Plan of action: Michael Beaumont, chairperson of ActionSA, says the party wants to build on its success ahead of the local government elections in 2026. Photo: Gallo Images
ActionSA is gunning for powerful executive positions in Gauteng municipalities, where it has set its sights on mayoral committee seats in the City of Johannesburg to expand its influence ahead of 2026 local government elections.
The party helped an ANC-led coalition take control of the city and has indicated to the governing party it wants MMC positions in return.
ActionSA chairperson Michael Beaumont told the Mail & Guardian this week that the party plans to build on its success in Tshwane, where it holds the mayoral office through a coalition with the ANC and smaller parties.
“The state of affairs in Joburg means that ActionSA must be willing to perform any role that meaningfully alleviates the plight of Joburg residents. It is through this prism that ActionSA will entertain and evaluate any and all proposals,” Beaumont said.
The party turned politics in Gauteng’s metros on its head by ditching its coalition agreement with the Democratic Alliance (DA) in Tshwane and joining forces with the ANC, which led to the removal of mayor Cilliers Brink.
ActionSA did this in retaliation for the DA’s overtures to the ANC about forming a “grand coalition” in key metros, including Tshwane, Johannesburg and Ekurhuleni, in an attempt to sideline Herman Mashaba’s party, despite being in a coalition with it at the time.
Brink was later replaced as mayor by ActionSA leader Nasiphi Moya through a motion of no confidence with the help of the ANC and the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF).
This was after ActionSA helped install the ANC’s Dada Morero as mayor of Johannesburg, which is now governed by a coalition including the EFF, the Patriotic Alliance (PA), Al Jama-ah and other small parties. ActionSA did not receive a mayoral committee post.
Beaumont said the party had initiated a conversation with the ANC a month ago but had not received a response to its request for positions in Johannesburg.
“As for the MMC [member of the mayoral committee] position, nothing has yet developed in that regard,” he said.
Three sources close to the matter told the M&G ActionSA wants the MMC position which was recently vacated by former Johannesburg mayor Kabelo Gwamanda.
Gwamanda was removed after fraud allegations and was replaced by the PA’s Tebogo Nkonkou.
“ActionSA is looking at Patriotic Alliance’s seats to make a government similar to that of Tshwane where the three parties [ANC, EFF and ActionSA] run government.
“This is the same thing that is expected for Ekurhuleni where we expect ActionSA to support the current EFF-ANC arrangement to continue in the local elections,” one source said.
Another said the party was looking for another mayoral position between Johannesburg and Ekurhuleni and is already exploring how best to capitalise on the votes it secures in 2026.
“ActionSA is ready to govern and, given the opportunity, we will. Should we uncover corruption, we will expose it because we are loyal to the constituency and not our partners.
“We will negotiate for the mayoral chains of either Johannesburg or Ekurhuleni in the upcoming elections,” they said.
“It cannot be that we help the ANC stay in power and not have a position in the metro. For fairness to reign, the same arrangement seen in Tshwane must be visible in all metros we work in.”
The party plans to use its position as the third-largest political party in the City of Johannesburg, with 44 councillors, to negotiate for roles that would enable it to provide services, including public safety and economic development.
“The main thing that is important to note is that ActionSA works for its people, which is why we want strategic positions that will enable us to fight for the residents and make an impact,” another ActionSA insider said.
“This includes cleaning up the city and restoring its former glory. We will do this by first removing the illegal foreigners, just as our leader did when he was mayor.”
Beaumont said Mashaba’s tenure as Johannesburg mayor showed how well ActionSA could perform when in power.
Speaking during a spaza shop march in Soweto this week, Mashaba said an ActionSA government would enforce policies which would make it difficult for illegal foreigners to operate in the country.
“We cannot allow illegal people to come into our country … They are taking our businesses and bringing counterfeit and expired goods to kill our nation,” he said, adding that municipalities must draft stricter by-laws on this issue and enforce them.
“We call upon municipalities throughout the country to follow the Tshwane route — make sure that you pass a by-law that ensures spaza shops are reserved exclusively for South Africans.”
Mashaba confirmed that the party was open to negotiating a coalition in Ekurhuleni and was waiting for a response from the ANC concerning the metro.
While ActionSA would campaign alone during the local government elections in 2026, it was open to continuing its relationship with the ANC, despite rejecting it as a potential partner in the 2021 elections.
Mashaba added that future partnerships would be carefully evaluated to make sure they aligned with his party’s values and goals.
It would adopt a more focused approach by targeting strategic municipalities in the local government elections.
Last month, Mashaba told a media briefing that he would not allow his party to face the same fate as smaller parties, like Agang, which he said had been absorbed by the DA because it had failed to take the opportunities that came its way.
He had taken “pre-emptive action” against the DA in Tshwane after he heard of the plot to undermine ActionSA in Gauteng, likening the situation to an incident in 1978 when he defended himself from an attempted robbery by “striking first”.
He had acted decisively to protect the party, which ultimately led to ActionSA securing leadership of a coalition government in the City of Tshwane — an outcome he described as “unplanned” but “necessary for the party’s survival”.
“Here we are. We landed. We’ve ended up being the leader of a coalition government in the City of Tshwane — something that I never planned. But it happened and we have to protect ourselves,” he said.
Beaumont said the party had made the choice never to go back to negotiations with the DA to get into power and that it was ready to defend its decision to consider an alternative municipal coalition government for all the metros in the province.
The decision not to allow the DA back in was made after “careful reflection and thorough discussion” within ActionSA’s senate, its highest decision-making authority.
“After we made a decision to stop working with the DA, the ANC and EFF became our next option because they both could not form a government without us, which made us the kingmakers,” he explained.
ANC spokesperson Mahlengi Bhengu-Motsiri had not responded to questions sent by the M&G by the time of publication.