ActionSA has announced Kgosi Letsiri Phaahla as its Premier candidate in the province of Limpopo.

Phaahla currently serves as the Head of the Phaahla Makadikwe Traditional Council in Sekhukhune. He has also previously served as the chairperson of the Congress of Traditional Leaders of South Africa (Contralesa).

ActionSA president Herman Mashaba has welcomed Phaahla’s candidacy, and stressed the important role that traditional leaders should play in the political affairs of the country.

“Limpopo, in particular, being one of the biggest provinces with a voter population coming from rural areas makes Kgosi Phaahla an ideal candidate to ensure that our rural communities are directly involved through their genuine leaders,” said Mashaba.

In his acceptance speech, Phaahla asserted that that his Premiership will focus on ensuring quality education for all South Africans, quality health care, good governance, economic prosperity, a high rate of employment, fighting against crime, provisioning water and electricity and rural development.

Phaahla has also alluded to a growing appetite for an alternative government by highlighting Limpopo as the first of nine provinces to reach the 100-branch milestone with an ActionSA membership base of 24 533 and the positive results from January’s by-election which placed the party in third place, taking votes away from the African National Congress (ANC) and the Economic Freedom Fighters.

He has decried the collapse of water services in the province, alleging that the ruling party has used the ailing water service infrastructure to “siphon” State resources. 

“The Sekhukhune region has the four biggest dams in all of Limpopo, but the households in that region have never had running water since the dawn of democracy, while an unspent R170-million earmarked for water provision in Sekhukhune was returned to the Treasury this last financial year,” opined Phaahla.

He has also lamented the high level of corruption in the province, labelling this as “cancerous” and “endemic”. He referred to the VBS scandal which took place in the province which he said robbed thousands of pensioners of their life savings.

Phaahla added that there was no political will from the ANC to address people’s concerns and he hopes to lead an effort to ensure that planned projects administered by the water services authority align with needs on the ground.

Phaahla added that ActionSA intends on establishing a better working relationship with other royal traditional leaders in the province with the view of developing infrastructure and bringing jobs to residents of rural areas. He has also called for the provisioning of life-saving medication to improve the life expectancy of Limpopo residents and the development of youth rehabilitation facilities to treat young people afflicted with drug addiction. 

Further, Phaahla has highlighted ActionSA’s plans to create job opportunities and bring income to families through the re-modelling of various irrigation schemes in the “highly profitable sub-tropical Levubu valley in the Vhembe region, which is said to have previously exported produce to the amount of $400-million annually.”

Phaahla has decried the influx of illegal immigrants and alleges that this makes Limpopo vulnerable to instances of drug trafficking and increased crime. He has highlighted the need for targeted interventions directed towards the tightening of border control in Limpopo.

“The re-introduction of the Scorpions as a law enforcement agent is long overdue and must be re-introduced to effectively deal with criminal syndicates. We will influence the national Parliament to bring this unit back and be independent from the South African Police Service (Saps). Most of the current law enforcement agencies do not have bite because they are compromised and controlled by Saps as to who to investigate,” said Phaahla.

He has also urged traditional and community leaders to establish policing forums in order to mitigate criminal activity within the villages and townships of the province.