KNYSNA NEWS - Former Knysna deputy mayor and speaker, Michelle Wasserman, has been elected as the provincial chairperson of ActionSA last week.

The announcement was made during a press conference in Cape Town on Monday 24 October, where Wasserman was joined by ActionSA president Herman Mashaba, ActionSA national operations director John Moodey, ActionSA national director of communications Samkelo Mgobozi, and members of the Western Cape Provincial Executive Committee (PEC).

"A proud moment for me, as we announce the last of our provincial chairpersons," Mashaba said in a social media announce-ment after the press conference.

"Michelle is well known across the Western Cape. She is a former deputy mayor and speaker in Knysna. She has a masters degree in human rights law from the University of London, and has practised as an advocate and as an attorney. She is qualified, a patriot, and raring to go. ActionSA Western Cape is in good hands!"

Growing ActionSA

In her speech, Wasserman said that she is extremely honoured to be appointed as the provincial chairperson for ActionSA in the Western Cape. "I am looking forward to growing ActionSA's support and making sure that we establish wall-to-wall branches and structures throughout the Western Cape.

"Our intention is clear: ActionSA will have enough support by the time the National Government Election takes place in 2024 to vote the... ANC government out of power and to replace it with a coalition government led by ActionSA."

She also revealed that their goals are not only national. "Here in the Western Cape, the only province not governed by the ANC, we intend to bring the DA below 50% by demonstrating the huge disparity between the haves and have-nots. That South Africa is one of the most unequal societies in the world is perhaps most notably demonstrated here in the City of Cape Town."

Wasserman's appointment comes just under 18 months after she resigned from the Knysna Council for a second time in May 2021, subsequently ending her time with the DA too. Having started out in her legal career as advocate, she opted to revert to practising as an attorney in her post-political life. However, it didn't take long for her to get back in the political ring.

"I had been out of politics for a year when I became a member of ActionSA," she said. "I had been watching ActionSA with interest and was impressed by its meteoric growth in the 2021 elections, and by its commitment to social justice, economic prosperity, ethical leadership and a non-racial South Africa."

Wasserman's time in Knysna

Michelle Wasserman served on the Knysna Council for roughly nine years split across two terms – 2011 to 2015 and 2018 to 2021.

It was during her first stint that she served as the DA's and Knysna's executive deputy mayor and later as speaker. She left council in 2015 to complete her masters degree through the University of London, and returned to the council in late 2018 as the DA's mayoral candidate, resigning in 2021.

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