Herman Mashaba responds to ‘dictator’ claims amid Bongani Baloyi’s resignation

ActionSA leader Herman Mashaba says he is not a “dictator” amid criticism that he's dismissed vocal party leaders with a different leadership style.

This comes after Bongani Baloyi resigned from the party following conflict with Mashaba. 

Baloyi announced his resignation this week, citing an attempt by Mashaba to remove him as provincial leader and make him national spokesperson. He was ActionSA Gauteng chairperson.

His resignation and comment about lack of decentralised power in the party’s leadership sparked a debated among many.

Speaking to TimesLIVE, Mashaba denied claims he was a "dictator".

“I think it is unfortunate for anyone to think I have centralised decision-making in the party when we have nine provincial chairpersons.”

Mashaba said the root of the conflict with Baloyi was due to him “refusing” to associate with the ANC.

“My entry into politics was to democratically remove the ANC, and anyone who feels we need to entertain partnership discussions, I would advise them to start their own political party. One of the mistakes we can never make is to go into a coalition with the ANC.”

Mashaba claimed he was approached last year by Baloyi on an alleged proposal from the ANC for ActionSA to take over Tshwane and make Baloyi mayor. The ANC would apparently take over the city through this partnership.

“Bongani and [ActionSA national chairperson] Michael Beaumont went to a discussion with the ANC. Our senate decided to do a short survey to ask if people wanted ActionSA to partner with the ANC. The results came back and people said they did not want that partnership.”

Mashaba said he was prepared to leave his party if ActionSA decided to partner with the ANC. 

“Bongani took this personally. He felt I was blackmailing the party with the comments I made. Things between Bongani and I soured overnight,” he said. 

However, Baloyi denied making such a proposal to Mashaba, telling TimesLIVE Beaumont approached him about the proposal and both went to a meeting with the ANC with Mashaba’s support. 

Mashaba said the final blow in his relationship with Baloyi was late January when Ekurhuleni was electing a speaker of council after removal of DA speaker Raymond Dhlamini.

“I got a call from our national chairperson that he received a call from Bongani that the Ekurhuleni caucus wanted to nominate a candidate for the speaker position because they managed to secure support from the ANC and EFF.

“I said to Michael ‘are these guys mad?’ because people said they do not want us to work with the ANC. I told him not to nominate anyone because if they do, there would be consequences. 

“I raised this matter with Bongani and asked him what was going on. That is when the trust broke,” Mashaba said.

He said he lost trust in Baloyi because he put ActionSA in a “dangerous situation”.

“You can imagine if ActionSA voted with the ANC in Ekurhuleni, it would have been the end of ActionSA. The breakdown in trust is his idea of us forming a stable coalition with the ANC.”

Mashaba said there were acts of sabotage in running Gauteng.

“I decided to call Bongani and told him that I’ve made a decision to remove him as provincial chair and the best I can do was for him to take over as national spokesperson.”

Baloyi shared a different view of the incident.

“I have never initiated a proposal by the ANC, but I took what was given to me so the party could make a decision. When you bring contrary ideas and he doesn’t like them, he dismisses you. That does not support democratic discussions in the party,” he said.

“Our chair Michael was convinced we must explore the proposals brought to us and listen to what [Gauteng premier] Panyaza [Lesufi] had to say. When we brought the proposal to Mr Mashaba he endorsed it and wanted a formal offer to be presented to the senate. He was excited with the prospect of us running a municipality [Johannesburg]. We were sent by him to the meeting. 

“There was a group established by the senate to engage with other parties on the coalition talks but Mashaba came back and dissolved it.”

Since ActionSA was formed in 2020, it has lost several leaders including former KwaZulu-Natal leader Makhosi Khoza, Baloyi, Tshwane PR councillor Sizwe Skhosana, former Tshwane caucus leader Abel Tau and long-standing councillor in Tshwane Nkele Molapo.

Political analyst from Unisa, Profressor Dirk Kotze told TimesLIVE Mashaba had a dominant leadership style. 

“This goes back to the situation of Makhosi Khoza in KwaZulu-Natal. She was also basically dismissed by him. It all happened in different ways but it all boils down to one issue, that he is the party.”

Kotze said Mashaba did not grant space to up-and-coming leaders who represent their own style of leadership.

“It is a very centralised party in that aspect. He takes the final decisions and it is not really done by the senate of the party. This is not a good way to manage a party. It is undemocratic and it simply places too much power in one person,” Kotze said.

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