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.
My vow is to work tirelessly to ensure that we create a more just and inclusive City where all residents have access to quality services.
Dr. Moya has asked councillors in the capital city to leave the politics of the past behind and get to work.
In her first speech to the Tshwane Council, she said all councillors should remember they were elected by the people to serve them.
“It is not lost on me the anxiety and the political instability that has plagued this city. My vow is to end that cycle of uncertainty and bring stability to the city we all call home.”
Dr. Moya says she’s under no delusion about the massive task before her.
“I am not here to continue the assigning of blame and political point scoring I am here to commit to you that while our city has suffered some setbacks and is under financial strain that we as councillors in this council can claw it back.”
As we mark 100 days since the formation of the government, ActionSA has taken up the fight to ensure that, at every turn, the governing coalition is held accountable. As we prepare for the term ahead, the creation of this tracker is an innovative tool that we will make accessible to all South Africans so they can ensure their government delivers, while we, as the opposition, lead the charge to ensure they answer to citizens through Parliament.
It is within the context of our broad assessment of the governing coalition’s work thus far, and the areas we believe require proactive scrutiny, that we outline the key overarching metrics below, which our Performance Tracker will encompass to ensure an accurate and objective assessment of the coalition’s performance in key areas.
These key metrics provide the most realistic picture of the state of governance, with performance outcomes collectively dependent on the work of the coalition across all 32 departments. ActionSA is confident that, as South Africans discern between PR spin and reality, this tracker offers factual insights into the actual performance of government, thereby empowering citizens to hold it accountable.
The effort we have poured into making governance as accessible as possible will serve as the framework anchoring our work going forward. ActionSA is committed to ensuring that our Parliamentary Caucus remains the most hardworking and importantly, the most accessible, transparent, and accountable to South Africans, so that by the end of the 7th Parliament term, we will have led with distinction in protecting and advancing the best interests of South Africa and her people.
ActionSA is alarmed by the glaring absence of accountability from President Ramaphosa, who nearly a month ago on the 11th of September, acknowledged receiving a report from the Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development, Thembi Simelane, regarding her alleged role in the VBS Mutual Bank looting scandal.
Some 26 days later, despite the seriousness of these accusations and new revelations of alleged forgery emerging, no meaningful action has been taken. It is now fitting to raise serious concerns about whether the President’s commitments to upholding the “highest levels of ethical integrity within the national executive”, are merely empty rhetoric, as his inaction suggests, or if he genuinely intends to enforce the requisite ethical integrity in his cabinet.
Exactly 42 days ago, ActionSA first wrote to the President on the 26th of August, bringing this matter to his attention with the hope that he would act swiftly to hold the Minister of Justice accountable. Sadly, after further correspondence on 18 September, the President, who claimed to be processing the report and said that he “needed time and space” to process the Misters response whilst he was away in China, has done nothing and gone mute, while the integrity of our justice system hangs in the balance, with the Minister continuing as business as usual under a heavy cloud of serious allegations of corruption.
With reports now suggesting that the President may have first been briefed by the Minister about her dodgy VBS links as far back as 2021, three years ago, ActionSA is increasingly sceptical of any genuine intention on the part of the President to hold Minister Simelane, who is the head of our justice system, accountable.
In any democracy where the rule of law and ethical governance are regarded as obligatory rather than merely suggestive, Minister Simelane would undoubtedly have already been held accountable. Regrettably, ActionSA remains deeply concerned that the desire to firmly entrench a culture of ethics and accountability continues to elude South Africa’s political landscape under the leadership of the ANC.
ActionSA, committed to challenging this regrettable status quo, will prepare to pursue an amendment to the Constitution to establish an Independent Chapter 9 Anti-Corruption Agency that specialises in combating corruption and, importantly, is granted security of tenure to allow it to act without fear, favour or prejudice.
On Monday 11 March, President Herman Mashaba announced ‘Team Fix South Africa,’ a team of candidates that we have assembled as part of our Parliamentary list that stand ready to address the greatest challenges facing our nation.
These candidates will form part of a caucus that hails from diverse backgrounds, coming from both urban and rural communities, the public and private sector, and academic and civil society. They represent the best of the South African people.
Our candidates were selected following a gruelling selection process that saw people from outside of politics putting up their hands to take action to build a better country for our people.
They bring with them the level of skill and expertise needed for ActionSA to turn around the decay which took place under the ruling party and restore South Africa to a path of prosperity.
With their announcement, we want to demonstrate to the South African people that we are not a party hallmarked by career politicians with no real-world experience in the portfolios they are meant to lead.
No. ActionSA’s depth of leadership reflects a parliamentary caucus with the skills necessary to enter government and fix South Africa. We are a party that is ready to take action, because only action will fix South Africa.
“We will not engage in the practice of cadre deployment, nepotism and cronyism. We will only appoint people on merit and with impeccable track records with a commitment to clean governance and service delivery.”
ActionSA has concluded all of its filings with the IEC that will ensure that the Party is on every ballot paper for all South Africans across the nine provinces.
The requirements for signatures for ActionSA to contest the elections was something which was known about since last year and the challenge was welcomed by our leadership structures as an opportunity to engage more South Africans about ActionSA.
ActionSA’s election deposits have been paid in full and that will ensure that the Party will contest nationally and in each of the nine provinces. This emerged as the plan for ActionSA arising from the 2021 local government elections and the Party has been building structures on the ground in all 9 provinces ever since.
Candidate lists have been submitted for the National Assembly (NA) and Provincial Legislatures that combine diversity, excellence, youth and experience in a manner that will disrupt these bodies that have become beacons of failure to the South African people.
While our provincial structures will unveil their candidates in the near future, it is worth noting that ActionSA’s national list puts forward a team of candidates that are a welcome departure from failed career politicians. Professional South Africans who have participated in our candidate selection processes have the knowledge and experience to raise the level of debate on how the greatest challenges facing South Africans can be addressed.
This announcement marks an important occasion for change in their country. For too long South Africans have been failed by a government that only cares for itself and an opposition that has presided over the demise of our country without the ability to be more than an opposition in perpetuity. ActionSA emerges as the only new offering that has proven itself in an election and that can present a compelling alternative in all nine provinces of our country.
South Africa will not be fixed by those who have failed to do so despite having decades to do so. ActionSA calls upon all South African to unite behind change because Only Action Will Fix South Africa.
On Wednesday 28 February 2024 the eleven parties of the Multi-Party Charter For South Africa hosted a press conference aimed at outlining how a Charter Government will end rolling blackouts and achieve energy security.
South Africa’s energy crisis is the direct result of three decades of poor policy decisions, lack of planning, corruption and mismanagement of Eskom by the ruling Party. This is a crisis that must be solved immediately by an alternative government with the skill, political will and integrity to fix it.
The Multi-Party Charter has engaged experts and capitalised on its governance experience to map a way forward that will relieve our country of the economic disaster that is loadshedding. Our three-pronged approach to ending loadshedding and securing our country’s energy future will be unveiled to the electorate through this press conference.
“Ending loadshedding will require that we do not only increase the supply of electricity but also reduce the demand.”
Last week, we unveiled our 2024 National and Provincial Elections posters in the Johannesburg inner city.
ActionSA notes the announcement by President Ramaphosa of 29 May 2024 as the election date and invites him and the Premiers to begin packing their offices and updating their CVs.
Over the past 2 years ActionSA has built structures across all nine provinces of our country with branches now in over 45% of the wards of the country, under the leadership of credible provincial leadership.
By-elections have been contested in various provinces which have revealed ActionSA’s continued growth in Gauteng, our vote winning potential into double digits in provinces outside of urban centres and the fact that ActionSA is uniting South Africans from all communities and backgrounds.
ActionSA held an inaugural policy conference which saw delegates from around the country debate and approve policies which present the most practical solutions to the pressing challenges facing South Africans.
ActionSA has resolved to run a positive campaign which will be a departure from a political establishment that has failed South Africans by focussing on one another more than the crisis that has developed under their time in Parliament.
ActionSA’s campaign will strive to show all South Africans that We Can Fix South Africa but that this work can only begin once the ANC is removed from office. ActionSA is the party that will achieve this.
The Multi-Party Charter has unveiled its first policy position since it was formed and we believe that our plans will lead to a new economic direction for the country.
As ActionSA, we are committed to ensuring that government spending on economic infrastructure delivers real value for money. We understand the importance of efficient and transparent fiscal management.
A major initiative we intend to implement is the establishment of fiscal discipline in government borrowing. This will be achieved by annually capping the debt-to-gross domestic product ratio, through the introduction of a “fiscal rule.” This move is crucial for maintaining the independence of the South African Reserve Bank.
Driven by the necessity to position South Africa as a competitive market for innovation and investment, we will unlock the full potential of investment by removing barriers and eliminating overly prohibitive limitations.
These initiatives, as outlined in the Multi-Party Charter of South Africa, represent our vision for a thriving, efficient, and equitable South Africa.
President Herman Mashaba