Lerato Mbhiza
Businessman and struggle activist, Roger Jardine, has launched a new movement named ‘Change Starts Now’ and saying he no longer recognises the ANC as it was no longer the movement that he, his parents and grandparents had joined during the apartheid era.
Jardine, a former banker, made a public appearance following weeks of reports about his presidential ambitions. And on Sunday, he returned to his former hometown, Riverlea, south of Johannesburg, for the launch.
“Aided by the mediocrity of our state and our politics, you are rightly frustrated by the lack of pathways to fulfill your potential. We want you to know that you are vital to the important task of remaking our country,” Jardine said.
Previously the businessman made headlines when reports surfaced that he was in the running to be the face of the new Multi-Party Charter, a coalition of opposition parties looking to try and topple the ruling party at the 2024 elections.
“There are lots of really good people currently in the public service who are just suffering under the weight of mismanagement and misgovernance and that needs to change,” he said.
Jardine said that the country had two major choices come next year’s elections – either to continue with the current status quo or picking a new face of government which would focus on the right things.
“So we are saying three things: we need to fix the state, we need to get Parliament functioning properly once again and citizens need to be restored to have the agency that they rightly deserve,” the businessman said.
However, some ANC veterans have come under fire for their apparent links to this project and Jardine said that it was a sign that those with ties to historical movements had reached a tipping point.
ANC stalwart and former UDF leader Murphy Morobe, has joined with Jardine, with the businessman saying he is trying to get Mavuso Msimang on board.
“I sought his counsel and advice and will continue to do so in the hope that he will join our movement and guide us to a better place for all South Africans,” Jardine said.
ANC secretary-general, Fikile Mbalula, has lashed out at the new movement and said that a lot of people who had benefited from the ANC and its policies were now abandoning it.
“Roger Jardine’s family played a big part in the liberation struggle, not him. He is a beneficiary of BEE, he was made by capital and capital has chosen him. So he’s a puppet of capital. We know a number of veterans like Murphy Morobe, are being approached one by one,” Mbalula said.
Two prominent figures in civil society Mark Heywood and Nicole Fritz have already confirmed they will be working with Jardine as his movement seeks to engage with others in order to ensure transformation within the country.
INSIDE POLITICS
