ActionSA leader Herman Mashaba has congratulated Democratic Alliance leader John Steenhuisen on his re-election and extended a hand of partnership in working together to remove the African National Congress (ANC) at the upcoming polls.

Steenhuisen beat his opponent Mpho Phalatse at the party's 2023 elective congress held in Johannesburg at the weekend.

Mashaba said his party welcomed the remarks made by Steenhuisen in which he appeared to distance the DA from plans to work with the ANC, and instead embraced the idea of working with like-minded opposition parties to present a united front to voters in the 2024 general election.

Steenhuisen announced that he would be approaching like-minded political parties to sign a “Moonshot pact” to unseat the ANC at the polls in 2024. 

“ActionSA has long maintained that to #FixSouthAfrica we cannot partner with those who broke it in the first place. Instead, we need to unite those that believe in unseating the ANC behind a collective effort to do so. This is the only way we can build an inclusive and prosperous future for South Africa,” said Mashaba.

The ActionSA leader announced that he had been in discussions with  the Inkatha Freedom Party, Freedom Front Plus and the African Christian Democratic Party about forming a united coalition bloc in 2024 for some time now.

However Mashaba said while his party welcomed Steenhuisen’s commitment to these discussions, they would caution him against attempts at making this a DA-led process.

He added that for a ‘grand coalition’ against the ANC to succeed in forming a stable government, coalition partners must approach these discussions in a spirit of mutual respect and humility.

“We thus urge the DA to engage as equal partners and focus on building a strong and united coalition platform that paves the way for stable and effective government that turns around the legacy of ANC failure and corruption,” added Mashaba.