ActionSA opens coalition talks with ANC and EFF

Here is what the council numbers mean for Johannesburg, Tshwane and Ekurhuleni.

ActionSA began coalition talks with the ANC on Sunday and the EFF on Monday.

This comes as the local government elections were concluded on Sunday.

The party is trying to turn its council seats into influence over who runs Johannesburg, Tshwane and Ekurhuleni.

It has also said it is waiting for meeting dates with the DA, MK party and other parties.

National chairperson Michael Beaumont described the first meeting with the ANC as constructive.

“ActionSA has concluded a productive and mutually respectful first engagement with the ANC in which we discussed principles around how stable and effective coalition governments could be formed,” Beaumont said on Sunday.

He added that the party planned to speak to everyone.

“We remain committed to engaging all parties in such a manner,” Beaumont stated.

On Monday, the party reported on its talks with the EFF.

“ActionSA has met with the negotiating team of the EFF,” Beaumont said. He claimed the talks were guided by service delivery rather than by pressure from rivals.

“Another day of negotiating coalitions based on the best service delivery interests of South Africans and our constituents, and not based on the wishes of our opponents and those who have worked to destroy us,” he added.

Meanwhile, ActionSA leader Herman Mashaba spoke to 702 on Sunday at the Gallagher Convention Centre and presented his party as the one holding the deciding vote. “I’ve got the cards,” Mashaba said.

He explained that the DA had approached him to request a meeting.

According to Mashaba, he called the DA leader Geordin Hill-Lewis and told him two issues had to be resolved before any talks could begin.

He said he had a mandate from black voters who felt left out, and that he could not morally support people the party and its members regarded as racist.

Mashaba then listed his demands. “We’ve got to remove Helen Zille,” he stated.

He said he was prepared to step aside himself as part of a wider deal.

Under his proposal, ActionSA would take the deputy positions, while the DA would remove Cilliers Brink in Tshwane.

He further proposed that Mayor Nasiphi Moya stay on in Tshwane, and the DA would take Ekurhuleni.

Mashaba warned that the talks would not go ahead without movement from the DA.

“I said, if you are not prepared to do this, there’s no reason whatsoever to waste your time and mine,” Mashaba claimed.

According to North-West University professor Joseph Sekhampu, finishing first doesn’t guarantee the DA control of the metros.

“The DA won the most seats in Gauteng’s three metros, but ActionSA holds the stronger bargaining position,” Sekhampu said.

He pointed to the published seat numbers. In Johannesburg, the DA’s 91 seats and ActionSA’s 43 left them two short of the 136 needed for a majority.

In Tshwane, their combined 122 seats cleared the 108 threshold. In Ekurhuleni, their 106 seats were seven short of the 113 required.

A different combination also reached the line, Sekhampu noted.

The ANC, ActionSA, EFF and MK party together hold 138 seats in Johannesburg, 109 in Tshwane and 128 in Ekurhuleni.

“These figures establish a negotiating possibility rather than an agreed coalition, but they undermine any assumption that ActionSA must accept the DA’s terms,” Sekhampu explained.

Sekhampu cautioned that the party’s power had limits.

“However, ActionSA cannot claim an exclusive right to determine the outcome,” he said.

A DA and ANC agreement would command a majority in all three metros without ActionSA.

He said ActionSA’s leverage depended on both routes staying credible.

“Its bargaining position is strongest while both routes remain politically credible, and its influence would diminish sharply if the DA and ANC reached an agreement,” Sekhampu stated.

He added that any deal carried political costs for each party.

ActionSA would need to explain to its supporters how working with the ANC delivered the change they wanted.

The DA would need to explain why governing with the ANC served residents better than opposition.

He also noted that Tshwane already offered a precedent for an ActionSA mayor governing with ANC support.

Sekhampu said a mayoralty would bring accountability along with power.

“Securing a mayoralty would give it authority to propose budgets, defend appointments and account for service delivery within the limits of coalition government,” Sekhampu said.

He concluded that the party would be judged on results rather than on the bargaining itself.

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