Kwena Mangope, the son of former Bophuthatswana leader Lucas Mangope, is ActionSA’s Premier candidate for the North West.

ActionSA leader Herman Mashaba made the announcement on Wednesday.

If elected, Mangope has promised to follow through on the outcomes of the Zondo Commission inquiry and fix "dysfunctional municipalities" by using skills audits to remove unqualified employees. 

Mangope likened himself to biblical figure Nehemiah "[I am] appointed to fix and restore the North West province like he [Nehemiah] restored Jerusalem.”

"I and many ActionSA members, like Nehemiah, have witnessed the systematic destruction and mismanagement of the North West province, in particular and South Africa in general,” said Mangope.

He said the big question was “how did our country get [to] where we are [today]?”

Mangope, who is a former military soldier, said he chose ActionSA owing to its vision, which he says aims for an inclusive, prosperous and secure future for all South Africans in a country healed from its past.

He added that the vision was underpinned by values such as non-racialism, social justice, inclusive economic prosperity, rule of law, quality education, ethical leadership, professional public service and electoral reform.

"For me the value and vision of ActionSA provides winning pathways for overcoming the battle we are faced with. We live in a country plunged into darkness by Eskom, a utility which once was marked in the top five worldwide. We live in a country which has the third highest crime rate in the world, according to the 2023 World Population Review. We live in a country where homeless people and drug addicts direct traffic. We live in a country where children attack and kill teachers in schools. We live in a country where children die in taverns in large numbers in the dark of night. We live in a country where sewerage runs in the streets daily. We live in a country where most small businesses are run by foreigners. We live in a country where rail infrastructure has been deliberately destroyed," said Mangope.

He said his answer to how the country got to where it was today was owing to "doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting different results".

He said for the past 29 years, South Africans have been voting for the wrong party, referring to the ruling African National Congress (ANC).

Mangope said citizens had been voting for loadshedding, inadequate health services, uncaring public servants, potholes, unemployment, corruption, failed SOE's and inferior education.

He said now was the time for him to "go back home to rebuild the ruins".

"I have pledged myself to go back to the North West to rebuild the ruins like Nehemiah did," he declared.

He is mindful that accepting the position is not an easy task as it brings with it the enormous challenges that have beset the North West province, owing to poor governance over many years, since 1994.

He said he would not focus on the failures of the ANC but, rather, on the restoration of the province. He urged the youth to register in their numbers ahead of the upcoming 2024 elections.

He has served ActionSA for 18 months in the North West as provincial chair and Mashaba said he was aware that he was taking a gamble on Mangope as he was not a seasoned politician.

Mashaba pointed out that when he, himself, took over as Johannesburg mayor he was not knowledgeable about  mayoral tasks.

"I had no clue whatsoever what the mayor does. I had no clue that there was a councillor in my area of almost 30 years and I had never missed the voting. I didn't know that there was a councillor representing me. That is how dangerous my knowledge of politics was in terms of political experience,” said Mashaba.

Backing Mangope's announcement to embark on a skills audit, Mashaba said that in Johannesburg he had let go of people who were in jobs because of who they knew rather than what they knew.

He said he was not getting rid of experienced people but rather experienced thieves.

He reiterated that ActionSA would appoint people exclusively on merit because “when you put a thief in office who thinks they are experienced because they have been stealing for 29 years, it’s the biggest mistake we can make as South Africans”.