Rural activist Billy Claasen is the latest to join Marius Fransman's People's Movement for Change (PMC) with an eye on the upcoming general elections.
Claasen, the director of the Rural and Farmworkers Development Organisation, said he opted to join PMC based on the party's policies as he believes Western Cape rural communities are continuing to deteriorate.
Claasen, a former member of the ANC and Cope, said he has grown tired of unfulfilled promises and the lack of political will to improve the lives of South Africans.
In recent years he has worked hard to thrust various rural issues into the spotlight and was at the centre of exposing alleged child killer, Daniel Smit.
Smit, from Klawer, is accused of killing 13-year-old Jerobejin van Wyk for allegedly stealing mangoes from Smit's garden.
At the time Claasen raised alarm bells over the child's disappearance and caused an uproar when he revealed that Smit caught the child stealing mangoes, chased after him and drove over him.
Smit was allegedly seen picking up the teen and putting him in his bakkie, and two days later it was revealed that human remains were found in the drains at Smit's home as police and forensic experts combed for clues.
Claasen also rallied the communities of Piketberg and Strandfontein to oppose the release of former cop Richard “Makka” Smit, after he shot and killed his former girlfriend, NatashaLee Booise, in broad daylight.
Smit was later convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment by the Western Cape High Court.
Speaking to the Weekend Argus, Claasen said he was not rallying for any position in PMC, but merely hoped to continue his community work.
“I am here at PMC not to be on a list or to go to Parliament or to be in the Legislature or anything, that will be a bonus. For me it's all about getting South Africa back on track to deliver to the poor, destitute and marginalised communities of my area.
“That is my vision and my dream. I thought long about this and it took me a long while to decide. If you look at what our communities are going through with Eskom and load shedding, the state-owned enterprises. It's just a nightmare what South Africans are going through.”
Claasen said farmworkers need a voice in Parliament where their concerns are raised. “Many people say they care about farmworkers and rural communities but they don't.
“In election time we see all these campaigns in rural communities to go and win their votes with food parcels, but the minute farmworkers are in trouble there is nobody to take up their interests or concerns.”