Interview by: Gillian Fraser
Article source: JOY! Magazine
JOY! is not a political publication, and we generally try to avoid sharing about politicians as our readers share many differing views. In this interview, however, we speak to leader, businessman, and ActionSA president Herman Mashaba – getting to know the person behind the politician. Herman’s testimony is powerful and inspirational – and it is clear to see how God has used him, and continues to use him, as he stands up for truth and righteousness in South Africa.
Q. You had a challenging childhood, growing up during apartheid. Your roots are humble, and yet you have grown to achieve much success in business and leadership. Can you share a little about your upbringing?
I was born on the 26th of August 1959 in Ga Ramotse, a remote rural village in Hammanskraal, about 30 km north of Pretoria. The village consisted of clustered mud homes. My grandfather was at home at the time, beaming with excitement. He went from house to house throughout the entire community letting everyone know that “High Man” was born, a name that he gave to me as he had high hopes for my future. My official name is actually Philip, named after a Lutheran pastor who was in our family, but since I was born, I was called High Man – thanks to my grandfather.
Student Herman with his now wife Connie, ‘Her air of detachment kept me on my toes’
When I was only two years old, my father died – leaving my mother to earn a living for her four younger children (our eldest brother was old enough to fend for himself). My mother, being unqualified for any other job, left home to become a domestic worker in Johannesburg, leaving my three sisters to bring me up. I was raised in a child-headed household. My eldest sister, who was 13 years my senior, was the one looking after us. My sisters would set off for school early in the morning and leave the front door open so that when I woke up, I could toddle down to our neighbours who would clean me, feed me, and keep an eye on me until my sisters came home. We were very much raised by the small community, who thankfully loved the Lord. Every Sunday we would go to church, without doubt. A spirit of ubuntu existed in our village as we all cared for one another as family, and shared a faith that held us together. Weekly, we would meet in one of the homes to praise and celebrate a loving God. We were able to forget our grumbling stomachs and the fact that we missed our parents as we fell asleep to the sound of hymns sung well into the night. It was here that a peace and a deep knowledge of God’s love settled in me in a way that went beyond anything that the world could ever do to me.
Calling someone dad is completely foreign to me. I’ve never called anybody dad in my life. But luckily my grandfather played such a pivotal role in my life in the sense that he actually lived for me. I meant so much to him. He was my role model, inspiring me to stand for human rights and for justice. He loved the Lord and guided me in my faith. He would tell everyone that I was going to change the world, which actually put immense pressure on me while growing up. I couldn’t handle the expectations, I felt like they were unreasonable. When I was 14, I decided to change my name to Herman, as I didn’t want to be High Man anymore. I was stubborn and rebellious.
Early days in business – Herman (right) with colleagues Johan and Joseph at the Black Like Me factory
Q. Tell me about your Christian walk
I was brought up in a Christian family, going to church was something that we did every Sunday. I have been an unapologetic Christian since I can remember. I always ask God to ensure that whatever I do, I do it for the right reasons. I pray for His blessing each day. I was raised in the Methodist Church. Also, the one beautiful thing about my upbringing was that it was before the criminal communist government, the ANC, took over. When I started school in 1966, we opened each day with prayer. And that’s something that the new generation under the ANC are deprived of – God’s blessing. We need to bring the Lord back into our schools.
Q. You have been married for more than 41 years?
I was only 22 when I married my beautiful wife, Connie. We got married on the 3rd March, 1982. We have now been married for 41 years. The main reason why I got married at the age of 22 was because I wanted to go into business, and I realised that I needed stability. I actually broke all the stereotypes of getting married so early in my life. My grandfather instilled in me that I had to be successful, and the only way I was going to be successful was to seek independence. I realised that the only way I could really stabilise my life was to find someone who could protect me from myself, as I was a young man at the time – very immature. That’s why I got married to Connie, and I feel so blessed. Over 41 years later, I am still married to my best friend. We have two beautiful children.
Q. Each morning you share a Bible verse on your social media. What led to this?
I’m concerned about the ANC taking God out of our country. So that’s what I’m trying to do, encourage South Africans to bring God back into their lives. I mean that’s why we are the murder capital of the world and the rape capital of the world, because the ANC’s policies have taken the consciousness out of human beings. I had discussions with a friend of mine where I expressed my concern over the values that I am seeing in South Africa. He suggested that I share the Word of God each day, encouraging my followers with the truth. I am excited about it. Faith in God means a lot to me.
Q. You are very open and vocal about your faith, have you received criticism for this?
If you want to make Herman Mashaba more determined on anything, criticise me. When people criticise me, they don’t realise that that’s when they build me up – it gets me passionate and full of joy. How can we leave God out of our lives as human beings? We are His creations. If you want to take God out of your life, it’s your problem – I’m not forcing it on anyone. If you don’t like what I’m posting, don’t follow me. So, for someone to tell me not to mix Christianity with politics, that’s when you make me even more stubborn and determined.
Michael Louis from YPO Greater Cape Chapter introducing ActionSA President Herman Mashaba to the members
Q. You founded ActionSA. Please tell us a little more about your party
I got into politics because of my love for the country. I realised that if I don’t really stand up, then who will? I am in a privileged position – as much as I come from a poor and challenging background, I have been successful in my life when it comes to business. Many South Africans are either too scared or too hopeless to challenge the ANC enterprise. I said no! I was elected as the mayor of Johannesburg in August 2016. I hate poverty because it is a man-made phenomenon. And when you’re a politician, or you’re in government, you don’t only serve the people who voted for you. You provide services to everybody, especially the vulnerable, those who do not have hope. I truly and deeply really hate this job – it’s brutal. But at the same time, to be honest with you, it’s one of the most rewarding jobs. It punishes me, but every time that I see the difference we are making in society, how we’ve disrupted the normal political environment, it gives me such satisfaction and reward. I honestly believe I’m one of the most fortunate humans on earth. Someone who was born in abject poverty, who freed himself financially during the apartheid system, and who has made a success of his life. I owe all glory to God for leading me, as I seek His will each day. My financial independence means that I don’t need this job. I am here to make a difference in the lives of others. The majority of citizens are scared because their survival is dependent on the government. I want to live in a world where the government’s role is to create an enabling environment for everyone. That’s what led to ActionSA. When I resigned from the DA, for personal reasons, there was a huge outcry from South Africans. Many approached me asking that I start my own political party. I never realised that three years as a mayor had made such an impact. ActionSA stands for a few things that are non-negotiable for me:
1. First, I want to live in a non-racial society
I’m proud of being a black man, but at the same time, I want to co-exist with proud black women, proud white men, proud white women, proud Indians, and so on – because I believe that all of us are creations of God. Anyone refusing to co-exist with others is ungodly. I’m committed to the rainbow nation. We thought that under Nelson Mandela, South Africa was going to be a beacon of hope. Unfortunately, the ANC has turned out to really be one of the biggest criminal syndicates in the world. But at the end of the day, our lives don’t need to depend on the ANC. We can create our own lives and future, and that’s really what I’m working towards.
2. The next thing is that ActionSA is a political party with a social conscience
Social justice is very important. I don’t want to live in a society where there is mass injustice among the population. I want to live in a society where social justice is at our core, where we care about other people. And fortunately, I think that in more than 40 years of my business career, I have learnt not to simply provide for others, but to empower others to provide for themselves. That’s normally how I invest in others. And now I want to enact this change through a political system.
3. I believe firmly in ethical leadership
I don’t ever put myself in an environment where I’ll compromise my beliefs. I will not cover up corruption. I like to live in that world where I can be a role model to my kids. As a child, I was never brought up in a normal environment. I had no parents, no money, and no hope. As a teen, I resorted to petty criminal activities to survive. I wasn’t doing this because I was a criminal, I was doing this for survival. I’m happy and always available to share my personal experiences, not for any other reason than to say to parents, please do everything possible to protect your children. Unfortunately, 95% of the kids in my community never made it in life because they continued with the kind of lifestyle they knew, and they never got out of poverty because they allowed themselves to be controlled by other people. I’ve taken a totally different route – because of my grandfather’s teachings, I became an independent person. I had someone who believed in me and who inspired me, who had high hopes for me. My grandfather died in 1977. I used to think that his expectations for me were unrealistic. He died when I was still a teenager. I wish he could see me now. Every day he’s in my thoughts. And I miss him so much. I wish he was still around to share his teachings. He was my role model; I am who I am because of him. Ethical leadership is so important in our world.
Q As a former Mayor and upcoming Presidential candidate, what do you think are some of the key issues that voters want to see changed?
We are struggling with a number of issues. First, high unemployment – 12 million South Africans are unemployed, with 74% of them being the youth. It’s an unsustainable environment. Another issue is inequality; we are more unequal today than we were during apartheid. We are more racially divided. Another major issue is corruption – we have the most corrupt government on earth who is abdicating their responsibility. Our citizens are not safe. I strongly believe that we need to bring back the rule of law, to bring back the Scorpions, and to get our South African police force to be run by professional policemen and women. We need to invest heavily in education to ensure that in the future, we’ve got more qualified citizens than the country requires. We also need to invest in our infrastructure, from Eskom, to public transport, to state hospitals. You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to be able to deliver on these promises – you only have to have the political will and not be corrupt. But the ANC has really captured the system. We need to love our country. Right now I’m ashamed of being South African because of the ills of our corrupt government.
Do you think it is possible to have a corruption-free nation?
If you had asked me before 1994 if we would have had a peaceful transition from apartheid, I would have said “no chance”. The way the National Party had divided us, using force, I never thought it was possible to one day attain a peaceful transition. A miracle happened in 1994. And right now we need to ask ourselves again, can we overcome this? I still feel positive, as much as we are very, very close to being declared a failed state. I pray to God to get us to 2024, so that we can remove the ANC from power. Once the ANC is out of power, South Africa will be fixed. I’m convinced. And then we can start the project that was supposed to have started in 1994. We’ll start all over again to rebuild this nation.
Q Many citizens are fed up with corruption and crime and have little hope. What do you want to say to citizens who see no point in voting?
The ANC has made it their mission to keep black people poor and uneducated, and to render them worthless. And when a person just exists, they feel like that have no purpose. I don’t believe this is true at all. Every single person has a voice and a vote, and we can change the circumstances in our country. The majority of the issues we are seeing around us are due to the failed government. 54% of our citizens live below the bread line. It is because of the ANC that so many are unemployed. It is because of ANC that we are experiencing such high levels of crime. But you’re the voter. Don’t ever feel worthless – every single vote counts. Did you know that at the last election, over 18 million people did not vote? If even half of these people pitched up to vote, we would see a huge change in society So South Africans, please go out, register with the IEC, and vote for your future and the future of your children. Each and every person has the power to influence the outcome of this nation. We need to stand together to bring change.
Q Is there any message that you would like to leave?
I’m making an important appeal to all South Africans. Let us avail ourselves and embrace democracy, because we’ve lived under an oppressive system for the last 29 years. But, there’s a new beginning – the last chance we have is 2024. I’m appealing to all 60 million South Africans. Please become agents of change. Talk to your neighbours. Talk to your fellow cohorts. Talk to your colleagues. Talk to everyone around you, because politics is part and parcel of human existence. We can’t live without government. We have the power to change the course of history in this country. Let’s go out in numbers to ensure that we can save this country for future generations.
Thank you so much for giving me an opportunity to talk to people who believe in God, because I stand on the fact that we cannot take God out of our lives and expect our nation to survive. We are His creation. Amen.
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Date published: 14/04/2023
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