Five years ago, ActionSA was born out of a vision to put the people of South Africa first and to build a party driven by accountability, integrity, and action. Since then, we’ve grown from an idea into a movement, standing alongside communities, challenging the status quo, and making our mark in every corner of the country.
This timeline highlights some of the defining moments in our journey, from our founding milestones to the victories, challenges, and achievements that have shaped who we are today. It is a story of ordinary South Africans coming together to create extraordinary change.
ActionSA was formed by the former Mayor of Johannesburg, Herman Mashaba, to change the direction of South Africa by providing a credible alternative to a broken political system that has failed South Africans for many years since the dawn of South Africa’s democracy.
ActionSA’s foundations are grounded in The People’s Dialogue, a 9-month public engagement process which solicited the views of 2.4 million South Africans about the future of their country. Our focus is on Action that moves South Africa forward from an era of broken promises, corruption and failed government.
On 6 February 2016 the main shaft entrance at Lily Mine near Barberton (Mpumalanga) collapsed, burying three miners in a container under 70m of earth.
Despite a DMRE report finding mine ownership criminally culpable for the collapse, the families have had no closure to bury their loved ones.
ActionSA will remain at the forefront of that fight, with the Lily Mine Three’s families as a powerful symbol of what we must achieve together. Their story is a call to action for justice, for healing, and for a future where every worker’s life is valued and protected. We do this not just in memory of those lost, but in honour of the living left behind.
ActionSA held it’s own public hearings with the affected residents of Hammanskraal and surrounding communities. These hearings called on the City of Tshwane and Provincial Government officials to appear to account.
In its final report, the Commission found that the City of Tshwane failed to comply with the values of openness and transparency required of it by the Constitution, and various other legal instruments, throughout this 16-year water crisis.
Contesting just 6 out of 278 municipalities, ActionSA received a total of 547,862 votes, making us the 6th largest party nationally.
Importantly, ActionSA achieved this historic accomplishment by attracting voters from across the political spectrum and helping to bring the ANC below 50% nationally for the first time since 1994.
ActionSA, led by Zwakele Mncwango, issued papers at the KwaZulu-Natal High Court to compel the eThekwini municipality, relevant Cabinet Ministers and authorities to fix the sewerage crisis and #StopTheStink.
The infrastructure renewal and maintenance of our sewer system is a fundamental function of a metro municipality, and the historic failure of this function is directly to blame for the malfunction of sewerage pump stations in various locations in eThekwini since the floods in April 2022.
In February, President Herman Mashaba presented a vision to Fix South Africa after the removal of the ANC in 2024.
It is a dream for a future for South Africa freed from the ANC – a country defined by hope and prosperity that its people are proud to call their home.
ActionSA, UDM and 17 others claimed victory by securing electricity supply to all South African public health establishments, schools and police stations, after we won Part A of our court case against the Minister of Public Enterprises and others.
The Pretoria High Court ruled that the Department of Enterprises, in conjunction with or without other Organs of State, must within 60 days take all reasonable steps to provide uninterrupted electricity supply to all public health establishments, schools and South African Police Service police stations across South Africa.
The legal victory ensures that communities across South Africa will no longer be subject to the failures of the ANC and Eskom, which have left our communities at their mercy when hospitals, police stations and schools lose electricity during increasing levels of load shedding.
The inaugural ActionSA Policy Conference was held from 12 to 14 September and saw over 600 delegates come together from across our country. The conference was a showcase of the fastest growing and most diverse political party in South Africa engaging about the problems facing our country and how they must be addressed.
Ultimately, the policy conference resolved to adopt an array of policies which differentiate ActionSA from all other parties and lays down a real alternative to the failures of our current government. This is the foundation on which we will build a distinct election offer for the 2024 elections which will have broad appeal to all South Africans.
On Sunday, 26 May 2024, ActionSA President Herman Mashaba delivered the party’s final address ahead of the all-important election since 1994.
ActionSA stood ready to bring its proven track record of governance in Johannesburg, Ekurhuleni and Tshwane to all the people of South Africa.
On 09 October 2024, history was made in the City of Tshwane when one of our Councillors, Dr. Nasiphi Moya, was elected as the Executive Mayor of the City. She became the first person from ActionSA to occupy such a position and her election put an end to the hegemony of the DA misgovernance that had besieged the capital city for eight years.
Dr. Moya is a highly qualified individual with extensive experience in local government to restore good governance and fix our Capital City.
With the support of like-minded parties, Dr. Moya emerged overwhelmingly victorious against former DA mayor, Cilliers Brink. That signified a milestone for a four-year old party as we assumed the highest office within the country’s Capital City.
We’re building a movement and saying no to lawlessness, criminality, chaos and our children dying.
All South Africans align, we advocate for taking our small businesses back, one spaza at a time, one township at a time until 100% of all these businesses are back in the hands of citizens. Full stop! #Spaza4Locals
ActionSA’s long-awaited court action commenced, with our legal team taking the eThekwini Municipality, the KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Government and the Government of National Unity (GNU) to task for their collective failure to address the ongoing eThekwini sewage crisis.
In November 2022, ActionSA filed legal papers against the eThekwini Municipality, citing clear violations of residents’ constitutionally enshrined rights to a safe and clean environment, as well as their right to economic development.
