ActionSA has heard South Africans – Ends talks with ANC

20 October 2022 

Arising from ActionSA’s decision to place our approach to coalitions under review, a period of public engagement has been concluded and was the subject of a Senate meeting last night.

The consequence of these discussions is the resounding mandate from South Africans to terminate any notion of working with the ANC and to focus on the mandate to building the political alternative to failed government and corruption. Arising from this mandate ActionSA has resolved that talks with the ANC will be terminated.

The survey was conducted through digital platforms and, in just a matter of days, generated over 30 000 responses.

The survey concluded that 61% of South Africans do not believe that coalitions have worked for the residents they are meant to serve and only 27% of people reflecting positively on their experience of coalitions. Despite this, 84% of respondents believe ActionSA should enter coalitions – demonstrating how South Africans remain optimistic that coalitions can work.

It is of interest to note that the most commonly cited reason cited by respondents (59%) to enter coalitions was a combination of service delivery, common values, pro-poor governance and stability. 41% of respondents cited the need to remove the ANC from office as reason to enter coalitions, however many respondents saw this as a necessary pre-cursor to the service delivery dimension.

Of particular interest was the outcome of the survey as it related to working with political parties. It is necessary to say that the overwhelming views on the need for ActionSA to go into coalitions is not mirrored in the confidence of the options available to us in terms of different political parties. Three political parties topped the list on the net favourability measurement (positive sentiment minus negative sentiment): the IFP (+14), ACDP (+13.6) and VF Plus (+11.6). Compared to surveys conducted 11 months in November 2021, the favourability of the DA as a coalition partner declined to being the 5th preference of respondents (+5.3) and the sentiment to partner with the ANC was the most negative (-31.4).

From this it is clear that any arrangement that places or keeps the ANC in government is fiercely opposed by most South Africans seeking a political alternative. The termination of discussions relating to such was resolved by unanimous resolution of ActionSA’s Senate.

It is worth noting that an increasing number of South Africans are concerned about the DA as a coalition partner given how their favourability has declined since last year. ActionSA’s review of the approach to coalition will continue in terms of our existing arrangements and ActionSA President Herman Mashaba has written to his DA counterpart to arrange a bi-lateral meeting to raise our concerns about our experience of coalition with the DA. The examination of these issues, and the willingness of both parties to improve co-governance will be essential to the outlook of stable coalitions.

Of significance was the qualitative feedback. South Africans were unequivocal in their unhappiness about parties fighting with one another and focussing on one another rather than focussing their individual and collective efforts on solutions to the challenges in our country. ActionSA’s leadership team has introspected on this important feedback and believes it is essential to focus on the work of solutions to the needs of all South Africans and ensure this focus is reflected in our communications.

Beyond this, feedback produced other critical ideas to localise the management of coalitions to ensure those at the coalface of service delivery are making the decisions to sustain coalitions. South Africans want to see the negotiation, agreements and management of coalitions conducted openly and for their benefit given how the cost of instability and collapses typically lands on them. Finally, a trend emerged in which people voiced their interest in positions being filled on the merit of the candidates rather than simply allocated to political parties to own and fill.

The qualitative feedback received from this exercise has proven hugely important. ActionSA’s Senate has indicated the need to continue studying this data and to build the scenarios for coalitions arising from the 2024 national and provincial elections. ActionSA views it as imperative that political parties are unambiguous about how they perceive coalitions in the run up to 2024 so that voters are clear on how their votes may be used to construct governments.

ActionSA is an organisation grounded in the wishes of the South African people and many people have become concerned about coalitions decisions being taken without the voices of the residents they are meant to serve. ActionSA’s values are the product of millions of people who participated in The People’s Dialogue, and we are grateful that we could, once again, ground our review of coalitions in the ambitions South Africans have for their country.

Issued by Michael Beaumont, ActionSA National Chairperson, 20 October 2022