Frustrated Mashaba on 77 avoidable deaths; the politicking while Joburg literally burns

This is an interview in two parts with former Joburg Metro mayor and Action SA leader Herman Mashaba expressing his frustration in equal measure. First we discuss the tragic fire at 80 Albert Street in Marshalltown, once the commercial hub of the African continent, which killed 77 of those who lived in the decrepit building. Mashaba revisits a successful mayoral project designed to reclaim hundreds of hijacked CBD buildings - but which was reversed into criminality after his ejection by what he claims was an unholy alliance between the ANC and his own party at the time, the DA. Mashaba then shares duplicity that is bedevilling a potentially promising project by opposition parties, the Multi Party Charter of SA - and explains why, despite this, Action SA hasn't left the pact. The guileless entrepreneur opens a rare window into how the games politicians love playing are hurting the people they have promised to help. - Alec Hogg