Will Bongani Baloyi’s resignation from ActionSA hurt the party?

Leadership squabbles could weaken ActionSA ahead of next year’s general elections, according to political analyst Sysman Motloung.

Motloung was reacting to the resignation of Bongani Baloyi as chairperson of ActionSA in Gauteng on Monday.

Baloyi said his resignation was prompted by issues of mistrust between him and party leader Herman Mashaba.

WATCH: Baloyi resigns from ActionSA

Motloung said the lack of stability in ActionSA could dampen the public’s confidence about the sustainability of the party.

“One may choose not to vote for a party that would dissipate in the near future and leadership stability is essential for the success of the party,” said Motloung.

Problems between Mashaba and Baloyi unclear

With both Baloyi and Mashaba giving different reasons for the resignation, the public doesn’t know what led to the broken relationship between the two leaders.

Baloyi claims that Mashaba behaves like “a dictator” in ActionSA, while Mashaba blames Baloyi’s wish to form an alliance with the African National Congress (ANC).

“Mashaba could be justified, it is just that the public does not know what led to the failed relations between the two leaders.

“Baloyi could also be withholding the truth and it is now up to Mashaba to clear the air about this matter,” said Motloung.

Motloung said Baloyi leaving ActionSA might not hurt the party as much as some think.

“Could it be that some overestimate his value? If he is a strong mobiliser and appealing to the wide segment of voters, especially the youth, then ActionSA would have lost.

“However, I think there are more experienced politicians left in the party and ActionSA has not lost its dignity yet,” Motloung said.

Mashaba has on many occasions, including in a podcast with The Citizen, said he is not prepared to work with the ANC.

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Another political analyst, Prof. Andre Duvenhage, is of the opinion there is a lot of pressure on Mashaba to form opposition lines against the ANC.

“I also think with all of the developments in the metros, specifically in Tshwane, some members of ActionSA are aligning either with the ANC and or the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) and I think this created a lot of problems.

“ActionSA, like other parties, is very much centralised like the EFF, the power is centered around a number of individuals and basically one single individual in the case of the EFF with Julius Malema and in the case of ActionSA with Herman Mashaba,” said Duvenhage.

He said it is clear that Baloyi transgressed certain rules, stressing there is a possibility of alignment with opposition parties and that ActionSA believe they can become the strongest party in Gauteng after the 2024 elections.

“The party system is concentrated in this small group and Mashaba’s decisions will be decisive and the person he promoted into Baloyi’s position is a well experienced person with strong recognition within ActionSA and all of this is part of the bigger realignment of South African politics… which I call the post tipping point environment,” Duvenhage added.

Another analyst, Dr. Ntsikelelo Breakfast, says he was not surprised by the latest developments in ActionSA, saying smaller parties revolve around personalities.

“This is not the first time that someone has broken ranks because we also saw it with Makhosi Khoza, who was chairperson of Action SA in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN),” Breakfast said.

Impact of Baloyi’s resignation

“Bongani is very talented, with a track record that speaks volumes, and losing him is a blow for ActionSA considering the fact that the party has been doing well and I think their prospect of improving their electoral support could be dealt a blow.

“On the other hand, Mashaba is known to be an ethical person but the problem is that he doesn’t have a strong political background… I mean you can’t just take a unilateral decision to say I’m demoting someone, who gave you the mandate?” Breakfast said.

Prior to joining ActionSA, Baloyi was elected as mayor of the Midvaal Local Municipality in 2013 at the age of 26.

During his tenure as mayor, Midvaal was one of the top achieving municipalities in the country.

In an interview with The Citizen in September last year, Baloyi bemoaned the poor state of service delivery in different parts of the country.

ALSO READ: Poor service delivery- ‘We have a leadership environment which encourages and rewards incompetence’

Addressing the media following his resignation on Monday, Baloyi mentioned that he found is bizarre that despite saying their relationship had broken down, Mashaba still wanted to offer him the position of national spokesperson for ActionSA.

Breakfast said for the further growth of the party, ActionSA needs to start entrenching a democratic culture which will guide them on how to democratise the party, adding that it must be realised that power does not reside with only one leader but with everyone involved.

Numerous attempts to get comment from ActionSA for this story were unsuccessful.