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We are proud to announce our Free State Premier Candidate Banks Tshabangu. Banks Tshabangu is a struggle stalwart with a long history of fighting injustice in South Africa, starting with youth activism as part of the mass democratic movement.
 
Tshabangu has a long history of public service in the Free State. At 21, in 1996 he became the mayor of Hennenman, working hard in our first post-Apartheid democratic Government to bring about change and transformation for the people of Hennenman.
 
Over the last two decades, he has continued to work in a variety of roles in economic development, finance and community development in various Free State municipalities. In spite of working in Government, Tshabangu has remained an activist, always taking his councilor responsibilities seriously and engaging with his community members. It is for this reason, that in 2016, when the Free State ANC had become corrupt and undemocratic beyond redemption, he left the party and represented his community as an independent councilor, and now as a leader in African Democratic Change.  
 
Tshabangu is a dedicated activist and has proven he has the ability to bring about real change and transformation in the Free State. In the office of Premier, a governing coalition member or a member of the opposition Tshabangu will fight tirelessly for the people of the Free State.
 
As leader of ADeC in the Free State, Tshabangu will be fighting for the full implementation of our national policies, including the formal legalisation of cannabis, full transparency in government processes and a zero-tolerance policy of corruption. For a full list of our national policies, read our upcoming manifesto.
 
As a grass roots activists Tshabangu knows that the best leaders are those connected with their constituents as such Tshabangu, and the full ADeC delegation will not only attend provincial legislature meetings and vote, but also commit to engage with constituents on a regular monthly basis through town halls. Beyond this, the delegation also commits to stand alongside communities in bringing about grass roots transformation. Whether this means highlighting failures of governance, bringing about community designed solutions to address crisis, ADeC will work alongside communities to bring about real change. We will not limit our fights to the halls of the provincial legislature
 
The Free State is currently managing a number of crisis that need to be urgently addressed, and once in office, Tshabangu and the ADeC delegation will move to immediately remedy these situations, including but not limited to: The abysmal state of healthcare in the province, where hospital infrastructure is falling apart, a critical shortage of nurses and doctors as a result of sub-par wages and an emergency service without functional ambulances. The delegation will also work to address the collapsing police department, that does not have enough administrators or officers, let alone critical equipment such as vehicles to do their work.
 
The problems in the Free State are not caused by a lack of resources, but rather by a corrupt government that is more interested in looting than resolving the multiple crisis affecting our people. While the Vrede Dairy farm is a high-profile example of corruption in the province, corruption has resulted in failures in developing township infrastructure from schools, sports grounds to housing that is 20 years late. An ADeC government lead by Banks Tshabangu in the Free State will eradicate corruption and bring about real transformation and service delivery in a province that has for too long been looted to the point of collapse.
 

Issued by ADeC