ActionSA Exposes Why They Refuse To Work With Helen Zille And Cilliers Brink

Even though ActionSA does not support Helen Zille’s mayoral campaign in Johannesburg or Cilliers Brink’s in Tshwane, the party has expressed its readiness to negotiate a coalition with the Democratic Alliance.

Party national chair Michael Beaumont outlined the position in a Friday post on X. Instead of taking aim at the DA as a whole, he clarified that ActionSA was focusing on the two mayors in question and vowed that the party would not support mayors that it believed had betrayed their constituents or undermined coalition promises.

Three South African cities—Johannesburg, Tshwane, and Ekurhuleni—are presently in the midst of negotiating new governing arrangements after local elections on November 4th resulted in hung councils. The Democratic Alliance (DA) received the most votes in all three of the major metropolitan areas of Gauteng, but it needs the support of other parties in order to form administrations. Among the political parties, ActionSA has councillors who could swing the vote one way or the other.

On November 7th, ActionSA leader Herman Mashaba wrote to Democratic Alliance federal party leader Geordin Hill-Lewis, suggesting that Mashaba and Zille withdraw from the Johannesburg mayoral race. Under the plan, the DA would nominate a new candidate for mayor, with ActionSA appointed as deputy mayor.

Regarding Tshwane, the proposal asks for Brink’s resignation from the council and the DA’s support for ActionSA mayoral candidate Nasiphi Moya. Moya was appointed mayor in 2024 after Brink was removed from office by a vote of no confidence. At issue in the current discussions is the past, and more especially ActionSA’s split from the DA-led Tshwane coalition.

At 20.25 percent, the ANC was second in Johannesburg, with 16.27 percent going to ActionSA. In total, 34.7% of the vote went to the DA. Given that the DA is now one seat short of a majority, coalition talks are of the utmost importance. The parties need to come to an agreement on the mayor’s candidates, but they also need to figure out the priorities and structure of the administration.

To form workable coalitions, ActionSA has proposed a strategy that seeks to rise above ideological and personal divides. The DA, however, has rejected Zille’s condition, which was that the party’s electoral performance be taken into account when deciding who will lead the city.

Because of the dispute, the parties’ capacity to negotiate a deal in Johannesburg is now in question. The Tshwane negotiations will be heavily influenced by the DA’s response to ActionSA’s request for Moya’s support.

A coalition agreement had not been announced. The upcoming discussions will determine which parties can secure the required number of council votes to govern and whether ActionSA’s conditions are accepted, revised, or rejected.

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