By Johnathan Paoli
ActionSA says securing another five-year term for incumbent Tshwane mayor Nasiphi Moya will be a central objective in its coalition negotiations, with the party determined to retain her in the position.
Speaking during a briefing in Midrand on Friday, national chairperson Michael Beaumont said the party was prepared to negotiate with political parties across the country but would not compromise its governance principles to secure coalition agreements.
“What I can say, and I’m happy to say this without any fear or contradiction, ActionSA will be negotiating to ensure that Dr Nasiphi Moya gets five more years,” Beaumont said.
He said ActionSA was willing to negotiate with any political party following the local government elections, but whether those talks resulted in coalition agreements would depend on the parties’ commitment to its governance priorities.
“ActionSA will negotiate with any political party in South Africa. If you can name them, we are willing to negotiate with them. Whether we work with them or not is going to depend on a few things,” Beaumont said.
“Key amongst which is their willingness to develop a shared programme of government that delivers services to everyone and not just some people. That provides stability, that ends the revolving doors of mayors that we have had. That investigates corruption through building institutions and that brings the fight against illegal immigration into local government,” he added.
Beaumont identified four priorities that would guide the party’s coalition negotiations: equitable service delivery, political stability, fighting corruption through stronger institutions and addressing illegal immigration at local government level.
He warned that parties unwilling to commit to these priorities would not find a willing coalition partner in ActionSA.
He argued that local government coalitions should be judged primarily on their ability to improve residents’ lives rather than ideological differences between political parties.
“Local government is not an ideological space. It is not about international relations and economic policy. It is about roads, electricity, water, refuse collection. Those are the priorities,” he said.
However, Beaumont made it clear that the party would also draw firm lines on the individuals it was prepared to support for executive positions, particularly mayoral offices.
“We will work with credible leadership that can deliver. There are some red lines that you should know because they become very important in the city of Tshwane and you can read between the lines,” he said.
“What we will not do is install any mayor who has a track record of corruption or has a track record of failure. Because we will not reinstate a problem in a municipality after the voters have delivered a solution in the elections,” Beaumont added.
His comments suggest that ActionSA’s willingness to negotiate across party lines will not extend to supporting mayoral candidates whose records undermine its stated commitment to accountability and improved governance.
Beaumont’s remarks came as ActionSA highlighted its performance in Tshwane, where the party had provisionally won 27 wards, compared with none in the 2021 local government elections.
The party credited the gains to the administration led by Moya, who took office after ActionSA joined a new coalition arrangement in October 2024.
Beaumont described Tshwane as an example of what the party hoped to replicate in other municipalities, arguing that residents had rewarded the administration’s efforts to stabilise the financially distressed metro and improve service delivery.
Meanwhile, Moya said her administration’s relationship with residents had been central to the party’s electoral performance.
She acknowledged that coalition governance required compromise, describing the Tshwane arrangement as one in which political representatives had to put aside their personal and party interests to pursue agreed objectives.
With 81% of results captured, ActionSA had secured 4.89% of the national vote, representing 1,093,681 votes and 70 council seats.
Its strongest provincial performances were in Gauteng, where it received 17.36% of the vote and secured 25 seats, and the North West, where it received 6.87% and won 23 seats. However, the party had yet to lead or control a council.
In Tshwane, ActionSA’s provisional 27 ward victories marked an improvement on its performance in the 2021 local government elections, with Beaumont attributing the gains to Moya’s administration.
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