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ActionSA has announced a merger with Forum 4 Service Delivery, which will see the parties campaigning under one umbrella in the 2026 local government elections. Picture: SUPPLIED
ActionSA has announced a merger with Forum 4 Service Delivery, which will see the parties campaigning under one umbrella in the 2026 local government elections. Picture: SUPPLIED

ActionSA has announced a merger with Forum 4 Service Delivery party, which will see F4SD leader Mbahare Kekana appointed as Herman Mashaba’s second-in-command.

ActionSA had to amend its constitution to enable the appointment. 

The merger is in line with the party’s strategy to enter into marriages with “like-minded” political parties and explore opportunities to “co-operate and unite the opposition space”.

Mashaba said he was initially approached by Kekana to discuss a possible partnership, which he “grabbed with both hands”.

The Forum 4 Service Delivery was a natural choice for ActionSA. While not represented in parliament, its makeup is entirely orientated to local government, as its name suggests.

“Without any resources of any kind, it managed to be the 10th and 16th largest political party in SA in 2016 and 2021, respectively, while contesting a limited number of municipalities.

“In both elections the party won more than 80,000 votes,” Mashaba said.

The merger will see F4SD concede its political identity, while ActionSA scoops up its 42,000 member base and 38 council seats in five provinces.

Mashaba hailed the move as a gain, banking on F4SD’s identity as a grassroots organisation that focuses on service delivery issues.

Forum 4 Service Delivery brings an important capability that will greatly aid ActionSA’s efforts because it is an entity that is built on grassroots engagement with communities.

“It has proven effective at this, including in rural communities, despite having few resources. One wonders where this party would have been if they had enjoyed financial support.”

The ActionSA leader sang his new deputy’s praises, describing him as a leader of integrity.

“Kekana is a politician driven by his convictions and not self-interest. His move to engage ActionSA sees him relinquish a 10-year investment of blood, sweat and tears to do what is right for his party and for the communities who look to him for leadership,” he said.

ActionSA’s new deputy holds a postgraduate diploma in management from the University of the North West, a master’s in governance from the University of the Free State and a doctorate in political science from UKZN. He has also recently added an LLB to his qualifications.

Kekana’s primary tasks will be working towards building ActionSA structures and rallying community members to take on their challenges.

Mashaba said he looked forward to bringing together more parties under his “green umbrella” concept.

“The upcoming local government elections are going to be pivotal in SA. In the 2021 elections, voter turnout fell below 45% because South Africans feel a huge disconnect between their lived realities and the parties that have mismanaged municipalities for too long,” he said.

“The time has never been more important for organisations in the rational opposition centre to come together and build a growing alternative that is going to be increasingly supported by South Africans who feel let down by a failed political establishment.”

TimesLIVE

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