ActionSA's leader, Herman Mashaba, warned John Steenhuisen not to make the formation of a united opposition about himself or the Democratic Alliance (DA). 

This comes after Steenhuisen's triumph at the DA's federal congress on Sunday, where he retained his position as party leader ahead of next year's elections. 

In his victory speech, Steenhuisen announced the DA would initiate a "moonshot pact" with "like-minded" political parties. He said the agreement's primary purpose would be to unseat the African National Congress (ANC), prevent a potential coalition between the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) and the governing party, and introduce a new national opposition coalition government. 

In a statement released on Monday, Mashaba said, for a "grand coalition" to succeed in removing the governing party, parties should practise and maintain "mutual respect and humility". He said all parties involved should be equals.

He called for Steenhuisen to await the upcoming elections, during which South Africans would decide the "proportionality of representation in such a coalition".

Mashaba said talks of a united coalition bloc in 2024 had already been ongoing "for some time" among ActionSA, Inkatha Freedom Party, Freedom Front (FF) Plus and the African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP). 

"While we welcome Mr Steenhuisen's commitment to these discussions, we would caution him against attempts at making this a DA-led process. In his remarks, Mr Steenhuisen announced that '[the DA] will immediately initiate a process to form a pre-election moonshot pact with like-minded political parties, civil society organisations and the civic movements to defeat the ANC, to keep the EFF out'.

"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 offer this as unsolicited advice to Mr Steenhuisen and urge him not to make this important project about the DA or his leadership," said Mashaba.

ActionSA's national chairperson, Michael Beaumont, tweeted that he was glad the party did not proceed with its initial plans to establish an alliance with the ANC.

He said the DA would be joining an already existing process. 

The FF Plus' Corne Mulder shared the same sentiment and said a single party, the DA, could not lead the coalition. 

ACDP's national chairperson, Ferlon Christians, said the party would meet on Monday to discuss the pact and other matters.