In the aftermath of the election, clichés have mushroomed across the political landscape — “the art of the possible”, “a week is a long time in politics”, “my enemy’s enemy is my friend”, and on and on ad nauseam.
Floyd Shivambu — co-founder and former deputy president of the EFF — has defected to Jacob Zuma’s MK Party, of which Zuma is leader, while, in his own eyes at least, remaining a member of the ANC. And no-one in his new party dare gainsay him, about that or anything else.
Now ActionSA is working with the ANC.
The FM sought answers to this surprising development in an interview with party leader Herman Mashaba as he was about to leave for New Orleans to celebrate his 65th birthday with his wife, Connie, in the birthplace of jazz. The break, which follows a gruelling election campaign, will end in New York, where the couple will catch the final days of the US Open tennis tournament.
Mashaba’s agreement to prop up the ANC in exchange for key oversight roles in the City of Joburg, and to discuss a similar arrangement in Tshwane, marks the biggest shift in ActionSA strategy since its formation five years ago.
This month the party backed the ANC’s Dada Morero as mayor to take over from empty suit Kabelo Gwamanda, in return for being able to appoint the speaker and the chairs of five council committees.
“What drove us to entertain this is that the DA wanted to co-govern with the ANC in the three [Gauteng] metros, but the ANC preferred to work with us,” Mashaba says. “When I got to know this, I reached out.”
There is little love lost between ActionSA and the DA, Mashaba’s previous political home. He now rues the day he joined the DA in the multiparty charter ahead of the May 29 election, attributing ActionSA’s woeful 1.2% share of the vote to this decision. Even the fledgling MK Party beat it in Gauteng, once an ActionSA stronghold.
“Studies showed us it was a terrible mistake to work with the DA,” Mashaba says. “We were punished by black voters … We are regrouping now after we had high hopes. We also overstretched our resources by going to all nine provinces.”
It was a terrible mistake to work with the DA. We were punished by black voters
— Herman Mashaba
Mashaba has directed party structures to identify key municipalities before the 2026 local government election — those that are winnable and, crucially, those with the potential for a quick turnaround.
ActionSA will choose which of these to contest — Joburg will certainly be one of them. Party resources will be heavily directed towards the former jewel in the metro crown, which has been sorely neglected and is in desperate need of strong political direction.
“Joburg is the No 1 target for us, we will put most of our resources there and choose between three and five councils in the other provinces,” he says.
Days after Morero’s appointment, he got ActionSA’s back up by suggesting that foreign nationals be recruited to the Joburg metro police to help communicate with the many migrants now living in the city.
Morero has since backtracked; Mashaba’s stance against undocumented immigrants was a key feature of the party’s election campaign, though it clearly failed to gain significant traction.
One of the fundamental challenges ActionSA faces, along with most of South Africa’s new parties, is how to become more than just a fan club for its founder. The Black Like Me entrepreneur is yet to hold an elective conference. Some of the party’s staffers jumped ship back to the DA when John Steenhuisen agreed to join the government of national unity.
Mashaba has eschewed seeking legislative posts for himself, choosing to concentrate on building the party instead. He tells the FM, however, that he is relieved the party has won seats in parliament as this means it will receive funding.
Up to now Mashaba himself, along with a few key donors, has provided most of the money.
Trying to keep the DA’s hands off the levers of power in Gauteng may pay dividends in the short term, but collaborating with the ANC — particularly in Gauteng — carries its own reputational risks, given the administrative disarray the party has left in its wake.
By all accounts, Gauteng and its municipalities are tantalisingly winnable for opposition parties in 2026 and in 2029.
Boris Johnson might not have been talking about Gauteng, but his remark in a newspaper column 20 years ago is apt: “My friends, there are no disasters, only opportunities. And, indeed, opportunities for fresh disasters.”
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.