ActionSA's leader Herman Mashaba has been announced as the party's mayoral candidate for Johannesburg ahead of the 2026 local government elections.
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ActionSA's leader, Herman Mashaba, has been named the party's mayoral candidate for the City of Johannesburg ahead of the 2026 local government elections.
The announcement was made at the Orlando Community Hall in Soweto on Saturday, where party leaders addressed a crowd of supporters and residents.
Mashaba, who previously served as Johannesburg's mayor from August 2016 to November 2019, was one of five senior leaders considered for the position.
IOL previously reported that Mashaba had indicated he would consider contesting the mayoral position if the party was unable to identify a suitable candidate.
He said that if ActionSA failed to find someone with the same “qualities” as City of Tshwane Mayor Dr Nasiphi Moya and the party’s Ekurhuleni mayoral candidate, Xolani Khumalo, he would be willing to step in.
Launching his campaign, Mashaba declared that the city was “in a fight for its future” and positioned himself as the candidate ready to “take back” Johannesburg through what he called decisive action rather than rhetoric.
Addressing supporters in what he described as a symbolic boxing ring, Mashaba said the moment was not about spectacle but about confronting the crisis facing the city.
“Johannesburg is in a fight for its future,” he said. “I'm stepping back into the ring to take back my city. Not for spectacle, not for drama, because this city needs a fighter who knows what it takes to win.”
He framed his campaign as a confrontation with corruption, incompetence, and lawlessness. “This is a fight against corruption, a fight against incompetence, a fight against lawlessness, a fight against decline and collapse, and it is a fight to fix our city of Johannesburg,” he said.
“We are here, fellow South Africans, to declare war,” stressing that the campaign would not be about “theory, personalities, empty commitments, or endless talking” but “a campaign of action and delivery”.
Mashaba painted a bleak picture of the state of the city, saying residents were experiencing dry taps, broken street lights, crumbling roads and sewerage flowing in the streets.
He attributed the situation to “sickening corruption, blatant incompetence, failed politicians who care only about their own self-interest, not the lives of our residents”.
Rejecting the notion that Johannesburg could not be repaired, he said the city was not “broken beyond repair” but would only be fixed through action.
He pointed to his previous tenure as executive mayor, saying residents had “witnessed real progress and they know that it works”.
Those years, he said, were “defined by action and accountability” and focused on stabilising finances, improving revenue collection, prioritising infrastructure maintenance and enforcing zero tolerance for corruption.
“What we discovered and delivered in those three years was not an accident or it was luck,” Mashaba said.
“It was what we were able to achieve when I first declared war on the collapse of Johannesburg in 2016 and executed a plan.”
He said he was returning “to finish the job and once again deliver real results for the residents of the city”.
Mashaba said ActionSA would present voters with “a credible plan” rather than “some fancy slogan or a long manifesto that few will actually read”.
He formally launched the party’s programme under the banner “Operation Fix Johannesburg,''
He said the first priority would be to “fix the basics”, arguing that Johannesburg was falling apart because maintenance had been neglected and infrastructure investment delayed or diverted. Under Operation Fix Johannesburg, he said, that neglect would end.
“We will implement a focused infrastructure recovery plan that prioritises water, electricity, roads and sewer networks,” he said.
Maintenance would no longer be reactive but “planned, funded and monitored”.
Mashaba said that during his previous term, the city had replaced more than 2,000 kilometres of water pipes and 160 kilometres of sewer pipes in three years, reducing water losses through disciplined budgeting and clear priorities.
If returned to office, he pledged to at least double the pace of pipe replacement and road resurfacing over a five-year term and to publish clear targets openly.
He added that partnership with organised labour would be critical, saying municipal employees should be treated as equal partners in restoring service delivery.
Mashaba identified ending corruption as his second priority, describing it as the root cause of service delivery failures.
“Corruption is not a side issue. It is the reason taps run dry,” he said.
Referring to past investigations during his tenure, he said cases with a combined value exceeding R35 billion had been pursued, leading to more than 900 arrests and numerous disciplinary actions. “That approach is going to return,” he said.
He committed to reinstating a properly resourced anti-corruption capability, making lifestyle audits mandatory for senior officials and political office bearers, blacklisting corrupt contractors and publishing major tenders and contracts for public scrutiny. Consequences, he said, would begin on day one.
Mashaba also proposed structural changes within the municipality, saying most state-owned entities such as City Power and Johannesburg Roads Agency would be collapsed into the core administration of the city.
He argued that these entities had become “unnecessary layers of bureaucracy” that created space for corruption.
“Functions will be consolidated. Oversight will be centralised. Accountability will be direct,” he said.
Restoring law and order was identified as the third priority. Mashaba cited hijacked buildings, cable theft, illegal connections, and organised criminal networks as major threats to the city’s future.
“Undocumented illegal foreign nationals who operate outside our laws will not be welcome in a city we lead.”
He announced plans to strengthen the Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department by recruiting an additional 2,500 officers over five years, equating to 500 officers each year.
During his previous term, he said, 643 hijacked buildings and properties were identified and 44 were returned to their lawful owners, but described the work as unfinished.
“This work is unfinished,” Mashaba said, adding that it would be completed if ActionSA were given the mandate in the 2026 elections.
Meanwhile, the Democratic Alliance (DA) has put forward its Federal Council Chairperson, Helen Zille, as its candidate for mayor.
hope.ntanzi@iol.co.za
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