoria showed how ActionSA built on this momentum and attracted diverse support.
Today, we have built ground operations in all nine provinces and stand ready to contest the national elections to remove the ruling party from government and fix South Africa.
In this regard, I thank our Western Cape provincial leader Michelle Wasserman, who joins us here today, for the incredible work she has done to build a strong foundation for ActionSA in the province.
Wasserman has decided not to avail herself as provincial premier candidate due to personal commitments but remains a dedicated member of ActionSA. She has been an incredible asset to the party, and we thank her for her service.
Fellow South Africans,
ActionSA believes we will build on our momentum countrywide, and here in the Western Cape, to bring about democratic change in South Africa.
We do not think it benefits anyone if some are excluded from progress. We believe political accountability improves the performance of the state, regardless of where it is located.
We remain the only political party that has consistently said we will not give power back to the ruling party. We simply do not believe one can fix the country with the very same people who have broken it.
And unlike we have seen with smaller political parties in Gauteng, ActionSA will simply never give the ruling party power in exchange for a few MMC positions.
As we have shown, ActionSA has the potential to reach all South Africans and appeal to voters from all demographics. We are not limited by who we can reach because when voters engage us, they are not confronted with any preconceived ideas.
It is this level of broad support necessary to remove the ruling party nationwide in the upcoming elections.
As we did in the 2021 municipal elections, ActionSA is on track to have a breakout performance in our very national elections this year.
As we did in 2021, we are on track to shock pollsters and political commentators who like to underestimate us.
Fellow South Africans,
There is a clear difference in what we offer voters compared to the political establishment.
A vote for ActionSA means that these policies will be implemented in every government we are elected to.
At our inaugural policy conference in September last year, where over 600 delegates from across the country voted on ActionSA policies, we became the first party in South Africa to have a credible alternative to the failed Broad Based-Black Economic Empowerment Act Of 2003.
ActionSA stands resolute in its belief in empowering black South Africans, but we believe policies such as BBBEE have created a small wealthy elite instead of improving the lives of all South Africans such as those living here in Manenberg.
We want to grow the country and create millions of new jobs for our people by liberalising labour legislation, investing in public infrastructure and removing bureaucratic hurdles, but we are unashamed about our belief in achieving social justice.
We do not believe we can simply grow the economy without undoing the harmful legacy of the ruling party and Apartheid.
A vote for ActionSA in the Western Cape would be a vote in favour of the rule of law. There is little debate that after 30 years of democracy, some of the most dangerous places in the country are found here in this city.
From Nyanga to Mitchells Plain, residents fear for their lives as they battle violent crimes such as rape and murder.
An ActionSA government would end lawlessness by reintroducing specialised policing units and ensuring that a life in prison means a life in prison. Prisoners will no longer benefit from being in jail but will work to repay their debt to society.
We will deal harshly with drug dealers while helping to rehabilitate drug users who have fallen victim to this horrific disease.
And we will secure our borders, ensuring that everyone who is in South Africa has the legal documents to be here.
We believe South Africa is the melting pot of the world and has been built on the back of migrants, but when people come here, they should do so legally and adhere to our laws once here.
An ActionSA government would undo apartheid spatial planning by implementing Inclusive Economic Empowerment which will create the Opportunity Fund which corporate South Africa would be required to contribute to.
The Opportunity Fund will benefit all previously disadvantaged by giving funding for entrepreneurs, giving bursaries, and building key infrastructure such as schools in communities long forgotten.
A vote for ActionSA in the Western Cape would be a vote in favour of insourcing frontline municipal and government workers such as security guards and cleaners, as I did as mayor of the City of Johannesburg.
An ActionSA government would boost agriculture industries such as winemaking by helping to market our wines overseas and providing sectoral support, but we will ensure that farmworkers are not abused and that their rights are protected.
And we would implement land reform by protecting private property rights and transferring abandoned and unutilised state-owned land to developers and communities who can develop well-located housing, and businesses to create jobs and farming opportunities.
Fellow South Africans,
We believe that a better future is possible in the Western Cape. We believe that we can use our support in the Western Cape to remove the ruling party from power nationally next year.
And the premier candidate we are announcing today would be able to deliver on that mission to fix the Western Cape and fix South Africa.
She grew up in Woodstock, roughly 15 kilometres from here, before her family was forcibly evicted by the Group Areas Act.
But, coming from a politically active family who supported the anti-apartheid movement, she never gave up trying to change the circumstances around her.
She actively became involved in anti-apartheid protests and joined the underground organising committees which led to her being detained by Apartheid police.
Today, we are standing in front of the home she lived here in Manenberg for many years.
Fellow South Africans, it gives me great privilege to announce Angela Sobey as ActionSA’s Western Cape premier candidate.
She represents the calibre of leadership ActionSA seeks to cultivate to fix South Africa. She is ethical and resolute in her mission to achieve social justice in South Africa.
As a single mother, she worked at the Department of Justice before being seconded to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission as an interpreter because of her ability to fluently speak English, Afrikaans, isiXhosa and isiZulu.
And in 2020, she headed the call to join ActionSA because of her anger at the decay of society after spending many years in conflict resolution.
I have no doubt that Angela is what the people of the Western Cape need to give a voice to those long-forgotten.
As she has done throughout her life, she will commit her life to improving the lives of the marginalised.
She will start the work to undo the barriers which exist in the province to build one integrated South Africa.
Fellow South Africans,
This year, we can fix the Western Cape and fix South Africa. We can achieve the rainbow nation we all dreamt of in 1994 where everyone has equal opportunity to success.
But, to achieve that goal, it will require all of us to take action this year.
Because only Action will fix SA.We cannot do the same thing and expect different results. To achieve change, it will require us to be brave enough to try something new this year.
It will require us to take action to vote for a political alternative which has proven able to win diverse support and unite South Africans to a common mission.
For us to remove the ruling party this year, we need the Western Cape to take action alongside other patriotic South Africans countrywide and vote to fix this country.
We can start to undo the legacy of apartheid and 30 years of the ruling party’s rule, but that will require us to take action this year.
We can improve the lives of people living here in Manenberg and communities across the Cape, but we will then need to go to the polls and take action.
Because only Action will fix SA.
Fellow South Africans, I invite you to take action with me this year to build the ideal South Africa we all dreamt of.
Because only Action will fix SA.
Ms Angela Sobey, I now officially declare you as ActionSA Western Cape Premier Candidate for the upcoming elections on the 29th May 2024.
The floor is now your address South Africa.
I thank you.
Introducing ActionSA’s Western Cape Premier Candidate: Giving A Voice To Those Forgotten
Members of the media,
Fellow Actioners,
And most importantly: you, my fellow South Africans,
I greet you in Manenberg in the City of Cape Town – an area defined by escalating gang violence, widespread poverty, unemployment, and chronic underdevelopment – to announce ActionSA’s Western Cape Premier candidate.
Since arriving in the Western Cape, I have been overwhelmed by the level of support ActionSA enjoys here from diverse communities. I have been overwhelmed by the well wishes from fellow South Africans as I walk in the streets who all believe in our promise of fixing South Africans.
But, I have also been overwhelmed by the stark inequalities present in the province where some residents live first-world lives, while the majority have been left behind in communities suffering from joblessness, crime and drug abuse.
The area where we are today represents the contrasting realities of the Western Cape. While one side features picturesque suburbs, the other reflects the harsh reality, particularly on the Cape Flats, of communities that have been forgotten for far too long.
ActionSA is committed to ensuring that the forgotten communities across the Western Cape have the opportunity to share in the province’s progress.
For too long, many people in this province have been left out of the progress that has been achieved, having to battle unemployment, gang violence and the scourge of drug addiction which plague communities.
The better together approach promised in the Western Cape has not translated into a better life for all.
Fellow South Africans,
When ActionSA was launched on 29 August 2020, we were launched with the intention to remove the ruling party and fix South Africa for all those who living in it.
We set out to build a non-racial vehicle which was able to improve the lives of all South Africans and to start the work of undoing the harmful legacy of Apartheid and 30 years of ANC rule.
We imagined a future of integrated cities where everyone has an equal opportunity to achieve success. A safer future where our children could play in the streets without fear of gun violence.
ActionSA’s mission to fix South Africa has always been to achieve a united country, not a country where some are allowed to live in separate enclaves.
It is for this very reason that we do not support the independence of the Western Cape, but instead believe the Western Cape forms part of South Africa’s national identity.
We believe most people living in the Western Cape are proud to be South African and want to live in a country where the state works for all its people.
We believe most people living in the Western Cape do not believe that the separate development of the province is the solution but want to support a political vehicle which has proven itself able to fix the entire country.
There is no use in being able to win support in one province if it fails to build momentum nationwide to topple the ruling party. There is no use in having Cape Town working if South Africa is not working.
It is for this reason that ActionSA decided to contest in the Western Cape despite the criticism we faced because we want to build a non-racial integrated South Africa. A non-racial South Africa we can all be proud of.
We want the people of Manenberg, Khayelitsha, Kyalami and Thembalethu to enjoy the same privileges as those enjoyed by their suburban peers.
Fellow South Africans,
ActionSA has proven to be the only political party which is able to support across the board. In the 2021 municipal elections – we achieved the same level of support in Soweto as we did in Midrand.
We became the first political party in the history of a democratic South Africa that enjoyed the same level of support in townships as we did in suburban areas.
Our performance in Gauteng has shown that we are the only political party which appeals to all South Africans. We are not going to apologise for this.
Subsequent by-elections in Ennerdale, Johannesburg; Nongoma in rural KwaZulu-Natal; and ward 64 in Pretoria showed how ActionSA built on this momentum and attracted diverse support.
Today, we have built ground operations in all nine provinces and stand ready to contest the national elections to remove the ruling party from government and fix South Africa.
In this regard, I thank our Western Cape provincial leader Michelle Wasserman, who joins us here today, for the incredible work she has done to build a strong foundation for ActionSA in the province.
Wasserman has decided not to avail herself as provincial premier candidate due to personal commitments but remains a dedicated member of ActionSA. She has been an incredible asset to the party, and we thank her for her service.
Fellow South Africans,
ActionSA believes we will build on our momentum countrywide, and here in the Western Cape, to bring about democratic change in South Africa.
We do not think it benefits anyone if some are excluded from progress. We believe political accountability improves the performance of the state, regardless of where it is located.
We remain the only political party that has consistently said we will not give power back to the ruling party. We simply do not believe one can fix the country with the very same people who have broken it.
And unlike we have seen with smaller political parties in Gauteng, ActionSA will simply never give the ruling party power in exchange for a few MMC positions.
As we have shown, ActionSA has the potential to reach all South Africans and appeal to voters from all demographics. We are not limited by who we can reach because when voters engage us, they are not confronted with any preconceived ideas.
It is this level of broad support necessary to remove the ruling party nationwide in the upcoming elections.
As we did in the 2021 municipal elections, ActionSA is on track to have a breakout performance in our very national elections this year.
As we did in 2021, we are on track to shock pollsters and political commentators who like to underestimate us.
Fellow South Africans,
There is a clear difference in what we offer voters compared to the political establishment.
A vote for ActionSA means that these policies will be implemented in every government we are elected to.
At our inaugural policy conference in September last year, where over 600 delegates from across the country voted on ActionSA policies, we became the first party in South Africa to have a credible alternative to the failed Broad Based-Black Economic Empowerment Act Of 2003.
ActionSA stands resolute in its belief in empowering black South Africans, but we believe policies such as BBBEE have created a small wealthy elite instead of improving the lives of all South Africans such as those living here in Manenberg.
We want to grow the country and create millions of new jobs for our people by liberalising labour legislation, investing in public infrastructure and removing bureaucratic hurdles, but we are unashamed about our belief in achieving social justice.
We do not believe we can simply grow the economy without undoing the harmful legacy of the ruling party and Apartheid.
A vote for ActionSA in the Western Cape would be a vote in favour of the rule of law. There is little debate that after 30 years of democracy, some of the most dangerous places in the country are found here in this city.
From Nyanga to Mitchells Plain, residents fear for their lives as they battle violent crimes such as rape and murder.
An ActionSA government would end lawlessness by reintroducing specialised policing units and ensuring that a life in prison means a life in prison. Prisoners will no longer benefit from being in jail but will work to repay their debt to society.
We will deal harshly with drug dealers while helping to rehabilitate drug users who have fallen victim to this horrific disease.
And we will secure our borders, ensuring that everyone who is in South Africa has the legal documents to be here.
We believe South Africa is the melting pot of the world and has been built on the back of migrants, but when people come here, they should do so legally and adhere to our laws once here.
An ActionSA government would undo apartheid spatial planning by implementing Inclusive Economic Empowerment which will create the Opportunity Fund which corporate South Africa would be required to contribute to.
The Opportunity Fund will benefit all previously disadvantaged by giving funding for entrepreneurs, giving bursaries, and building key infrastructure such as schools in communities long forgotten.
A vote for ActionSA in the Western Cape would be a vote in favour of insourcing frontline municipal and government workers such as security guards and cleaners, as I did as mayor of the City of Johannesburg.
An ActionSA government would boost agriculture industries such as winemaking by helping to market our wines overseas and providing sectoral support, but we will ensure that farmworkers are not abused and that their rights are protected.
And we would implement land reform by protecting private property rights and transferring abandoned and unutilised state-owned land to developers and communities who can develop well-located housing, and businesses to create jobs and farming opportunities.
Fellow South Africans,
We believe that a better future is possible in the Western Cape. We believe that we can use our support in the Western Cape to remove the ruling party from power nationally next year.
And the premier candidate we are announcing today would be able to deliver on that mission to fix the Western Cape and fix South Africa.
She grew up in Woodstock, roughly 15 kilometres from here, before her family was forcibly evicted by the Group Areas Act.
But, coming from a politically active family who supported the anti-apartheid movement, she never gave up trying to change the circumstances around her.
She actively became involved in anti-apartheid protests and joined the underground organising committees which led to her being detained by Apartheid police.
Today, we are standing in front of the home she lived here in Manenberg for many years.
Fellow South Africans, it gives me great privilege to announce Angela Sobey as ActionSA’s Western Cape premier candidate.
She represents the calibre of leadership ActionSA seeks to cultivate to fix South Africa. She is ethical and resolute in her mission to achieve social justice in South Africa.
As a single mother, she worked at the Department of Justice before being seconded to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission as an interpreter because of her ability to fluently speak English, Afrikaans, isiXhosa and isiZulu.
And in 2020, she headed the call to join ActionSA because of her anger at the decay of society after spending many years in conflict resolution.
I have no doubt that Angela is what the people of the Western Cape need to give a voice to those long-forgotten.
As she has done throughout her life, she will commit her life to improving the lives of the marginalised.
She will start the work to undo the barriers which exist in the province to build one integrated South Africa.
Fellow South Africans,
This year, we can fix the Western Cape and fix South Africa. We can achieve the rainbow nation we all dreamt of in 1994 where everyone has equal opportunity to success.
But, to achieve that goal, it will require all of us to take action this year.
Because only Action will fix SA.We cannot do the same thing and expect different results. To achieve change, it will require us to be brave enough to try something new this year.
It will require us to take action to vote for a political alternative which has proven able to win diverse support and unite South Africans to a common mission.
For us to remove the ruling party this year, we need the Western Cape to take action alongside other patriotic South Africans countrywide and vote to fix this country.
We can start to undo the legacy of apartheid and 30 years of the ruling party’s rule, but that will require us to take action this year.
We can improve the lives of people living here in Manenberg and communities across the Cape, but we will then need to go to the polls and take action.
Because only Action will fix SA.
Fellow South Africans, I invite you to take action with me this year to build the ideal South Africa we all dreamt of.
Because only Action will fix SA.
Ms Angela Sobey, I now officially declare you as ActionSA Western Cape Premier Candidate for the upcoming elections on the 29th May 2024.
The floor is now your address South Africa.
I thank you.