The May 2024 election marked a true inflection point for ActionSA, not because it delivered the breakthrough we worked hard for, but because it did not.
For ActionSA, the outcome triggered a moment of unfiltered self-reckoning. It demanded that our party confront hard truths with honesty. And for us to rethink not only the way forward but also our very purpose in South Africa’s political landscape.
If ActionSA was to regain lost ground and strengthen our position ahead of the 2026 local government elections, incremental adjustments would never have been enough. We knew what we required was deeper clarity and honest reassessment of who we are, how we organise and what kind of political force we intend to become.
Vision accompanied by competence
The clearest revelation to emerge from this period was remarkable in its simplicity. Vision, no matter how pragmatic or forward-looking, remains inert without the machinery to realise it. Policies, no matter how expertly crafted, cannot substitute for presence. And a fight to fix South Africa means little if the party wanting to lead it cannot demonstrate competence where South Africans experience the state most intimately.
From rural wards to metros, South Africans feel the daily consequences of local government failure. We recognised that our fight to fix South Africa could no longer be anchored solely in the promise of ideas. But it had to be proven in the currency of action itself.
The party we were 18 months ago and the one we are today are separated not by a shift in principle, values, or policy, but by clarity on how we fix this country that we so deeply love.
We now understand that rebuilding a country is not won on paper, but on the ground. And that the battleground for South Africa’s turnaround lies in local government. This is where service delivery is either a testimony of state capacity or its most devastating refutation.
Service deliverism ethos
And so, enters ActionSA’s ethos of “service deliverism” as a simple, clear and firm principle. One that not only defines our entire approach to the upcoming local government elections, but already drives the remarkable successes of ActionSA’s Dr Nasiphi Moya and the multi-party coalition in the City of Tshwane.
Every single day, Dr Nasiphi Moya and her team prove that ActionSA no longer consumes our time with ideology, policy debates or opposition politics. But it is now a party driven by delivering results that transform the lives of South Africans. And one that breathes new life into our fight to fix the country, one broken municipality at a time.
In Tshwane, ActionSA is showing that service deliverism is our only creed. It is placing equitable, efficient, and dignified service delivery for all residents at the heart of restoring a municipality so tragically broken by successive failed governments before the new multi-party administration took over power last October.
All proof in recent milestones
The proof is in the pudding. This government has passed the first fully funded budget in years. It has reduced Eskom’s historical debt by more than R1.2-billion. And it collected a record R4.088-billion in a single month, the highest in Tshwane’s history. It fully settled the R4.63-billion VAT liability, and improved liquidity and cash flow management. The Tshwane government also kept Eskom and Rand Water accounts fully up to date. It also strengthened investor confidence with R86-billion in pledges at the recent Tshwane Investment Summit.
The pudding here is not just numbers. It is better services, reliable electricity and water, and visible improvements in the daily lives of Tshwane residents.
It means that more of every cent from ratepayers can be directed straight into tackling the city’s shocking infrastructure backlog. This by working to ensure better roads, expanding access to clean drinking water and ensuring that these improvements benefit all residents equally. Regardless of their postal code.
Break from chains of corruption
So, when asked what our strategy is for the upcoming local government elections, the answer is simple. We want South Africans, particularly the residents of Gauteng’s three metros. To see that a break from failed, corrupt and incompetent governance is not only possible but practically achievable. This break lies in ActionSA working overtime to assume the mayoralties of Gauteng’s metros, led by ethical, competent leaders with a proven track record.
The foundation we have laid in Tshwane is the simple promise we bring to South Africans in the upcoming elections. ActionSA offers the clearest alternative. We are unapologetic in our commitment to ethical, competent leadership, to service delivery. And to restoring hope in the communities where government has failed.
Herman Mashaba is ActionSA president
