‘They hardly have two councillors to rub together’: ActionSA on why it snubbed Unite for Change

ActionSA has laid out a detailed explanation for why it chose its own “Big Green Umbrella” model instead of joining the Unite for Change initiative led by GOOD, Build One South Africa (BOSA) and Rise Mzansi.

According to ActionSA national chairperson Michael Beaumont, the party initially explored the possibility of joining the initiative, but talks broke down over what Beaumont characterises as ego-driven resistance from smaller parties.

He said that the decision was driven by practical considerations around ballot clutter, local government realities, and what he describes as fundamental flaws in the Unite for Change concept.

Speaking to Newsday, Beaumont began by clarifying that ActionSA’s strategy of consolidating smaller parties represented in council under the ‘Big Green Umbrella’ long predates Unite for Change.

A key factor, he said, was the increasingly unmanageable length of South Africa’s municipal ballot papers, which complicates voter choice and fragments the opposition.

“We looked at a situation where ballot papers are becoming comically long in our country. It is becoming obscene.”

He pointed to Johannesburg’s 2021 local government ballot as an example. “In the last local government election, Johannesburg had 55 parties on the ballot and that is just outrageous. And South Africans need fewer and more credible choices.”

For this reason, ActionSA focused its Big Green Umbrella efforts on consolidating parties that already have council-level representation.

‘Parties wanted to be the biggest fish in a very small pond’

Beaumont argues this is where Unite for Change falls short.

“Each one of them [the parties under the Big Green Umbrella] delivering what Unite for Change can’t deliver and that is municipal councillors in municipalities where ActionSA can now contest with a foothold.”

Competing in municipalities without any existing representation is risky and inefficient, he said.

“To contest in a municipality where you don’t even yet have a councillor is very difficult because it’s very hard to demonstrate value and ask residents to give you more councillors.”

Speaking about GOOD, BOSA and RISE, he said that “between the three of them they’ve hardly got two councillors to rub together and that is a challenge in a local government standpoint.”

“If you take an organisation like BOSA and RISE, they don’t have a single councillor between them and that makes it a very difficult prospect.”

He stressed that municipal elections are not driven by social media visibility or national politics but by hands-on service delivery.

“This is not a social media election. It’s not a parliamentary election. This is an election about feet on the ground, local government service delivery, bread-and-butter issues.”

ActionSA did initially explore the possibility of joining the initiative, but talks broke down over what Beaumont characterises as ego-driven resistance from smaller parties.

“It looks like some of these parties wanted to be the biggest fish in a very small pond. They didn’t want to be a smaller fish in a bigger pond. And that’s fine. That’s their right.”

Ultimately, he said, ActionSA does not need to rely on such alliances.

“ActionSA is big and strong enough as a brand that we can stand on our own two feet and deliver without having to be propped up by anybody else.”

Speaking to Newsday, Unite for Change’s Brett Herron lamented that parties with shared values competed against each other instead of working together to fix the country’s problems.

“It was clear that what South Africa needed was not more political parties, but a consolidation of political parties who have very little that divides them,” Herron said.

“We can pool our skills, talents and resources, and give voters a stronger, more impactful option at the polls.”

GOOD received 0.18% of the vote, BOSA 0.41% and RISE, 0.42%, giving the three a combined five seats in the 400-seat National Assembly.

Watch Michael Beaumont’s full interview with Newsday