ActionSA president
HermanMashaba
and Forum 4 Service Delivery founder, Dr. Mbahare Kekana, who is now the ActionSA deputy president, at the signing of the merger agreement on Wednesday. (X)
ActionSA has merged with the Forum 4 Service Delivery (F4SD) to consolidate opposition parties ahead of the 2026 local government elections.
The merger, announced on Wednesday, will see the F4SD campaigning under the ActionSA banner while retaining dual membership to protect its municipal representation.
Founded in 2015 by Mbahare Johannes Kekana, the F4SD has focused its message on tackling service delivery problems such as water, sanitation, housing and education.
Despite limited resources, the party has secured 38 municipal council seats in five provinces, including a mayoral position in the Ditsobotla local municipality in North West.
The party also has eight mayoral committee seats and eight chairpersons in municipal public accounts committees nationally and has more than 42 000 members.
Speaking during the announcement of the merger, ActionSA leader Herman Mashaba said it would be a step towards uniting opposition parties, which would challenge the government of national unity (GNU) and the so-called progressive caucus — a coalition between the Economic Freedom Fighters, the uMkhonto weSizwe party and other smaller parties.
“Without any resources of any kind, it [F4SD] managed to be the 10th and 16th largest political party in South Africa in 2016 and 2021 respectively while only contesting a limited number of municipalities. In both elections the Forum 4 Service Delivery won over 80 000 votes,” Mashaba said.
He criticised the GNU and the “progressive caucus” for fostering political stagnation and said the merger marked the beginning of a broader coalition aimed at addressing the country’s governance problems.
“We are here to end the era of political self-interest and focus on the needs of South Africans,” Mashaba said.
It was important to add a third political force to provide an alternative to the dominance of the GNU’s parliamentary majority, he said.
The GNU did not offer new ideas and instead was becoming an implementing agent for failed ANC policies, according to Mashaba.
He maintained the unity government would not reform the country in the way South Africans voted for when they took away the ANC majority last year.
The parties plan to hold a joint elective conference later this year to align their structures at regional, provincial and national levels.
Kekana, who has led F4SD since its inception, called the merger a move to serve South Africa rather than individual party interests.
“This journey is not about politics but about the future of South Africa,” he said, adding that the merger would strengthen efforts to address local government failures.
Mashaba said Kekana would take up the position of deputy president of ActionSA, after the party’s senate amended its interim constitution to create the position.
“My directives to him will be to work to build ActionSA structures and ensure that the greatest challenges facing these communities are being driven by ActionSA members.”
Mashaba said the problems in local government have been central to public dissatisfaction. He pointed to poor service delivery as a critical issue that the new alliance aims to tackle.
“The upcoming local government elections are going to be pivotal in South Africa. In the 2021 elections, voter turnout fell below 45% because South Africans feel a massive disconnect between their lived realities and the parties that have mismanaged municipalities for too long.”