Note to Editors: These remarks were delivered by ActionSA National Chairperson, Michael Beaumont
Today, ActionSA took the next step in fixing the Western Cape Groot Karoo’s broken municipalities by welcoming prominent leadership into its ranks under The Big Green Umbrella in Laingsburg Municipality.
This particular municipality is a DA-led coalition with the ANC and has become a hallmark of a failed and corrupt government in a district which has been beset by coalition instability and party self-interest superceding the best interests of local communities and residents.
ActionSA’s Big Green Umbrella programme has seen more than 50 municipal councillors being added to the party’s ranks as ActionSA moved to consolidate local community-based parties to provide a credible alternative to the failed politics of the current political establishment. The move also serves to shorten comically long ballot papers that confuse voters at a time where the alternative should be clearer and offer a future to local, community-based parties threatened by the impending threshold parties like the DA and ANC are collaborating to implement in order to protect their interests.
The leadership that has signed up to ActionSA’s Bg Green Umbrella comprises of two former mayors, former ward candidates and city officials, and past members of the PA, ANC, EFF and DA. It also includes two regional parties, the Karoo Ontwikkeling Party (KOP) and the Karoo Democratic Force (KDF), all of whom are now ActionSA members.
A municipal constituency structure has been established which will consist of the following leaders:
Beverley Vorster – Chairperson
Wellen Andrew – Deputy Chairperson
Aubrey Marthinus – Secretary
Steven Schippers – Treasurer
Eugene Pieterse – Additional Member
Fanie Vorster – Additional Member
Catherine Laban – Additional Member
Jafred Baadjies – Additional Member
At today’s event, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed which sees these individuals unite under the banner of ActionSA ahead of the upcoming Local Government Elections.
Those joining us have seen the ActionSA difference under its leaders in municipalities such as Johannesburg, Nelson Mandela Bay, and Tshwane. Now, they are ready to unite behind the only new party with a tried and tested record.
The MoU sets out the basis for this Big Green Umbrella project and shares a common understanding of the broken municipal governance and service delivery in Laingsburg as well as seeking to protect residents from a concerning pattern from other parties in the district. This pattern has included coalition instability and meddling by far-removed national structures of political parties producing unfavourable outcomes for communities and residents. The agreement also establishes a community-based system of candidate selection which will ensure candidates nominated from the community are chosen.
Residents are tired of promises made by the usual suspects, and are starting to realise that voting for these same parties each time, and expecting different results, is an exercise in futility. ActionSA does not need to conjure up grand or empty promises to the residents of Laingsburg – it can simply point to what it’s leaders have done in places like Tshwane, Joburg and Nelson Mandela Bay.
Laingsburg residents can receive the ActionSA difference, but it requires them to make a new decision at the ballot box. ActionSA repeats its call for other political parties, community organisations, and leaders to take shelter under the Big Green Umbrella as we work together to provide an alternative to a country sorely in need of one.
Actionsa’s Green Umbrella Welcomes Prominent Community Leaders and Parties in Laingsburg
Note to Editors: These remarks were delivered by ActionSA National Chairperson, Michael Beaumont
Today, ActionSA took the next step in fixing the Western Cape Groot Karoo’s broken municipalities by welcoming prominent leadership into its ranks under The Big Green Umbrella in Laingsburg Municipality.
This particular municipality is a DA-led coalition with the ANC and has become a hallmark of a failed and corrupt government in a district which has been beset by coalition instability and party self-interest superceding the best interests of local communities and residents.
ActionSA’s Big Green Umbrella programme has seen more than 50 municipal councillors being added to the party’s ranks as ActionSA moved to consolidate local community-based parties to provide a credible alternative to the failed politics of the current political establishment. The move also serves to shorten comically long ballot papers that confuse voters at a time where the alternative should be clearer and offer a future to local, community-based parties threatened by the impending threshold parties like the DA and ANC are collaborating to implement in order to protect their interests.
The leadership that has signed up to ActionSA’s Bg Green Umbrella comprises of two former mayors, former ward candidates and city officials, and past members of the PA, ANC, EFF and DA. It also includes two regional parties, the Karoo Ontwikkeling Party (KOP) and the Karoo Democratic Force (KDF), all of whom are now ActionSA members.
A municipal constituency structure has been established which will consist of the following leaders:
Beverley Vorster – Chairperson
Wellen Andrew – Deputy Chairperson
Aubrey Marthinus – Secretary
Steven Schippers – Treasurer
Eugene Pieterse – Additional Member
Fanie Vorster – Additional Member
Catherine Laban – Additional Member
Jafred Baadjies – Additional Member
At today’s event, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed which sees these individuals unite under the banner of ActionSA ahead of the upcoming Local Government Elections.
Those joining us have seen the ActionSA difference under its leaders in municipalities such as Johannesburg, Nelson Mandela Bay, and Tshwane. Now, they are ready to unite behind the only new party with a tried and tested record.
The MoU sets out the basis for this Big Green Umbrella project and shares a common understanding of the broken municipal governance and service delivery in Laingsburg as well as seeking to protect residents from a concerning pattern from other parties in the district. This pattern has included coalition instability and meddling by far-removed national structures of political parties producing unfavourable outcomes for communities and residents. The agreement also establishes a community-based system of candidate selection which will ensure candidates nominated from the community are chosen.
Residents are tired of promises made by the usual suspects, and are starting to realise that voting for these same parties each time, and expecting different results, is an exercise in futility. ActionSA does not need to conjure up grand or empty promises to the residents of Laingsburg – it can simply point to what it’s leaders have done in places like Tshwane, Joburg and Nelson Mandela Bay.
Laingsburg residents can receive the ActionSA difference, but it requires them to make a new decision at the ballot box. ActionSA repeats its call for other political parties, community organisations, and leaders to take shelter under the Big Green Umbrella as we work together to provide an alternative to a country sorely in need of one.