‘Until SA is fixed, I am going nowhere’: Mashaba denies plan to leave ActionSA

ActionSA leader Herman Mashaba has cleared the air on his statement about considering leaving the party if members engaged in talks with the ANC.

This comes after Mashaba was heard saying he would step aside if ActionSA members said the party, through the consultative dialogue, must work with the ANC.

Mashaba was speaking on 702 on Monday.

“In the event, Actioners can say to us we must negotiate with the ANC, I will step aside and let ActionSA operate without me because there’s no way Herman Mashaba will work with the ANC,” he said.

However, in a statement, Mashaba refuted he would leave ActionSA.

“I have no intention to leave ActionSA when our work in building the political alternative in South Africa has only begun,” said Mashaba.

He said a coalition with the ANC is not an option his party will consider.

“There is no difference of opinion about the fact that a coalition with the ANC is not an option we will consider. On this we are unanimous in our view.

“The leadership of ActionSA is a team I lead. There have been no discussions that took place without my knowledge or without the mandate of decision-making structures of our party,” he said.

Clearing the air on what he meant to say during his radio interview, Mashaba said: “I was asked a question in an interview with Clement Manyathela on 702 about whether I would work with the ANC if this was the outcome of the public engagement process ActionSA has under way. My response was to say I could not lead a party that was in a coalition with the ANC. To deduce from this I would leave ActionSA is outrageous.

“ActionSA was established to be an alternative for the South African people. This remains my mission and that of every leader in our senate,” he said.

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