It is a Friday afternoon in busy Hillbrow when Herman Mashaba arrives at Vannin Court, a hijacked building that has given city managers a headache for more than a decade.
Flanked by two bodyguards, Mashaba gets a mixed reception: "Mr Mashaba, we trust you." "He is here for publicity." "Please help us."
Residents call out to him, reaching to shake his hand.
Inside the building one is assailed by the stench of urine and faeces. There are no toilets and no electricity or running water. Residents relieve themselves in neighbouring buildings.
On Friday afternoon they throng the darkened corridors of Vannin Court amid piles of uncollected rubbish. Others peer down from upstairs, past broken windows and flapping laundry. Children play among the trash.
"We can't allow these kids to grow up like this. It's inhumane. It's a violation of their rights," says Mashaba, and the residents shout in support.
Vannin Court illustrates Mashaba's unfinished business.
"It is acceptable and understandable that I have unfinished business. I mean, when I took over the city, it was a city with a R170bn infrastructure backlog, a city that just 27 years ago was one of the most modern cities. Today it is a slum, not a city any longer," he says.
He claims that during his three-year tenure as DA mayor of Johannesburg he handed more than 150 hijacked buildings worth R32bn to the private sector for redevelopment, creating 21,000 permanent jobs and 40,000 "housing opportunities".
More buildings had been identified and some approved when he left following a falling-out with the DA. The programme has stalled under new leadership.
With ActionSA, Mashaba believes he can do more, certain that he will bring real services to people who have grown weary of broken promises and political lies.
His biggest passion is his inner-city rejuvenation project, which will see scores of hijacked buildings in and around the city developed in exchange for much-needed jobs and affordable, decent housing.
He wants to tackle the city's R200bn infrastructure backlog with more private-sector partnerships, which he believes will benefit all who live in Johannesburg.
"The inner-city rejuvenation project has got massive impact because it brings money and investment to the city, and you reclaim the city from criminal syndicates and you create employment opportunities," he says. There is, he says, a huge appetite for the programme in the private sector.
Mashaba blames corruption in the city on ANC cadre deployment
Mashaba still has illegal immigrants in his sights, despite previously coming under fire for his radical stance - which some have labelled xenophobic. He is unrepentant.
"We are going to establish within the Johannesburg Metro Police Department an anti-immigration strategy where we are going to hold home affairs accountable.
"We want people of the world to come to our cities, that's one of the ways we can build our economies, but we want them to come here legally and respect our laws. If not, we expect home affairs to send them back to their countries," he says.
"One thing I can tell you, we are going to pass a bylaw that says you cannot run a business in the city if you do not have South African documentation, a law that says you must be registered and you must employ South Africans.
"We can't have a situation where people open businesses without documentation, not pay taxes or employ citizens. It is not going to happen under ActionSA."
Another of Mashaba's campaign promises involves the city shopping around for its electricity - a fight he's willing to take up with the courts.
"Where we can generate our own electricity as a city, we must be given the right. Why must we be forced to buy expensive electricity from Eskom? We know Eskom is a looting spree for cadres.
"We are going to do everything possible to ensure that we upgrade our electricity generation capacity - all the substations. We've got to capacitate them to accommodate the number of people in the city of Joburg."
Mashaba blames corruption in the city on ANC cadre deployment.
"As much as I fired more cadres than all ANC municipalities combined in 27 years, I think I need to go back to the city and ensure that I clear the city of cadres and ensure that we put a professional public service in place.
"We need to really focus on issues that can improve the lives, not of some people living in Sandton or Alexandra, but of all people of this city. I believe I'm the right man to do this job because I am not doing this job to make friends with anyone," he says.
"One thing I want South Africans to know is that an ANC government and a prosperous South Africa cannot coexist in one space. One of them has to die and it can't be South Africa."
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.