Herman Mashaba, president of ActionSA, has publicly rejected what he calls sustained bullying and outside interference in his party’s decision-making. He frames the dispute not as a personality clash but as a question of accountability to millions of South Africans who depend on governments that actually deliver services.
His core claim concerns every citizen: ActionSA is an independent party, not an extension of the DA, the ANC, the EFF or any other organisation, and its coalition choices must be judged by whether they improve people’s lives rather than by the preferences of commentators or rivals. The full statement, titled “I Will Not Be Bullied Into Making Political Decisions. ActionSA’s Independence Is Not Up For Negotiation,” was published at https://www.actionsa.org.za/i-will-not-be-bullied-into-making-political-decisions-actionsas-independence-is-not-up-for-negotiation/.
Coalition politics exist for governance, accountability and service delivery, Mashaba argues, not as permanent marriages between parties. The City of Tshwane is his evidence. In October 2024, ActionSA’s Dr Nasiphi Moya was elected Executive Mayor through a multiparty coalition that included ActionSA, the ANC and the EFF, alongside other parties. Under her leadership, municipal finances have stabilised. In April 2025, Parliament’s Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Portfolio Committee welcomed the city’s financial turnaround, the administration presented its first fully funded budget in three years, and it reduced its Eskom debt by roughly R1 billion within its first 175 days.
Mashaba does not overstate the progress. He acknowledges that substantial work remains in a city that inherited serious financial and governance challenges. Still, he insists the record shows coalitions can deliver when there is a shared commitment to governing.
His frustration sharpens over what he sees as a double standard. After the 2021 Local Government Elections, ActionSA supported the DA in establishing coalition governments in Johannesburg and other metros, backing the election of DA Mayor Mpho Phalatse. When that coalition hit difficulties, ActionSA and other partners worked in January 2023 to restore the governing majority. A proposal negotiated and accepted by the Patriotic Alliance and agreed to by negotiating teams was nonetheless rejected by the DA’s Federal Executive. On 26 January 2023 the coalition lost the motion of no confidence, Phalatse was removed, and the ANC and EFF returned to power in Johannesburg, even though ActionSA had voted against her removal. In May 2023 the party proposed two of its MMCs as an alternative to restore a non-ANC government, but those talks collapsed when the DA refused to work with the PA, ultimately leaving the ANC in power.
Where were the self-appointed guardians of coalition politics then, Mashaba asks. His criticism extends to 2024. The Multiparty Charter was founded on an understanding that signatories would not hold separate coalition discussions with the ANC before the elections, yet in May 2024 the DA entered discussions with the ANC and joined the ANC-led Government of National Unity. ActionSA raised concerns about the breach of trust and walked away from the arrangement.
His own history frames the argument about independence. He resigned from the DA and the City of Johannesburg in October 2019, after Helen Zille’s election as Federal Council Chairperson, citing fundamental disagreements over the DA’s direction, its approach to inequality, and its willingness to prioritise party interests over the people of Johannesburg. He had fought for an inclusive, pro-poor administration, including an insourcing programme that benefited more than 7,000 families.
For Mashaba, the loudest political arguments distract from the people who matter most. He questions why there is so little outrage over families living below the breadline and communities without reliable water, electricity, proper sanitation, decent housing and economic opportunity, and so little concern for young South Africans who hold qualifications but no employment. He cites Cape Town’s own 2024/25 Integrated Annual Report, which records that 18.2% of its population lives below the poverty line, roughly 231,030 indigent households, and notes that the city’s planning documents acknowledge apartheid-era spatial divisions that keep poorer communities far from economic opportunity, with inadequate public transport and costly commutes reinforcing inequality.
His conclusion is a demand for respect grounded in a democratic mandate. ActionSA belongs to its members and voters, he writes, not to the DA, the ANC, the EFF or commentators, and its loyalty is to the people of South Africa, particularly those left behind by decades of political failure.