ActionSA continues to be united even after the collapse of the toxic coalition in Johannesburg, according to the party’s president Herman Mashaba.
Following reports that the leadership of the party was divided over going into coalition with the ANC in some municipalities, Mashaba insisted there was no tension among ActionSA leaders over the ANC matter.
The Star understands that Mashaba was out of the country on holiday around the time that the coalition with the DA was falling apart.
While in Kenya, he received messages from his team in South Africa that the party had been receiving approaches from the ANC, EFF and PA on possible coalitions.
“When Bongani and Michael told me that we are getting a lot of approaches but there were lots of questions that I could not clarify. The ANC, EFF, PA and others they were trying to really get through to us,” Mashaba said.
He said he gave his leaders in the country permission to go and listen to those that were interested in speaking to ActionSA.
“I told them go and listen to anyone that wants to talk to you but in the event that decisions have to be made please call a senate meeting to discuss this matter and the reason the guys came to me was because of pressure from our members because of what the DA did to us,” Mashaba said.
Mashaba said his team understood his position concerning the ANC. He said he was shocked when he came back in the country to discover headlines in newspapers saying that talks between ActionSA and the ANC were at an advanced stage.
Mashaba said his party was embarking on a democratic process, consulting its structures on how to move forward with coalitions and whether one with the ANC was possible.
“ActionSA is a brain child of the people’s dialogue, when the IEC was refusing to register our logo we ran a survey, our people gave us a mandate and we changed the logo that’s how we operate.” Mashaba said.
He said he was confident that those structures would never allow the party to work with the ANC in government.
“I said to Clement in the event our people would say go into a coalition with the ANC I would step down, but fortunately I know that is not going to happen,” Mashaba said.
Mashaba also denied that the party was being directly funded by himself. He said initially his family had assisted with the party’s start up, but along the way ActionSA had managed to get some donors.
“People have been coming forward and people really supported us strongly you will see the next quarter of the declaration ActionSA might come out being the biggest recipient of South Africans who are interested in our party,” Mashaba said.
Mashaba said he would not be leaving the party any time soon and was focused on ensuring that ActionSA became one of the biggest parties in parliament after the 2024 elections.