Athol Trollip swaps blue for green as he joins ActionSA

Former Nelson Mandela Bay DA mayor Athol Trollip has joined ActionSA.

The party announced the new high profile member during a press briefing on Wednesday in Gqeberha, Eastern Cape.

Party leader Herman Mashaba and chairperson Michael Beaumont travelled to the province on Tuesday to meet with ActionSA structures.

Trollip followed former Midvaal local municipality mayor Bongani Baloyi, who also left the DA and joined ActionSA last month.

Trollip said he joined ActionSA because he wanted to see real democratic political change.

“I am here today because I want to see real democratic change happening. I want to see real democratic political change happening again… change comes through action, and that’s why I am here with ActionSA.”

Trollip quit the DA in 2019 along with its former leader Mmusi Maimane.

Their resignations came as a shock to the DA, with chairperson Helen Zille stating at the time that the party would have preferred for Maimane and Trollip to have stayed until after the party’s national congress the following year.

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As a mayor, Trollip faced motions of no confidence and a tough council after the 2016 local elections. At the time, the DA-led coalition was formed after the local polls produced no outright winner.

The newest ActionSA member said South Africa’s politics was tainted by self-serving politicians, adding he won’t slander his former party.

“I’ve come to learn that careerism and conviction are two different things. Careerism is about you… it was conviction that led to my former party’s establishment..

“My change in conviction or loss of conviction for my former party will no doubt be maligned. One thing I am not going to do is to malign my former party.

“You can’t serve and build something for 20 years and suddenly malign it… to me that would be unethical and disrespectful to the relationship I have with them.”

He said he started a consultancy business aimed at “bridging the divide” between the public and the private sector.

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