Why ActionSA ditched the DA

Following the 2021 local government elections, ActionSA got into bed with the Democratic Alliance (DA) in Johannesburg, Tshwane and to a lesser extent, Ekurhuleni.

Formed just a year before the 2021 elections by former DA Johannesburg mayor Herman Mashaba, ActionSA contested just six municipalities but emerged as the sixth-largest party in the country.

They performed particularly well in Johannesburg and Tshwane, where they secured 44/270 and 19/214 seats on the council, respectively.

These were incredibly crucial swing votes in metro councils that are notoriously fragmented.

ActionSA originally entered into DA-led multi-party coalitions in Johannesburg, under Dr. Mpho Phalatse, and Tshwane, under Cilliers Brink.

The relationship was tumultuous to say the least, with the coalition partners consistently airing their dirty laundry in public.

At the end of the day, Phalatse was voted out in a motion of no confidence in early 2023, although she was supported by ActionSA.

In Tshwane, ActionSA held the position of Deputy Mayor. However, it supported a motion of no confidence against Brink in September 2024, paving the way for Dr Nasiphi Moya to become mayor.

According to ActionSA’s national chairperson, Michael Beaumont, the breakdown was rooted in trust issues, unilateral decision-making, and what he describes as the DA’s “big brother” approach to coalition politics.

‘Big brother’ politics

In an interview with Newsday, Beaumont says the DA’s handling of coalitions in Johannesburg and Tshwane was at the heart of the fallout.

“The DA continued to run governments that were not consultative and didn’t try to bring about a multi-party coalition,” he said.

For ActionSA, he said that problem was not simply ideological difference but the way the DA managed partners inside government.

Beaumont argues that the DA resisted genuine power-sharing and treated coalition allies as junior players.

“They wanted to be the big brother that determined how things should be run, and everyone else just served at their pleasure to keep them in power,” Beaumont said of the DA’s coalition management.

The relationship further deteriorated during the run-up to, and after, the 2024 national elections through the Multi-Party Charter (MPC), a pre-election arrangement that the DA promoted as a united front of like-minded parties.

Beaumont now believes ActionSA’s participation in the MPC hurt the party far more than it helped.

“We believe that our associations with the multi-party charter for South Africa hurt ActionSA,” he said.

Beaumont argues that the structure of the MPC allowed the DA to neutralise competitors under the banner of cooperation while pursuing its own strategy behind the scenes.

This accusation goes to the core of ActionSA’s claim: that the DA used the charter as political cover while preparing for a governing arrangement entirely outside the pact’s stated goals.

Beaumont says the experience has convinced the party that it must work only with partners who respect shared decision-making and coalition discipline.

In interviews with Newsday, the DA has largely laid the blame on ActionSA and ‘smaller parties’.

Despite the disagreements, ActionSA maintains that coalition governance is essential, but only if parties enter it as equals.

Beaumont insists that the experience has strengthened the party’s resolve rather than weakened it.

The move away from the DA, he suggests, is not about political rivalry but about building a style of governance that is fair, functional, and genuinely collaborative.

ActionSA has positioned itself as a key player in the new multi-party coalition running the City of Tshwane — working with the ANC, EFF, and other smaller parties under Mayor Moya.

By partnering with both the ANC and EFF, Beaumont said that ActionSA is pushing to move away from ideological battles and towards practical governance: fixing the basics rather than scoring political points.

He said that the party would work with any party who is on the same page for that – regardless of their relationship history.

Watch Michael Beaumont’s full interview with Newsday