Inside Politics Reporter
ActionSA founder and president Herman Mashaba will not lead his party to parliament but rather focus on growing and prepare for the 2026 municipal elections as well as growing it
to eventually becoming the official opposition.
Mashaba’s party, which campaigned heavily on the anti-foreigners ticket, didn’t perform as well as widely expected at the polls but did enough to get six seats in the National assembly to enable its leader and five others to take their rightful place.
The party secured over 630,000 votes at the May 29 national and provincial elections and secured six seats in the 7th administration.
But in a statement on Thursday following the part’s senate meeting, it was decided that Mashaba and chairman Michael Beaumont should rather not go to parliament and focus on
growing the party on the ground rather.
The statement quoting Beaumont said instead former DA Nelson Mandela Bay leader Athol Trollip has been deployed to lead the ActionSA team in Parliament.
“Crucially, and in recognition of the fast-approaching 2026 local government elections, ActionSA President, Herman Mashaba, and National Chairperson, Michael Beaumont, will
be entrusting a capable team to represent ActionSA in Parliament, while their focus will be exclusively on generating ActionSA’s growth in the 2026 elections,” Beaumont said.
the party statement read.
He said the senate meeting had discussed how ActionSA could be most effective in the new political environment. The party has assembled a team with a wealth of experience in
critical areas such as community development, health, governance, finance, and economic development who will be representing ActionSA in the National Assembly.
“We are confident that this team will ensure that our policies, developed through an expert-led process, find expression in the work of legislating over the coming five-year term, ensuring that the voices, needs, and cries of ordinary South Africans feature prominently throughout Parliament,” he said.
Prior to the elections the party had entered into a multi-party pact with other smaller opposition in an agreement not to work with the ANC after the elections but rather to
present an alternative solution.
The pact was led by the DA but since the DA has publicly announced its intention to work with the ANC, ActionSA said it is now pulling out of the pact and work on rather growing the party to replace the DA as the opposition.
“It appears that ActionSA may well have to ready itself to be the unofficial opposition in parliament, holding codependent parties accountable when their individual survival depends on the mutual avoidance of accountability,” said Beaumont.
The party said in an environment where a coalition is being mooted between the opposition and the ANC, ActionSA is going to need to step up and be an opposition. This will require every ActionSA MP to serve on many committees and to work tirelessly to hold the government to account.
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