ActionSA unequivocally condemns the continued, and deliberate, misnaming of our party as “ASA.” This is not merely a slip of the tongue—it is a wilful disregard for the identity we have chosen to define ourselves by and a reminder of the legacy of apartheid erasure.
Repeatedly, we have made it abundantly clear: we are ActionSA, not “ASA”.
The deliberate misappropriation of “ASA,” an abbreviation belonging to Athletics South Africa (ASA) by those hellbent on calling us out of our name is used to undermine both our party and ASA, a completely unrelated entity.
ActionSA is a registered political party under one name, ActionSA, on all official platforms, including voting ballots, and as such, “ASA” is a reference unknown to ActionSA and that relates solely to Athletics South Africa, not ActionSA, an independent, autonomous political movement led by its President, Herman Samtseu Mashaba.
Lest we forget that renaming Black people by assigning so-called Christian or English names at schools, churches, and workplaces, was a practice rooted in colonialism and apartheid tools of racial domination and erasure of African identity.
Our names were deemed either too difficult to pronounce or were considered inappropriate by European standards. The practice served to strip our forebears of their cultural identity and conform them to foreign and demeaning norms by oppressive colonial and apartheid regimes.
Therefore, this deliberate misnaming of our organisation is more than just an inconvenience. It echoes the painful legacy of our country’s past, where Black people were routinely stripped of our given names and identities under colonial and apartheid regimes. The imposition of so-called Christian or English names in schools, churches, and workplaces was a tool of domination—an attempt to erase African identities deemed “too difficult” to pronounce or “inappropriate” by Western standards.
Let us not forget how Rolihlahla became Nelson, how Bantu became Steven, and how Mpilo became Desmond.
As we have just come from the commemoration of the birth of Nomzamo Madikizela-Mandela’s birthday 2 days ago on the 26th of September, who was also given the name Winifred, few even knew her full name to include Nomzamo and Zanyiwe as she began to assert rejecting forever being referred to as Mandela’s wife instead of an autonomous agent and freedom fighter in her own right.
And so, we are not blind to the reasons behind the continued practice by those who insist on referring to us as “ASA” or Action South Africa.
It is high time that South Africans everywhere be it on social media or mainstream understand that whether knowingly or unknowingly, intentionally, or unintentionally, for convenience or out of whim, calling us anything other than ActionSA is against our will.
To continue to do so will be met with the utmost resistance by ActionSAmembers across South Africa just as our forebears resisted. We will fight back against the dismissive arrogance and refusal to recognise our chosen name and use it properly.
We reject any attempt to diminish or distort the name of our party, ActionSA, because we understand the importance of identity. Our name is more than a title; it represents the principles and vision of a South Africa where all people are treated with respect and dignity; are seen, and called by their rightful and chosen names.
ActionSA is here to make a difference, and our name carries the weight of that mission. We will not allow it to be trivialised, just as we will not allow the struggles of the past to be repeated in how we address each other in today’s South Africa.
Let there be no further confusion: We are ActionSA, and we demand to be called as such.
ActionSA Rejects Deliberate Misnaming as “ASA” – A Reminder of the Legacy of Apartheid Erasure
ActionSA unequivocally condemns the continued, and deliberate, misnaming of our party as “ASA.” This is not merely a slip of the tongue—it is a wilful disregard for the identity we have chosen to define ourselves by and a reminder of the legacy of apartheid erasure.
Repeatedly, we have made it abundantly clear: we are ActionSA, not “ASA”.
The deliberate misappropriation of “ASA,” an abbreviation belonging to Athletics South Africa (ASA) by those hellbent on calling us out of our name is used to undermine both our party and ASA, a completely unrelated entity.
ActionSA is a registered political party under one name, ActionSA, on all official platforms, including voting ballots, and as such, “ASA” is a reference unknown to ActionSA and that relates solely to Athletics South Africa, not ActionSA, an independent, autonomous political movement led by its President, Herman Samtseu Mashaba.
Lest we forget that renaming Black people by assigning so-called Christian or English names at schools, churches, and workplaces, was a practice rooted in colonialism and apartheid tools of racial domination and erasure of African identity.
Our names were deemed either too difficult to pronounce or were considered inappropriate by European standards. The practice served to strip our forebears of their cultural identity and conform them to foreign and demeaning norms by oppressive colonial and apartheid regimes.
Therefore, this deliberate misnaming of our organisation is more than just an inconvenience. It echoes the painful legacy of our country’s past, where Black people were routinely stripped of our given names and identities under colonial and apartheid regimes. The imposition of so-called Christian or English names in schools, churches, and workplaces was a tool of domination—an attempt to erase African identities deemed “too difficult” to pronounce or “inappropriate” by Western standards.
Let us not forget how Rolihlahla became Nelson, how Bantu became Steven, and how Mpilo became Desmond.
As we have just come from the commemoration of the birth of Nomzamo Madikizela-Mandela’s birthday 2 days ago on the 26th of September, who was also given the name Winifred, few even knew her full name to include Nomzamo and Zanyiwe as she began to assert rejecting forever being referred to as Mandela’s wife instead of an autonomous agent and freedom fighter in her own right.
And so, we are not blind to the reasons behind the continued practice by those who insist on referring to us as “ASA” or Action South Africa.
It is high time that South Africans everywhere be it on social media or mainstream understand that whether knowingly or unknowingly, intentionally, or unintentionally, for convenience or out of whim, calling us anything other than ActionSA is against our will.
To continue to do so will be met with the utmost resistance by ActionSAmembers across South Africa just as our forebears resisted. We will fight back against the dismissive arrogance and refusal to recognise our chosen name and use it properly.
We reject any attempt to diminish or distort the name of our party, ActionSA, because we understand the importance of identity. Our name is more than a title; it represents the principles and vision of a South Africa where all people are treated with respect and dignity; are seen, and called by their rightful and chosen names.
ActionSA is here to make a difference, and our name carries the weight of that mission. We will not allow it to be trivialised, just as we will not allow the struggles of the past to be repeated in how we address each other in today’s South Africa.
Let there be no further confusion: We are ActionSA, and we demand to be called as such.