Kwanele Mkheteni
Veteran Eastern Cape politician Athol Trollip is back in the game just a few years after leaving the Democratic Alliance which he faithfully served for many years.
On Wednesday, the former DA provincial leader and Nelson Mandela Bay Executive Mayor was announced as the latest high-profile individual to join Herman Mashaba's fledgling party Action SA as it prepares for the 2024 general election.
Trollip will be Action SA's Eastern Cape Provincial Chairperson.
Mashaba says ActionSA is proud to announce Athol Trollip as its newest high-profile member.
"This announcement is one that engenders pride for ActionSA. It represents the ongoing effort of building a deeper leadership team and diversifying ActionSA's brand."
"The significance of this moment lies in its intent to build leadership in the 9 provinces of our country that can activate our structures ahead of the all-important 2024 national and provincial election," added Mashaba.
"In our discussions ahead of Athol joining ActionSA, it was evident that we share a common appreciation of the duty that we have to serve South Africa in the task of removing the ANC in 2024," he said.
Trollip, who quit the DA in 2019 following the party's performance in the general election, said he would not malign his former party, which he served diligently for 25 years as a public representative.
"My change in conviction, or loss of conviction for my former party, will no doubt be maligned, I expect that to happen. It's inevitable in politics," he said.
In explaining why he joined ActionSA, Trollip said that he has a political fire that still burns in him.
"I've watched ActionSA and its achievements and I'm excited by what they've achieved. I'm mostly excited by the apparent fact that they can attract support from across the board in South Africa. They've attracted urban votes from affluent communities to poor communities, peri-urban votes, and votes from the rural areas."
Trollip said, "those are the kind of people that make up South Africa and we need to appeal to them."
