- ActionSA unveiled Patricia Kopane as the party's chairperson in the Free State.
- Kopane was the DA's Free State leader until 2020; she left the DA in recent weeks.
- The former MP said she would hold the ANC accountable for its corruption and mismanagement.
Patricia Kopane has been appointed as ActionSA's chairperson in the Free State, the party announced on Wednesday.
Last month, Kopane left the DA to join Herman Mashaba's party.
She was previously the DA's leader in the Free State.
"When I resigned from the Democratic Alliance a few weeks ago, I informed the public that it was no longer the political home for me and that I am seriously searching for a party that I can call my home," she said in a statement.
"I am proud to announce that today I have been appointed as the ActionSA Free State provincial chairperson, entrusted with leading this province to the 2024 election and to deliver our offer for a better Free State.
"I am now a true Actioner."
She said she served in the DA for over 19 years and is a "true Free Stater, born and raised in the small village of Dithutaneng in QwaQwa".
Kopane said her almost two decades in the political arena places her "in a best possible position to lead this province to the upcoming 2024 General Election".
"I believe that I am an asset to the politics of the Free State because I am an ethical leader whose skills, experience and background will be invaluable to ActionSA and this province," she said.
"As we work towards growing our organisation nationwide, there is definitely no doubt that ethical leaders will add value to our efforts to unseat the ANC, who have allowed this province to languish in destitution for far too long."
She said the Free State remains a province ravaged by corruption and mismanagement because of "unqualified, incompetent politicians of the ANC - most notably Ace Magashule".
"This province's departments have been used as troughs for corruption, looting and fraud, instead of serving the people of the Free State," Kopane said.
"When I vow my commitment to this province, I mean I am ready and committed to getting justice for the people affected by the ANC and Ace's craven corruption."
She said she would crisscross the province to hold the ANC accountable for its involvement in the Vrede Estina Dairy Farm debacle, the asbestos atrocity, the financial destruction of the Mangaung Metro, and "whole-scale destruction of the province from QwaQwa to Bloem, from Kroonstad to Thaba 'Nchu".
"I cannot wait to be your premier, my people of the Free State," she said.
ActionSA's national chairperson, Michael Beaumont, said the party would rely on Kopane's experience in Parliament, to which she was first elected in 2009.
"As ActionSA is working to build a leadership team, we are very mindful that we need to attract people with experience and skills, so that when we go and provide an offer of an alternative to the South African people, we can do so with individuals who bring skills and experience to the table," Beaumont said.
"And we believe that Patricia is such a person."