Former Mayor of Johannesburg Herman Mashaba says he joined the public service mainly to save South Africa from experiencing what happened to Zimbabwe under ZANU PF and the late former President Robert Mugabe who destroyed “the hope of Africa”.
Mashaba was responding to a Zimbabwean man, one Leslie Nyakura, on Twitter who had bemoaned the fact that Zimbabweans are scattered all over the world and unwanted everywhere they go.
Nyakura had urged Mashaba to protect South Africa from greedy looters. In response Mashaba wrote:
The evil tragedy of Zimbabwe contributed to a large extent to my entry to public service. Zimbabwe used to be real hope for Africa. Mugabe and ZANU just destroyed it overnight.
Mashaba was mayor of Johannesburg for three years and resigned from his post and quit his party a few weeks ago over how it handles race.
He was the first non-ANC (African National Congress) mayor of South Africa’s biggest city since the end of white minority rule in 1994.