ActionSA

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ActionSA
President Herman Mashaba
Chairperson Michael Beaumont
Spokesperson Lerato Ngobeni
Founder Herman Mashaba
Chief Strategist André Coetzee
Director of Operations John Moodey
Communications Director Sam Mgobozi
Chief Director of Governance Nasiphi Moya
Treasurer Suren Panday
Founded 29 August 2020; 3 years ago (2020-08-29)
Split from Democratic Alliance
Ideology Libertarianism[1]
Right-wing populism[2]
Anti-immigration[3]
Nationalism[4]
Political position Centre-right[5] to right-wing[6]
National affiliation Multi-Party Charter
Colours      Green
City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality
44 / 270
City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality
19 / 214
eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality
4 / 219
City of Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality
15 / 224
Website
www.actionsa.org.za
Politics of South Africa
Political parties
Elections

ActionSA is a South African political party established by former mayor of Johannesburg, Herman Mashaba, soon after he left the Democratic Alliance.[7]

The party states that it has been established to "set South Africa free from the restraints of a broken political system and build a prosperous, non-racial and secure future for all its people."[8] and that it follows the ideal of "Act as One to build a prosperous, non-racial and secure future for all South Africans."[9]

The party has been extremely vocal for calls on tougher immigration policy and, through its leader Herman Mashaba, has often found itself at the center of controversy around xenophobic rhetoric and violence in South Africa.[10] It claims to be strongly opposed to illegal immigration and often exaggerates the impact of immigration on socio-economic problems in South Africa such as crime, poor quality health care, unemployment and municipal management. All of the aforementioned problems have not been factually associated with the presence of immigrants in South Africa.[11] Herman Mashaba frequently spreads fake and unverified information regarding immigration statistics, such as claiming that South Africa has over 15 million illegal immigrants present. Such a claim has no substantiation or factual evidence.[12]

Formation

Party launch

On the 29 August 2020, former Mayor of Johannesburg, Herman Mashaba, announced that he had started a new political party. That party would be known as ActionSA and it was intending to run for the three Gauteng metro cities (Johannesburg, Ekurhuleni and Tshwane) in the 2021 local government elections.[9] The party soon gained notoriety as it brought together former politicians who were dissatisfied with big parties such as the DA and ANC. Makhosi Khoza, Vytjie Mentor and David Tembe were amongst the former ANC politicians who joined the newly formed ActionSA.[7] On 5 October 2020, former DA provincial leader, John Moodey, announced that he had joined ActionSA.[13][14] Soon, thereafter, he was followed by numerous former DA councillors, along with leaders like Abel Tau, Funzi Ngobeni and former DA Johannesburg youth leader, Lincoln Machaba.[15][16]

Noting how many of its leaders came from the DA, the party's inaugural spokesperson said that "the party was not formed as part of a detraction for the DA, but the need to create an alternative towards a shared future."[17]

The party was quickly criticised by then newly elected leader of the DA, John Steenhuisen, who noted that every time a voter supports a small party like ActionSA, "the net result is the strengthening of the ANC. We've been through this scenario so many times. As soon as the elections are over, voters who tested the waters with one of these new start-ups realise they got zero bang for their buck from a one-man party with a regional footprint, and they return to the DA. But by then the damage is done for the next five years." Steenhuisen's critique was not at these party's policies but rather that they are "too small" to impart any change.[18] This criticism was followed by Steenhuisen's chief-of-staff's opinion piece which labelled ActionSA as "EFF-lite in disguise."[19] In an open letter to Steenhuisen, Moodey criticised this opinion piece and what he called the DA's "race denialism" and defended ActionSA's vision and its leaders reasons from leaving the DA. Moodey claimed that "Herman left the DA because it gave up on the project of being a serious political party that could challenge and unseat the ANC."[20]

IEC registration

A month after the party was launched, the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) rejected the party's application to register itself as an official political party.[21] This was due to another party, Party of Action, claiming that ActionSA had stolen its logo. On this claim, Mashaba noted that "[t]he IEC’s decision is based on a perceived similarity with another political party and the use of the SA flag in our logo. We have already written to the IEC, initiating our right to appeal their decision as a result of its incorrect application of the law. We regard the IEC to have acted irrationally in their decision. We submit that our identifying features remain sufficiently different from the Party of Action (POA), a political party that has never contested elections before despite registering."[21]

The party's appeal was again rejected by the IEC on the same basis.[22][23]

On 13 December 2020, the party was officially registered with the IEC, notably under a new logo.[24][25][26]

Youth Structures

ActionSA has a youth structure known as the Youth Forum, which comprises National, Provincial, Regional and Constituency level structures. The party also has a Students Chapter, whose main focus is on growing the party through the support of students from various educational institutions.

The National Youth Forum structure is as follows:

  • Chairperson - Hlupi Gafane
  • Secretary - Stephan Gerber
  • Spokesperson - Matthew George
  • Voter Education - Reuben Coetzer
  • Media - Lavesh Pillay


The Provincial Youth Forum structures are as follows:

Chairpersons

  • Gauteng - Advice Chuma
  • Western Cape - Dagan Naesar
  • Eastern Cape - Luyanda Mfilifili
  • Limpopo - Tshepo Magoma
  • Mpumalanga - Ismail Joosub
  • KwaZulu-Natal - Zwelisha Nxumalo
  • North West - Obakeng Habedi


Ideology and principles

Values

According to the party's website, the party has seven core values:[27]

  • Electoral reform
  • Economic prosperity
  • Non-racialism
  • Quality education
  • Social justice
  • Ethical leadership
  • Rule of law

The party's current main policies focus on what it calls the solution blueprints on:

  • Climate change and the environment[28]
  • Electoral reform[29]
  • Professional public service[30]
  • Ethical leadership[31]
  • Immigration[31]
  • Rule of law[32]
  • Land reform and housing[33]
  • Quality education[34]
  • Social justice[35]
  • Non-racialism[36]
  • Economic prosperity[36]

Election results

Municipal elections

In the 2021 municipal elections, the party contested a limited number of municipalities, namely the Cities of Johannesburg, Tshwane and Ekurhuleni in Gauteng as well as eThekwini, KwaDukuza and Newcastle in KwaZulu-Natal. It won 90 seats in the six Municipal councils, including a ward in Newcastle.[37]

Election Votes  % Seats
2021[38] 547,905 2.34% 90

See also

References

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