Change Starts Now founder Roger Jardine says it's timely to join political fray ahead of polls

CAPE TOWN - The founder of new political party Change Starts Now Roger Jardine says he doesn’t believe it’s too late to join the fray ahead of this year’s elections.

He also says his political ambitions have been well-researched and are not “a wild shot in the dark.”

Addressing the Cape Town Press Club on Tuesday- the former business executive said he was not opposed to joining forces with other parties to bring about change.

But this would only be considered after the elections.

Jardine hails from a family of anti-apartheid activists.

But he believes South Africans have based their voting choices on the nostalgia of the past for too long.

“I think it’s a problem that we don’t have more diversity of skills in our political class. But there’s a strong role for a diverse skills set in the cabinet room and in a room where decisions are taken.”

Jardine is not giving too much away about his party’s policy positions - saying these will be revealed when the manifesto is launched on 19 February.

He’s also not saying who is funding the nascent party.

“Can I just disabuse anyone of the notion that we have R1 billion in our war chest. There’s no R1 billion.”

Jardine says his party is relying heavily on research and data to determine where his new party can make an impact - and on who it can rely on for support.