ActionSA has officially named television presenter and anti-crime activist Xolani Khumalo as its mayoral candidate for Ekurhuleni, unveiling a detailed plan to restore clean government, improve safety, and revive service delivery across the metro.

Khumalo, best known as the host of Sizok’thola, a magazine show where Khumala investigated the harm that drugs did to communities, drew on his reputation as a crime-fighter to introduce his political campaign. “Many of you know me from Sizok’thola...where my crew and I take on drug syndicates that are destroying our communities,” he told supporters. “I do not fight and talk about crime from behind a desk. I fight it on the streets. I have stared criminals in the eye. I have chased drug dealers through the night.”

He said the same courage was needed inside government, arguing that corruption had hollowed out Ekurhuleni’s administration. “As dangerous as the drug dealers and gangsters are...the greatest criminals are not hiding in the shadows. They are sitting in government offices,” he said, calling time on what he described as: “the failed establishment parties” before declaring: “Today, sekwanele! I will take that same fight into Ekurhuleni’s City Hall.”

Khumalo’s first priority, if elected, would be to establish an anti-corruption unit within the mayor’s office. “If residents give me and my team the mandate, I will establish an independent anti-corruption unit in my administration, one with teeth, one that cannot be captured,” he said. “Every official will face a lifestyle audit. Every single contract will be reviewed. The corrupt ones will be cancelled. The offenders will be blacklisted.”

He also pledged to strengthen law enforcement, promising to rebuild the Ekurhuleni Metro Police Department (EMPD) and create specialist units to combat organised crime. “I will establish specialised EMPD units to crush the gangs and drug syndicates that are holding our communities hostage,” he said, vowing to shut down drug houses and arrest dealers while expanding rehabilitation and prevention programmes to offer: “a way back, a way out, a way up.”

Khumalo tied the fight against corruption and crime to a wider effort to restore basic services. “Every community deserves the dignity of clean water, working electricity, and safe streets,” he said, promising to fix roads, stabilise infrastructure, and make the city: “efficient again.” He also proposed township enterprise hubs, quicker title deeds, and the revival of clinics, libraries, parks, and sports facilities: “where families can thrive again.”

Closing his speech, Khumalo urged residents to use their vote to reclaim the city. “President Mashaba has reminded us of the most powerful weapon we all hold in our hands...our vote,” he said. “This is the Ekurhuleni we deserve. This is the Ekurhuleni we will fight for. And this is the Ekurhuleni we will win.”