ActionSA has become the party every major player needs, and after outperforming expectations in the 2026 local government elections, its national chairperson Michael Beaumont has confirmed the party is already negotiating with both the ANC and the DA over who will govern Johannesburg, Tshwane and Ekurhuleni.
But when pressed by Africa Daily on whether the ANC had offered ActionSA two metros in exchange for ditching the DA, he refused to answer.
“You know, I think certainly we’re very pleased by the outcome. And I think the polling companies horribly underestimated ActionSA. But we knew it was going to be a good result. I didn’t think we would take as many as 55 wards from the ANC in Gauteng,” Beaumont said.
“And that number is growing still. But certainly, you know, our coalition position is we must negotiate with everyone. We don’t determine people we will or won’t work with. We determine whether we will work with people on the basis of whether they will commit to a programme of government that delivers services to everyone, that stops the instability and the kind of turntable of mayors we’ve had, that develops institutions to investigate and fight corruption, and that brings the fight against illegal immigration into local government.”
That is the pitch ActionSA is taking into every negotiation room: no permanent friends, no permanent enemies, only a programme.
“From our point of view, political parties that will cooperate with us on that, we will cooperate with them,” he said.
It is a powerful position to be in. In Johannesburg, Tshwane and Ekurhuleni, no government can be formed without ActionSA. Beaumont said so himself.
“I mean, you know, it’s going to be very hard for governments to be formed without us and very hard for effective government to be formed without us,” he said.
“So we are already engaging with the ANC and DA. No coalition will be formed without these three parties working together in some configuration. So we will see which way it goes. But ultimately, we are open to any coalition arrangement that meets those requirements.”
Pressed on the rumour doing the rounds in coalition circles – that the ANC is willing to cut the DA out completely, partner with ActionSA and smaller parties, and hand ActionSA two metros – Beaumont shut it down.
“No, I wouldn’t comment on the ongoing talks… But at this stage, it’s very early days. The conversations up until now have been broad, high-level, more opening up lines of communication, setting out principles. Because of course, you can’t talk about that until you’re starting to see what these numbers are. So with Joburg only being 45% in, you know, you can’t actually make statements like that until we get the numbers,” he said.
He would not confirm, and he would not deny. In coalition politics, that silence speaks volumes.
Beaumont insisted ActionSA is not chasing positions first.
“I’ve divulged what it is. Yeah, it’s service delivery for all, stability. In other words, just understand our position is that we are more interested in a programme of government that we agree on before we talk about positions. The failure of coalitions is everyone talks about positions and they don’t talk about what they’re going to do with them. That’s our approach,” he said.
But he was far less diplomatic about Helen Zille.
While he said ActionSA is open to working with the DA, he made it clear that Zille is the problem.
“We’re open to it. We have major misgivings. And I think we must be clear about that. Our president has named those misgivings. You know, Helen Zille has collapsed every working coalition that Johannesburg ever had from the comfort of her Cape Town home,” Beaumont said.
Then came the swipe that will dominate the coalition talks.
“She’s a tourist. She’s not from Joburg. The last time she lived in Hillbrow, which is a nice place to live in. So, you know, we would need to cross that bridge with her to our satisfaction to work together.”
“And it’s quite a bridge to cross. But that doesn’t mean we’re not going to talk and see if it can be crossed. At the same time, we have misgivings about the ANC too. So, you know, no parties are perfect and we have to be open-minded and able to have conversations.”
“We’re talking with the ANC and the DA currently,” he confirmed.
ActionSA took 55 wards from the ANC in Gauteng and is now sitting in the middle of the country’s three biggest Gauteng metros, deciding who governs and who does not.
The DA needs ActionSA to make Zille mayor of Johannesburg. The ANC needs ActionSA to stop her. ActionSA needs both of them to agree to its programme.