We are very pleased to inform you that Alan Beesley will assume the role of National Fundraising Chairperson going forward. Following Paul Boughey’s departure to the private sector, our National Chairperson, Michael Beaumont, assumed the key responsibility to coordinate our relationships with our donors. This was short-term arrangement given his duties in running the organisation and its campaigns.
Remarkably Alan’s relationship with ActionSA began as a funder of the party which makes him an ideal choice as someone to interface with our donors. He has subsequently been elected as an eThekwini Councillor and is a member of ActionSA’s Senate – our highest decision-making body. We are extraordinarily proud to have people of such character and private sector experience bringing the crucial perspectives of the private sector and people who are new to politics.
Alan Beesley is a Durban-based Chartered Accountant holding a Masters in Development Studies, with many years of experience in private equity. In 2000, Alan was part of a management buy-in team that acquired a private company in the packaging and distribution industry. The transaction was funded by RMB Corvest as the private equity partner. In 2005 the business was sold to Bidvest Limited and at the time of the sale was RMB Corvest’s most successful leveraged management buy-in transaction. As part of the sale agreement, Alan continued to work for Bidvest for two years.
In 2007 Alan followed a calling to work within the development sector and has been involved in developing and implementing market driven approaches in providing sustainable solutions to the various developmental issues facing South Africa.
Alan is currently a director of a philanthropic investment company whose mandate is to make a positive societal difference whilst creating wealth. Alan has and continues to serve on numerous boards including those of various Non-Governmental Organisations.
ActionSA was a party born out of The People’s Dialogue, engaging the people of South Africa is one of our core values. As such, when the question arose during the election campaign as to who ActionSA might go into coalitions with, we made a commitment to take that question to the residents following the election.
Being a party of our word, we recently launched our coalitions public engagement platform, open to all residents in the 6 municipalities we contested.
In total, over 17,000 residents responded in the 5 days that the engagement process was open.
An astonishing 91% said that they want to see ActionSA try to form a government, with around 29% indicating they would prefer a coalition with the Democratic Alliance,
Importantly, what this engagement process shows is that no opposition party is viewed as the perfect coalition partner for ActionSA. Not a single political party was able to garner close to 50% support from residents polled in this process.
ActionSA has committed that our role in coalitions, both the negotiations and their operating, will be done in a manner that places residents of municipalities first. A critical component of this is to ensure that decisions regarding coalition are made with a mandate.
As results began to trickle in during the early morning hours following the election on 01 November, it became clear that ActionSA had done something special.
In the municipalities we contested, just 13 months after our formation, early results indicated that unlike other established political parties, who generally draw support from a specific demographic of voters, ActionSA was drawing support across all communities.
In Soweto, a long-time stronghold of the ANC, ActionSA was able to draw a massive 21% of the vote, the most any opposition party has been able to garner in our democratic history.
Similarly, in the leafy upmarket suburb of Randburg, a well-known DA stronghold, ActionSA was able to draw 20% of the vote. Once again, the highest portion of the vote any political party other than the DA has been able to draw in our democratic history.
While both of these are in Johannesburg, ActionSA’s support was not limited to the City of Gold. In Newcastle, a land-locked municipality in KZN, ActionSA won our first-ever ward in a majority indian area.
These results show that ActionSA is doing what we always knew we could – Bring South Africans together on the basis of a shared set of values, with the overarching goal of fixing South Africa.
The work of fixing South Africa starts at home with our local governments. Functional municipalities are the foundation of a prosperous state; to get South Africa on the right track again, we must start by fixing the basics of service delivery at municipal level.
ActionSA was formed to unite patriotic South Africans that are committed to professional and ethical public service behind the project to fix our beloved country. We believe in decisive action that will improve the quality of life for all South Africans. We believe that the needs of the residents of our municipalities must be central to everything we do as a government. We believe that through an unwavering dedication to ethical leadership, we will build municipalities that enable our proud, resilient, and enterprising people to prosper.
Having just completed our first batch of polling for Johannesburg we thought it entirely fitting to share the news with you first.
The results reveal that ActionSA is polling then then a percentage point (29.2%) behind the ANC (30.1%) and ahead of the DA (23.1%).
This is an astonishing outcome, revealing that ActionSA is a major contender to lead a coalition in Johannesburg after these elections.
Perhaps the most important outcome is the slide that demonstrates how voters who encounter ActionSA messaging are more likely to vote for ActionSA over any other party. What this means is that our challenge is to reach more people, because it shows that the people we reach convert very readily to ActionSA.
We are turning now to begin our polling of Tshwane, Ekurhuleni and eThekwini.
On Thursday, 9 September, ActionSA officially launched our election campaign infront of a full media contingent and hundreds of ActionSA supporters.
With each passing day, we reach more and more South Africans who share our vision for a prosperous, safe country that unleashes the potential of every South African.
We have every confidence that the team of talented, capable, ethical leaders we have assembled will deliver on our electoral offer when voters elect ActionSA governments into power in the coming election.
This week, ActionSA led a protest outside the Johannesburg Magistrates Court, where the men accused of murdering corruption whistleblower, Babita Deokaran.
Babita was a key whistle-blower in an investigation into dodgy Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) contracts in Gauteng.
Her murder brings into focus the importance of protecting our whistleblowers and ensuring we have a government that is committed to fighting corruption, not sweeping it under the rug.
It was here that President and Johannesburg Mayoral Candidate, Herman Mashaba announced ActionSA’s blueprint to combat corruption at local and national government level.
Corruption must be public enemy number one!
“So let the borders be open and if the gates are not going to be open for SADC, fellow SADC people please find a creative way this is your home, your families are here. There is no ways anyone is going to close you out here. Lesotho and Free State are one thing, Mpumalanga and Swazi land are one thing, North West and Botswana are one thing, Limpopo and Zimbabwe are one thing. What is the point, there is no point at all…”
South Africans cannot be asked to pay the salary of an MP, who has sworn an oath to uphold and promote the very same laws of our country that he actively encourages people from other countries to break.
ActionSA is pleased to learn that our complaint against Julius Malema to the Speaker of the National Assembly, for his public remarks encouraging illegal immigration in January this year, will see the EFF leader sanctioned.
Dr Makhosi Khoza’s fight to re-ignite an inclusive and prosperous future for the city cannot be rivalled.
Dr Khoza brings her tried and tested ethical leadership, competence, decades of political experience at national and local spheres of governance, and a deep desire to see eThekwini transformed into a thriving and inclusive city that allows all its residents to lead dignified and productive lives.
Indeed, Dr Khoza is no stranger to the people of eThekwini, Kwa-Zulu Natal (KZN) and South Africa as a whole. She served as a pivotal figure in holding former President Jacob Zuma to account in Parliament at the height of his powers; publicly declaring that she would vote for a motion of no confidence in him.
Dr Khoza has also served as ActionSA’s KwaZulu Natal Provincial Chairperson with distinction, leading exponential growth of the party within the province and fighting for true service delivery to communities.
On 29 August 2021, ActionSA celebrated our first anniversary, what we’re calling #AYearOfAction.
The truth is that we could never have been prepared for how quickly South Africans have embraced ActionSA.
We have been overwhelmed by the support of South Africans that want a political party that offers them solutions, and a renewed hope for the future.
ActionSA was created to do just that.
Our focus is on uniting South Africans behind a project to fix our country and build a secure, prosperous, and inclusive future for all those who call South Africa home.
See what ActionSA has been up to this year:
The Independent Commission of Inquiry into the Hammanskraal Water Crisis released damning findings against the City of Tshwane. The findings, contained in an extensive report make it abundantly clear that the City has failed to provide safe water to the community.
The Commission has characterised the City of Tshwane as insensitive, irresponsive, non-transparent, unaccountable, and marked by delinquent inertia on the water crisis in Hammanskraal.
ActionSA handed over a copy of the report to the Executive Mayor for the City of Tshwane, Cllr. Randall Williams, and demanded that the City responds to the findings of the report within 90 days of receipt.
Should the City fail to provide a clear solution for the 16-year-old crisis in the stated timeframe, we will not hesitate to pursue available legal avenues to force the City to execute its mandate to promote and protect residents’ Constitutional rights to clean, safe drinking water.
A copy of the report can be found here.
ActionSA will pursue a ground-breaking lawsuit against President Cyril Ramaphosa, the Minister of Police, Bheki Cele, the members of the Security Cluster, and the African National Congress (ANC), amongst others, following the looting and lawlessness which has terrorised residents and businesses across the provinces of Kwa-Zulu Natal (KZN) and Gauteng.
We are calling on all South Africans who have been negatively affected by the recent violence and looting to join our ground-breaking lawsuit against the ineffectual and incompetent Ramaphosa and his government. South Africans can share their experiences and join our legal action.
We will then engage those cases which provide the greatest chances of success against Ramaphosa and the executive on behalf of South Africans.
ActionSA is proud to announce that Herman Mashaba, Abel Tau, and Letlhogonolo Moseki are ActionSA’s mayoral candidates for the metros of Johannesburg, Tshwane, and Ekurhuleni respectively.
Our Mayoral candidates are joined by successful ward candidates elected by the residents of their communities, attracting a total of 22 051 votes from communities across Gauteng. It is with great pride that we note that in our total party list to be submitted to the IEC includes 116 candidate representatives are young people eager to serve their communities – with the youngest being 18 years old, Chinedu Edward.
Each of our candidates is committed to bettering the lives of residents through competent governance, improving visible services for communities, ending the corruption that has become endemic under the ANC within cities, and working to create economic opportunities for all residents.
Gauteng’s metros must become hubs for innovations and beacons of service delivery for the rest of South Africa. Residents deserve nothing less.
Last week, ActionSA encouraged all South Africans to reclaim our neighbourhoods and streets by participating in the clean-up of affected communities following the looting and violence across parts of KZN and Gauteng.
Civil society organisations, religious groups, clubs, businesses and communities are came together to build back more connected, more caring, and safer communities than before.
We would like to thank all these South Africans that have done their part to save and reclaim our communities.
Let’s #CleanUpSA – Rebuilding Gauteng and KZN Communities Together.
President Herman Mashaba officially announced the addition of Newcastle and KwaDukuza to the list of municipalities we will contest in the upcoming Local Government Elections.
This comes after exponential growth in support across the province of KwaZulu-Natal over the course of 2021.
“The residents of KZN deserve an ethical and competent government that can deliver basic services and an inclusive and prosperous future for all. This will not happen under the ANC.” – Herman Mashaba
The addition of these two municipalities brings the total to be contested by ActionSA in the upcoming election, up to six. Johannesburg, Tshwane, Ekhuruleni, eThekwinini, and now Newcastle and KwaDukuza.
ActionSA stands ready to provide an alternative to the broken political system that has failed South Africans. We will assemble a team of South Africans, committed to public service, who have the skills, experience, and knowledge to achieve our vision for a prosperous and inclusive South Africa.
There is a name for what the President was talking about two weeks ago but was too fearful to put a name to it.
It is called 𝙃𝙞𝙜𝙝 𝙏𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙤𝙣.
In South African law, the definition of High Treason is as follows:
“𝑎𝑛𝑦 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑑𝑢𝑐𝑡 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑚𝑖𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑦 𝑎 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑤𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑔𝑖𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑓:
– 𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑜𝑤𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑔𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑛𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑅𝑒𝑝𝑢𝑏𝑙𝑖𝑐;
– 𝑐𝑜𝑒𝑟𝑐𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑔𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑛𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑏𝑦 𝑣𝑖𝑜𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑜 𝑎𝑛𝑦 𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑟 𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛;
– 𝑣𝑖𝑜𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔, 𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑜𝑟 𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑒𝑥𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒, 𝑖𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑝𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒, 𝑜𝑟 𝑠𝑒𝑐𝑢𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑅𝑒𝑝𝑢𝑏𝑙𝑖𝑐;
– 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑡𝑢𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑢𝑐𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑅𝑒𝑝𝑢𝑏𝑙𝑖𝑐.”
People died, businesses were destroyed and jobs have been lost, and the President is treating this matter like an agenda item at the next meeting of the ANC’s National Executive Committee.
We cannot allow it!
ActionSA has written to President Ramaphosa and giving him 60 days to initiate a Judicial Commission of Inquiry.
In the likelihood that President Ramaphosa does not take these steps within 60 days, we will be laying a complaint before the Office of the Public Protector to ensure that he is compelled to do so just as his predecessor was before him was compelled to institute the State Capture Inquiry.
The fact that thousands of South Africans will now be added to the ranks of the unemployed, entirely because of the ANC’s internal factional battles, is unforgivable.
We will not stop until those behind this High Treason are identified, until they are held accountable, and until they pay the price for what they have done.
We must ACT against insurrection, even if the President of the country is not willing to.
Those of us who have the means to make a difference have an obligation to use our considerable means to make that difference. Speaking more bluntly, we cannot remain neutral in times of great crisis and not be culpable in what will follow.
Herman Mashaba shared an open letter after the dreadful unrest that took place across the provinces of Kwa-Zulu Natal (KZN) and Gauteng last week.
“South Africa has not had a political party capable of challenging the ANC. This is precisely why more people do not vote than those who do.
The opposition establishment in South Africa has failed in their ambition and imagination, failing to be anything more than oppositional in nature. As a matter of logic, it is intuitive that business would only incur the risk of being partial when an alternative exists that offers suitable prospects of being a viable alternative.
ActionSA has been created, not to be a small opposition party, but rather one that exists to unseat the ANC in 2024. To accomplish this, we must unseat failing governments in Johannesburg, Tshwane, Ekurhuleni and eThekwini this year and form part of governments that deliver and use these platforms on which to build our national campaign towards 2024.”
This week we launched the largest voter registration campaign in South Africa’s democratic history.
Hundreds of thousands of posters printed in all 11 languages have started going up on poles across Johannesburg, Tshwane, Ekurhuleni, and eThekwini.
The message highlights a clear emotion that the vast majority of South Africans feel when it comes to politics in this country; GATVOL!
Gatvol of corruption, load-shedding, service delivery failures, rising unemployment, crime, cadre deployment and gross incompetence.
Between the 17th and 18th of July 2021, South Africans across the country will have the opportunity to register on the IEC’s voters’ roll and take the first step towards reclaiming their country for all their fellow good, law-abiding and freedom-loving South Africans.
While the change will not happen overnight, it can start immediately if every South African takes action to elect a competent, caring, inclusive and ethical government committed to public service, and it all starts with registering to vote on 17 and 18 July 2021.
The only way to fix South Africa is for the 18.3 million South Africans who did not vote, to stand together to elect an ethical and competent government that will serve the people of our country over the party they represent.
Over the last week, ActionSA has successfully run the first-ever Candidate Elections in the history of South African politics, with over 22,000 Gauteng residents casting their votes for their chosen Ward and Mayoral Candidate. While other political parties in South Africa elect their candidates behind closed doors, ActionSA opened their candidate elections to the public. Not only is the idea of primaries a disruptor in South Africa, the voting process was an innovation unlike anything seen in politics.
Residents in Johannesburg, Tshwane, and Ekurhuleni – The three major municipalities in Gauteng – had the opportunity to cast their vote online, with ActionSA pioneering an online voting tool that is safe and secure.
However, understanding that not all voters would be comfortable with an online voting system, ActionSA opened 36 different voting stations across Gauteng on Saturday 26 June from 08h00 to 17h00, all adhering to strict COVID-19 protocols to ensure the safety of every voter present.
Not only have we successfully pioneered a new way of electing public representatives, but we have shown that this can be done safely, whilst ensuring that the democratic right of residents and their demand for change can be respected.
With great care, proper planning, and mindful execution, ActionSA has shown that elections can still be run in South Africa.
We are proud of the fact that South Africans from all walks of life have embraced a new and more accountable way of electing representatives who will fight for the wellbeing of their communities.
This is action, innovation, and disruption in South African politics.
"A failure to do all that is possible to ensure elections take place would be a disservice to all South Africans."
With a reduction in infection rates, adequate planning and proper public communication on plans, elections can be held safely.
Our National Chairperson Michael Beaumont made submissions to Justice Moseneke’s Public Inquiry into Free and Fair Elections, making it clear the inquiry must decide on whether the IEC has taken all reasonable steps to institute comprehensive measures that would result in elections being held safely.
With more than 70 elections held last year around the globe, we maintain that there are many best practices that the IEC could learn from in order to ensure safe, free and fair elections.
South Africans are desperate to have a political change in this country!
The IEC can’t control levels of infection, but can control their internal plans for election readiness!
After having recently launched branches in every ward in Newcastle in the north of KZN, our teams in KwaDukuza followed in hot pursuit, launching branches in every ward in the municipality just north of Durban.
In just two weekends, ActionSA in KZN, led by the indomitable Dr. Makhosi Khoza welcomed over hundreds of new members into its ranks.
All South Africans who are committed to fighting for ethical leadership, good governance, and service delivery in their communities. The demand for ActionSA in these two deeply troubled municipalities demonstrates ActionSA’s growth beyond the metropolitan centres of South Africa, a critical factor beyond the 2021 local government elections.
With over 200 000 volunteers, countrywide, ActionSA is growing rapidly at a pace which will require our leadership to meet the demands of more and more communities in this 2021 campaign.
"If we are to truly honour the sacrifice of the class of 1976, we ALL must vote the ANC out in the coming elections."
On Youth Day, ActionSA President Herman Mashaba, his family, and ActionSA leadership visited the families of Hector Pieterson (being carried) and Mbuyisa Makhubo (carrying Hector) to lay a wreath at the Hector Pieterson memorial.
This is the first time these two families have marked the occasion of Youth Day with a party other than the ANC, but they approached ActionSA because of their belief in the party.
Lulu Pieterson (Hector’s sister) and Nontsikelelo Makhubu (Mbuyisa’s sister) recounted how, despite their families’ contributions to the struggle for freedom, they have never experienced the promise of a better life.
Instead, they have watched in horror as the ANC robs young South Africans of their collective future.
While the ANC has used their memory for their own benefit and enrichment, the families have been left out in the cold, like so many South Africans.
They deserve so much more honour and respect.
In a ground-breaking moment for South African politics, we officially unveiled each of the Mayoral Candidate hopefuls that will be standing in the first-ever ActionSA candidate elections.
These candidates will go head-to-head against each other as they look to win the votes of those registered on our system in Johannesburg, Tshwane, and Ekurhuleni.
Unlike all our political opponents, we have opened our selection process, presenting our prospective candidates beforehand, allowing voters to elect their preferred candidates.
On 20 May, Herman Mashaba announced his candidature to run as Mayor of Johannesburg. He will need to contest the primary elections against other candidates, but is confident he will win the nomination as ActionSA’s Mayoral Candidate for Joburg.
The decision arose from the very clear understanding that ActionSA must win the Mayoralty of the City of Joburg and emerge with this vital platform to demonstrate value on the road to the 2024 National and Provincial Elections. ActionSA has committed itself to unseating the ANC in 2024 in provinces and Nationally, and forming the core of a new governing majority. This will only happen by showing itself capable of unseating governments and delivering effectively. Johannebsurg offers the biggest public platform in this regard.
An independent poll, conducted by Timeslive, resulted in 77% of Johannesburg residents indicating they would vote for Mashaba to return as Joburg Mayor.
This past Saturday, 22 May 2021, ActionSA President, Herman Mashaba, met with the Congress of Traditional Leaders of South Africa (Contralesa) to address Gauteng Traditional Leaders and their members on the ActionSA’s vision for the Gauteng Province and, more broadly, South Africa.
This was the first time a new political party was given the opportunity to address such a gathering of traditional leaders. In his remarks, Mashaba said he was beyond honoured to address leaders who served as the custodians of our heritage, our culture, and a vision for our collective future. In this light, traditional leaders play a key role in ending 27 years of greed and corruption by unethical politicians.
By working with traditional leaders, who like many South Africans, are concerned about the future of our country, we can ensure that we use the coming Local Government Elections tool to re-build South Africa for the sake of all who call it home. A place where people can afford decent accommodation, and homes close to their places of work; a place where government dedicates itself to the development of poor communities; a place where our women and children feel safe and protected because the rule of law is upheld; and a South Africa where residents have access to basic services that allow them to lead dignified lives.
This South Africa is possible if all resident use the local government elections to take back their power as citizens, reclaim our country from corrupt politicians that have stolen from us, and work together to rebuild our beautiful country. “In the coming Local Government Elections, South Africans from all walks of life will have the chance to elect leaders they can trust and who will put residents’ interests ahead of party-political interests,” said Mashaba.
Mashaba said that ActionSA stood at the ready to provide a real ethical and results driven political alternative which South Africans can trust.
The recent by-elections held on 19 May provided a vivid demonstration that South Africans need a new alternative. The timing for ActionSA could not be more appropriate to contest the 27 October elections.
Firstly, voter turnout levels continue to drop to all time lows with polls in Gauteng of between 12 and 18%. This serves to demonstrate how, increasingly, South Africans are distrustful and disbelieving in the established political parties.
Secondly, the unfortunate decimation of the DA continues to gain momentum. The DA lost 2 Wards in Johannesburg to the Patriotic Alliance, one to the ANC and kept only 1 ward in Johannesburg on a 17% poll. In Tshwane (Pretoria) the DA lost support in all by-elections it contested, loosing considerable ground to the Freedom Front Plus, while it lost a ward to the ANC in eThekwini (Durban). In particular, the DA did not even put forward candidates to contest by-elections in the townships.
ActionSA elected not to contest the by-elections because it would have been an unnecessary drain on resources at a time where we are concentrating our efforts on registering voters to participate in our primaries – the election of our candidates by communities. While the established political parties had to focus on these by-elections, we were able to carry our message of an alternative across the country without competition.
We urge prospective donors to see these by-elections as an indication that ActionSA is the vehicle to remove the ANC by capturing the support of South Africans who have given up on voting and winning support from all communities.
