ActionSA’s three conditions for working with the DA in Johannesburg

ActionSA leader Herman Mashaba told Newsday that he would work with Helen Zille and the DA in Johannesburg, or any other party chosen by the voters, as long as this party fulfils three non-negotiable conditions.

Ahead of the 2026 local elections, ActionSA is homing in on the municipalities where it will be “impossible to govern without its support.”

Contesting six municipalities in 2021, ActionSA received a total of 547,862 votes, making it the sixth-largest party nationally by vote share.

Looking at the country’s economic hub, ActionSA won a crucial 44 seats in Johannesburg’s council, becoming the third largest party, and a key kingmaker in the fractured council.

No party won an outright majority, with the ANC receiving 32.22%, and the DA 25.45%. With ActionSA’s entrance into the elections, the ANC’s and DA’s support dropped by 10.90 and 12.27 percentage points respectively.

Mashaba said for 2026, the party has chosen 42 municipalities and divided them into three groups.

These are municipalities they will definitely contest, municipalities they will likely contest, and municipalities where there is a likelihood of less than 30% they will contest. 

“Category A, we are contesting. For example: Johannesburg, Ekurhuleni, eThekwini, Tshwane. Those we are going to contest, no doubt about it,” he explained. 

“We want to make sure that no one can govern these municipalities without us,” he said.

Mashaba added that he is “totally convinced” that ActionSA will emerge as the biggest party in these chosen municipalities. 

Mashaba acknowledged, however, that the government of these key municipalities will likely consist of a coalition, and said ActionSA is willing to work with others. 

This comes after the Democratic Alliance announced Helen Zille as their Johannesburg Mayoral candidate.

Zille was instrumental to Mashaba’s exit from the DA. She alleged that Mashaba worked closer with the EFF than the DA caucus in the city.

“As far as I’m concerned, I wouldn’t work with the ANC, I wouldn’t want to work with the EFF, MK, or the DA,” he said. “But at the end of the day, the voters will decide -whether I like it or not.”

“We will work with any party for as long as the numbers make sense for us to do so,” he said. 

Mashaba added, however, that it will be non-negotiable that a written coalition agreement be signed between ActionSA and coalition partners. This agreement will include three essential conditions for ActionSA’s support. 

Service delivery, corruption, and illegal immigration

The first condition is that the coalition partner commit to providing public services to all communities. 

“If a party feels that they only want to provide services to their voters and constituencies, please then don’t talk to us, because there is going to be a fight somewhere along the line. We’ve got critical experience there,” he explained. 

Mashaba has previously been vocal about this being a key reason for his fallout with the DA and Zille.

Despite her term as DA leader ending in 2015 and working for the Institute of Race Relations (IRR), Mashaba said that Zille remained instrumental in the party in 2019, when Mashaba was mayor.

“She wasn’t happy with my provision of services to poor communities. She worked with the white councillors in the DA to make my life miserable,” he said. 

Zille has publicly denied these allegations, claiming that Mashaba “spent more time with the EFF’s caucus than the DA’s (his party at the time).”

The second condition in the coalition agreement would be for ActionSA’s partner to “declare corruption public enemy number 1,” Mashaba explained. 

“We cannot cover for one another when it comes to corruption. When I was mayor, I fired three DA members for fraud and corruption,” he said. 

Mashaba has been critical of corruption since his tenure as mayor, and continues to criticise alleged “ongoing corruption in the Government of National Unity (GNU).”

Corruption, he said, has infiltrated the ANC, but the DA has also “shown its willingness to accept corruption” through its participation in the GNU. 

It is worth noting that ActionSA currently not opposed to working with South Africa’s largest party, seen through Tshwane, where the party co-governs with the ANC.

The final condition of the agreement is that a party must commit to acknowledging illegal migration as a national crisis. 

“Any party that supports illegal immigration and criminality mustn’t waste time with us. If we co-govern with you, the question of illegal immigration must be treated as an emergency, and illegal foreign criminals must be out of our cities,” he said. 

ActionSA has previously accused the current government of failing to effectively manage illegal migration. 

The ActionSA leader said the party would walk away from a coalition with any party that doesn’t commit to these conditions. 

Mashaba does not see this as an obstacle going forward, despite accusing both the DA and the ANC of failing on these three fronts in the past.

“Why should the ANC or the DA refuse to provide services to everyone? Why should the ANC and the DA refuse to fight corruption? Why would the ANC and the DA support criminality with illegal migration?”

ActionSA is yet to announce its mayoral candidate for Johannesburg, following announcements from the Patriotic Alliance (PA) and the DA. He said that the party will announce its candidate in its own time.