ActionSA

ActionSA is a South African political party that has been established to "set South Africa free from the restraints of a broken political system and build a prosperous, non-racial and secure future for all its people." [1] The party believes in the ideal of "Act as One to build a prosperous, non-racial and secure future for all South Africans."[2]

ActionSA
PresidentHerman Mashaba
Founded29 August 2020 (2020-08-29)
IdeologyLiberalism
Website
https://www.actionsa.org.za/

The party has been established by former Mayor of Johannesburg, Herman Mashaba, soon after leaving the Democratic Alliance. [3]

Formation

Party Launch

On the 29th of August 2020, former Mayor of Johannesburg, Herman Mashaba, announced that he had started a new political party. That party would be known as ActionSA and it was intending to run for the three Gauteng metro cities (Johannesburg, Ekurhuleni and Tshwane) in the 2021 local government elections.[4] The party soon gained notoriety as it brought together former politicians who were dissatisfied with big parties such as the DA and ANC. Makhosi Khoza, Vytie Mentor, Andre Coetzee and David Tembe were amongst the former ANC politicians who joined the newly formed ActionSA. [5] On October, 5th 2020, former DA provincial leader, John Moodey, announced that he had joined ActionSA. [6][7] Soon, thereafter, he was followed by numerous former DA councillors, along with leaders like Abel Tau, Funzi Ngobeni and former DA Johannesburg youth leader, Lincoln Machaba. [8][9]

Noting on how many of its leaders came from the DA, the party's inaugural spokesperson said that "the party was not formed as part of a detraction for the DA , but the need to create an alternative towards a shared future." [10]

The party was quickly criticised by, then newly elected leader of the DA, John Steenhuisen, who noted that every time a voter supports a small party like ActionSA "the net result is the strengthening of the ANC. We’ve been through this scenario so many times. As soon as the elections are over, voters who tested the waters with one of these new start-ups realise they got zero bang for their buck from a one-man party with a regional footprint, and they return to the DA. But by then the damage is done for the next five years.” Steenhuisen's critique was not at these party's policies but rather that they are "too small" to impart any change. [11] This criticism was followed by Steenhuisen's chief-of-staff's opinion piece which labelled ActionSA as "EFF-lite in disguise."[12] In an open letter to Steenhuisen, Moodey criticised this opinion piece and what he called the DA's "race denialism" and defended ActionSA's vision and its leaders reasons from leaving the DA. Moodey claimed that "Herman left the DA because it gave up on the project of being a serious political party that could challenge and unseat the ANC." [13]

IEC Registration

A month after the party was launched, the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) rejected the party's application to register itself as an official political party. [14] This was due to another party, Party of Action, claiming that ActionSA had stolen its logo. On this claim, Mashaba noted, "The IEC’s decision is based on a perceived similarity with another political party and the use of the SA flag in our logo. We have already written to the IEC, initiating our right to appeal their decision as a result of its incorrect application of the law. We regard the IEC to have acted irrationally in their decision. We submit that our identifying features remain sufficiently different from the Party of Action (POA), a political party that has never contested elections before despite registering."[14]

The party's appeal was again rejected by the IEC on the same basis. [15][16]The party's present criticised this decision and initiated legal consultation. [17]

On December 13th, 2020, the party publicly announced that it had been officially registered with the IEC, notably under a new logo. [18][19][20]

Ideology and principles

Values

According to the party's website, the party has seven core values:[21]

  • Electoral Reform
  • Economic Prosperity
  • Non-Racialism
  • Quality Education
  • Social Justice
  • Ethical Leadership

The party's current main policies focus on what it calls the solution blueprints on:

  • Climate Change and the Environment[22]
  • Electoral Reform[23]
  • Professional Public Service[24]
  • Ethical Leadership[25]
  • Immigration[26]
  • Rule of Law[27]
  • Land Reform and Housing[28]
  • Quality Education[29]
  • Social Justice[30]
  • Non-racialism[31]
  • Economic Prosperity[32]

See also

References
  1. "Former Joburg mayor Herman Mashaba launches his new ACTIONSA party". TimesLIVE. Retrieved 2020-12-14.
  2. Tandwa, Lizeka. "Mashaba launches new political party, ropes in former ANC leaders". News24. Retrieved 2020-12-14.
  3. "Ready for ActionSA: John Moodey jumps on Mashaba bandwagon". TimesLIVE. Retrieved 2020-12-14.
  4. Tandwa, Lizeka. "Mashaba launches new political party, ropes in former ANC leaders". News24. Retrieved 2020-12-14.
  5. "Ready for ActionSA: John Moodey jumps on Mashaba bandwagon". TimesLIVE. Retrieved 2020-12-14.
  6. "Former DA Gauteng leader John Moodey joins Mashaba's ActionSA". BusinessLIVE. Retrieved 2020-12-14.
  7. "DA JHB youth chair and councillor joins Action SA". www.polity.org.za. Retrieved 2020-12-14.
  8. Tandwa, Lizeka. "Another one bites the dust - DA JHB youth leader and councillor joins Action SA". News24. Retrieved 2020-12-14.
  9. "DA Tshwane leader jumps ship to join Herman Mashaba's new party". TimesLIVE. Retrieved 2020-12-14.
  10. Wire, News24. "DA's John Steenhuisen lashes out at splinter parties after Mashaba launches Action SA". The Citizen. Retrieved 2020-12-14.
  11. Smith, Ryan (2020-12-01). "OPINIONISTA: Herman Mashaba's ActionSA is EFF-lite in disguise". Daily Maverick. Retrieved 2020-12-14.
  12. "Dear John, from John". ActionSA. 2020-12-03. Retrieved 2020-12-14.
  13. https://www.timeslive.co.za/authors/aphiwe-deklerk. "IEC rejects Herman Mashaba's bid to register his new party Action SA". TimesLIVE. Retrieved 2020-12-14.
  14. Kubheka, Thando. "IEC rejects Action SA's appeal to be registered as political party". ewn.co.za. Retrieved 2020-12-14.
  15. "Action SA's appeal to register as a political party rejected". SABC News - Breaking news, special reports, world, business, sport coverage of all South African current events. Africa's news leader. 2020-11-10. Retrieved 2020-12-14.
  16. Tandwa, Lizeka. "Herman Mashaba takes aim at IEC after Action SA loses appeal over party status". News24. Retrieved 2020-12-14.
  17. "Action SA registered as a political party | eNCA". enca.com. Retrieved 2020-12-14.
  18. "Herman Mashaba's ActionSA is finally a registered political party". BusinessLIVE. Retrieved 2020-12-14.
  19. Hlatshaneni, Simnikiwe. "It's official: Mashaba's ActionSA is registered with IEC". The Citizen. Retrieved 2020-12-14.
  20. "The Era of Action is Upon Us". ActionSA. Retrieved 2020-12-14.
  21. "ActionSA - Climate Change Blueprint". ActionSA. 2020-09-16. Retrieved 2020-12-14.
  22. "ActionSA - Electoral Reform Blueprint". ActionSA. 2020-09-16. Retrieved 2020-12-14.
  23. "ActionSA - Professional Public Service Blueprint". ActionSA. 2020-09-16. Retrieved 2020-12-14.
  24. "ActionSA - Ethical Leadership Blueprint". ActionSA. 2020-09-16. Retrieved 2020-12-14.
  25. "ActionSA - Rule of Law Blueprint". ActionSA. 2020-09-16. Retrieved 2020-12-14.
  26. "ActionSA - Rule of Law Blueprint". ActionSA. 2020-09-16. Retrieved 2020-12-14.
  27. "ActionSA - Land Reform and Housing Blueprint". ActionSA. 2020-09-16. Retrieved 2020-12-14.
  28. "ActionSA - Quality Education Blueprint". ActionSA. 2020-09-16. Retrieved 2020-12-14.
  29. "ActionSA - Social Justice Blueprint". ActionSA. 2020-09-16. Retrieved 2020-12-14.
  30. "ActionSA - Non-racialism Blueprint". ActionSA. 2020-09-16. Retrieved 2020-12-14.
  31. "ActionSA - Economic Prosperity Blueprint". ActionSA. 2020-09-16. Retrieved 2020-12-14.
  32. "ActionSA - Economic Prosperity Blueprint". ActionSA. 2020-09-16. Retrieved 2020-12-14.
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