Herman Mashaba is a prominent South African entrepreneur and politician best known for his tenure as the Mayor of Johannesburg, the largest city in South Africa, from 2016 to 2019.
And for becoming a self-made (black) millionaire during apartheid.
Before entering politics, Herman had a successful career as a businessman. He founded the Black Like Me haircare products company in the 1980s, which was highly successful and made him one of South Africa’s wealthiest individuals. He did this by selling his products door-to-door and by developing a strong network of black distributors.
His business ventures also included property development and other entrepreneurial pursuits.
In 2016, he joined the Democratic Alliance (DA), the official opposition party, and ran as the DA’s mayoral candidate in Johannesburg and was elected mayor after the party formed a coalition government with several smaller parties.
Herman is also known for his “controversial” views on various subjects, including immigration and economic policies.
In 2019, he resigned from the DA and subsequently founded his own political party called ActionSA, with the goal of challenging the ruling African National Congress (ANC) in national and local elections.
He would like to bring back the Scorpions (a South African crime investigation unit), revise labour laws, deal with race-based legislation, and invest in social workers and boarding schools. He is also willing to work with any political party that believes in a free market economy and is committed to fighting crime, except for the African National Congress (ANC) and the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF).
He says that his love for free market economics is the foundation of his success.
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