ActionSA

• WaterMake water security a priority in every council (Council The group of elected people who make decisions for a municipality. They pass its budget and choose the mayor.) it runs.
• Electricity and power cutsStrengthen council power networks and cut avoidable outages.
• RubbishCollect refuse regularly, on a set plan, in formal and informal areas.
• Toilets and sewageWork step by step towards safe, dignified sanitation for every home.
• RoadsSet clear standards for fixing potholes and other dangerous road damage.

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• Building housesSupport serviced plots and affordable homes to buy or rent.
• Informal settlementsSupport step-by-step upgrades of informal settlements on safe land, and improve services.
• Title deedsClear council paperwork backlogs that hold up title deeds.

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• CrimeGet council law officers working more closely with community policing forums.
• Metro policeGrow council law enforcement step by step, based on population and need.
• Local jobsMake short-term council jobs give useful experience and chances to move up.
• Business and growthSimplify council rules and processes that delay investment.

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• CorruptionWork to recover public money that was stolen or unlawfully lost.
• Audit resultsAct on audit findings and work towards clean audits.
• Wasteful spendingCut unneeded spending on travel, catering and conferences.
• CoalitionsWork to build stable coalitions (Coalition Parties that agree to run a council together, usually because none has more than half the seats alone. Together they choose the mayor.), but never accept corruption for stability.
• BudgetsPass funded budgets based on money councils can really collect.

Compare every party on governance and money →

• Daily Maverick reported in March 2024 on the coalition (Coalition Parties that agree to run a council together, usually because none has more than half the seats alone. Together they choose the mayor.) in Newcastle. A coalition is when parties (Party A group of people who stand for election together, with shared plans.) join to run a council (Council The group of elected people who make decisions for a municipality. They pass its budget and choose the mayor.). This one is IFP-led. Daily Maverick said it was "supported by" ActionSA, Team Sugar, the DA and the FF+. ActionSA has 3 seats there. In January 2025, ActionSA said its councillor (Councillor A person elected to make decisions for a municipality, such as the budget and who the mayor is. Each one holds one seat.) Zwe Nxumalo had been elected council chief whip. A chief whip is the councillor who organises councillors for council votes. No major news outlet reported this. A TimesLIVE report from August 2026 quotes a letter from a former aide. The letter calls him chief whip. The same report names him as ActionSA's candidate for mayor (Mayor The leader of the municipality. Councillors choose this person, not voters. So the seats each party wins decide who can lead.) of Newcastle.

Parties (Party A group of people who stand for election together, with shared plans.) must declare some donations. This applies when one donor gives them more than R200 000 in total in a financial year. A financial year runs from April to March. The limit used to be R100 000. The President raised it in Proclamation Notice R. 275 of 2025. This was published in the Government Gazette on 18 August 2025. So the July to September 2025 report uses R100 000 for donations before that date. A smaller donation is declared once the donor's total for the year passes the limit. The IEC says the Political Funding Act covers each registered (Registered Your name is on the voters' roll. Registration for this election closed on 7 August 2026.) party, even one with no seats (Seat A place on the council, held by one councillor. A party with more votes gets more of these places.) in Parliament (Parliament South Africa's national law-makers, in Cape Town. It has two parts, the National Assembly and the National Council of Provinces.) or a provincial legislature. So the IEC's reports cover each party listed here. Smaller gifts, membership fees and public money are not in these reports. So no rows means no donor passed the limit in these reports. It does not mean the party got no money. The IEC's yearly report shows each party's total of smaller gifts, without names. These are the donations the party told the IEC about, as the IEC published them. We do not compare parties. Checked 20 October 2026.

• “In an increasingly volatile and polarised world, South Africa cannot afford a foreign policy conducted on a whim.”

  Party statement, 14 August 2025

  Lerato Ngobeni, an ActionSA MP (MP (Member of Parliament) A person who sits in Parliament, which makes South Africa's laws. They are not chosen in this local election.), said this in a party statement. ActionSA says General Rudzani Maphwanya, head of South Africa's defence force, made promises while meeting Iran's military chief. ActionSA says only the President or the foreign affairs department may speak for South Africa abroad. It wants Parliament's (Parliament South Africa's national law-makers, in Cape Town. It has two parts, the National Assembly and the National Council of Provinces.) defence committee to call him and the defence minister to explain. It says unplanned moves like this weaken South Africa in the world.

• “In terms of the request to approve the RCJ expenditure, Action SA would like to stress that charity should start at home.”

  In Parliament, 5 December 2024

  ActionSA voted against the Special Appropriation Bill, a bill for extra state spending. The bill held money for SANRAL, the roads agency, and for the ICJ case. ActionSA MP Alan Beesley said the ICJ money should be spent at home first. Parliament's unrevised record writes ICJ as "RCJ" here.

• “I'm not going to be distracted right now, to put out the fire in my house when the lives of my family are at risk.”

  Party statement, 7 March 2024

  Herman Mashaba, the ActionSA leader, said this in a podcast interview reported by EWN. He was talking about the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. He said he wants the conflict resolved, but South Africa's own problems are more urgent. If he became president, he said, he would not get involved in it. He means home must come first.

• “Now, more than ever, it is crucial for the global community to unite in calling for a de-escalation that will pave the way towards a lasting cessation of hostilities.”

  Party statement, 21 November 2023

  ActionSA called for de-escalation of the conflict in the Middle East. It said civilians on both sides must be protected.

• ““At a time where our economy is already struggling, the reality is that we cannot afford to alienate major trade partners by becoming complicit in Putin’s war,” he tweeted.”

  News report, 11 May 2023

  The Citizen reported that ActionSA leader Herman Mashaba said South Africa could not afford to anger big trade partners over Russia's war. He said this after the US said arms were loaded onto a Russian ship, the Lady R.

• “the mistreatment of Taiwan by this GNU government, and I reiterate that includes the DA, is appalling, counterproductive, and unjust.”

  In Parliament, 12 September 2025

  In a debate on Parliament's China trip report, ActionSA called the government's treatment of Taiwan unfair. It said the DA, as part of the government, shares the blame.

• “ActionSA expresses deep concern over the South African government’s concerted efforts to force the relocation of the Taiwanese Liaison Office from Pretoria to Johannesburg.”

  Party statement, 16 April 2025

  Lerato Ngobeni, ActionSA's chief whip in Parliament, said this in a party statement. A chief whip organises a party's MPs. Taiwan has a liaison office in Pretoria, which keeps contact between Taiwan and South Africa. The government wants the office to move to Johannesburg, and says it may choose where such offices go. ActionSA calls this a kind of bullying and wants the government to change course.

• “ActionSA believes that the South African government must refrain from capitulating to any foreign power, specifically China in this instance, regarding how to treat its diplomatic guests, namely the Taiwanese.”

  Party statement, 28 October 2024

  Lerato Ngobeni, ActionSA's national spokesperson, said this in a party statement. She means China should not decide how South Africa treats Taiwan's representatives here. She recalls that Nelson Mandela stood up to pressure from both the US and China. ActionSA wants the government to reject every foreign attempt to set its foreign policy. The statement does not say what China did about Taiwan's office.

• “currently South Africa has no Ambassador or trade team in Washington to negotiate on behalf of the country.”

  Party statement, 30 July 2025

  Herman Mashaba, the ActionSA president, said this in a party statement. The US was about to add a tax of 30 or 40 percent on South African goods. Such a tax on goods from another country is called a tariff. He means nobody was in the US capital to bargain for South Africa. He says farm and car exports to the US employ over 100 000 people.

• “it reflects a political response to South Africa’s alignment with nations that the United States regards as pariah states or adversaries.”

  Party statement, 8 July 2025

  Alan Beesley, an ActionSA MP, said this in a party statement. US President Trump had just announced a tariff of 30 percent on all South African goods sold to the US. A tariff is a tax on goods from another country. ActionSA means the US is punishing South Africa for siding with countries the US sees as enemies. It wants President Ramaphosa to share a clear plan to limit the harm.

• “ActionSA welcomes the decision by the United States (US) to replace the two-decades-old sanctions against the Zimbabwean people with sanctions targeted at Zanu-PF leaders”

  Party statement, 5 March 2024

  ActionSA said this in a statement from its president, Herman Mashaba. Sanctions are penalties one country puts on another, such as limits on money or trade. The US decided to aim its sanctions on Zimbabwe at the leaders of Zanu-PF, not the whole country. ActionSA says this will ease life for Zimbabweans and ease pressure on South Africa next door. It blames South Africa's ruling party for backing Zanu-PF leaders.