ActionSA’s inaugural policy conference to take place in September

ActionSA says a consultative process will be held ahead of the party’s inaugural policy conference in September.

The party's leader Herman Mashaba said when they launched the party in August 2020, they were not guided solely by a desire to unseat the ANC but to provide an alternative to the failed political establishment in the country.

“Putting forward a credible policy offering, or plan of action, that ordinary South Africans can believe in is vital to inspire the unheard majority to go to the polls and vote for change. This plan must make South Africans believe that change is possible, and that their vote can help to create a better future,” said Mashaba.

He said the consultative process will be conducted over the coming months and will include expert engagements, broad public consultation and internal engagements.

“ActionSA has succeeded in attracting support in urban and rural communities, and across all demographics. It is important that our policy process reflects our diversity.

“As a party that has attracted voters from across the political spectrum, ActionSA is a melting pot of different ideas from divergent policy backgrounds.”

Mashaba said while the party’s founding values and guiding principles would not change, it was important that they respected the diverse views within the party, and afforded members the opportunity to play a formative role throughout the policy process in shaping their offering for 2024.

“Starting in May, we will be hosting engagements across all nine provinces to consult our members around the 11 policy areas.

“This will include branch-level engagements, regional engagements and provincial-level engagements. We will also be allowing individual members to make submissions directly into the process,” said Mashaba.

The party’s director of policy, Johann Krige, said submissions for policy proposals would be captured and passed on to the interprovincial policy panels to debate the submissions, consider them against the values of the party, their constitutional and legislative framework, and make recommendations on how the submissions would be treated. 

“These interprovincial policy panels will consist of three representatives from each province per policy bucket, and will be chaired by a member of the senate — this makes for 11 panels with 28 members per panel.”

Krigé added that the purpose of the panels would be to provide consolidated feedback on the draft policies to allow them to be incorporated into the documents that will serve at the policy conference.

“This will ensure our members can take collective ownership over the process from start to finish.”

The policy conference is expected to take place at Birchwood Hotel, Boksburg, from September 12 until 14.

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