ActionSA’s Mashaba, Beaumont step back from Parliament to focus on growing party

5th June 2024 By: Sashnee Moodley - Senior Deputy Editor Polity and Multimedia

ActionSA’s Mashaba, Beaumont step back from Parliament to focus on growing party

ActionSA leader Herman Mashaba

Fresh off the results of the 2024 national elections, ActionSA is setting its sights on the 2026 local government elections, ahead of which it is focusing on party growth.

Party leader Herman Mashaba and spokesperson Michael Beaumont said they will entrust a team to represent the party in Parliament while they focus on growth of the party ahead of the 2026 elections.

ActionSA, which garnered six Parliamentary seats, said its Senate had met to discuss its effectiveness as South Africa is set to be led by a coalition government for the first time, nationally.

“As a component of these deliberations, ActionSA has assembled a team with a wealth of experience in critical areas such as community development, health, governance, finance, and economic development who will be representing ActionSA in the National Assembly. We are confident that this team will ensure that our policies, developed through an expert-led process, find expression in the work of legislating over the coming five-year term, ensuring that the voices, needs, and cries of ordinary South Africans feature prominently throughout Parliament,” the party said on Wednesday.

It said it needed to “step up” to become an opposition party as the ANC entered coalition talks with the Democratic Alliance and other parties.

“This will require every ActionSA member of Parliament to serve on many committees and to work tirelessly to hold government to account. With the experience of members such as Athol Trollip, as a former leader of the official opposition in Parliament, we are confident our caucus in the National Assembly will be effectively led,” the party said.