ActionSA claims 38 wards taken from ANC in Gauteng — TimesLIVE

ActionSA said it had won 38 electoral wards previously controlled by the African National Congress (ANC) in townships in Gauteng province during the vote count following South Africa’s municipal elections. TimesLIVE reports, citing ActionSA national chairperson Michael Beaumont.

Claims about results in townships

According to Beaumont, ActionSA won all wards in Tembisa, as well as all but one in Atteridgeville. The party also claimed victory in eight wards in Soshanguve and reported gains in Mabopane. Results in Mamelodi were still awaited at that time, but Beaumont predicted similar dynamics there.

In Johannesburg, ActionSA, according to him, had eight wards in Soweto at that time and was also winning wards in the city’s central business district, Ivory Park and Diepsloot. Beaumont linked these results to a significant shift of voters from the ANC to his party in these communities.

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Coalition negotiations

Beaumont said that ActionSA was ready to work with all political forces in South Africa if they agreed on stable governance and a shared direction of work. He said the party had prepared a framework for coalition negotiations in advance, as 14 days have been allotted to reach agreements in 105 municipalities across the country.

Among the principles for possible coalitions, he named a commitment to provide services to all residents, stability of local government, an end to frequent changes of mayors, combating corruption, and taking the issue of illegal immigration into account at the local level.

As of 18:00 on Thursday, when 37% of ballots had been counted in Gauteng, ActionSA was receiving 21.65% of the vote in Tshwane, 16.57% in Johannesburg and 17.09% in Ekurhuleni.