Former Democratic Alliance (DA) member Patricia Kopane has resigned from the party. Picture: Facebook
Democratic Alliance (DA) member Patricia Kopane on Monday announced her resignation from the party – shortly before joining ActionSA.
Kopane is the latest in a string of black leaders to have left the DA for ActionSA.
Kopane was the DA’s Free State leader between 2012 and 2020 and also a member of parliament (MP).
After 19 years with the party, Kopane said she no longer felt like she belongs in the DA anymore.
“The truth is that I no longer believe that the DA is the political vehicle that I joined in 2003. I do not feel that I belong in the DA or that I have space to make political contributions in my country.
“I harbour no ill-will to the DA and wish nothing but the best to the many good people who remain within the party,” Kopane said in a statement.
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DA Free State leader Roy Jankielsohn confirmed that the party had received and accepted the resignation of Kopane.
“We thank Patricia for her service to the DA and the role that she played in Parliament,” said Jankielsohn.
Kopane announced that she is in discussions with ActionSA leader Herman Mashaba about what position she will take in the former Johannesburg mayor’s party.
“I will approach ActionSA in the coming days to become a member of this exciting new party. In doing so I will begin talks with Herman Mashaba to assess what role I can play to serve South Africans through ActionSA,” she said.
Mashaba said he has already reached out to Kopane following her resignation.
“Since Kopane’s resignation this morning, I have called her personally and signed her as a member of the party and will set up a meeting with her, to explore the open declaration and interest in joining ActionSA and forming a mutual relationship for the benefit of the people of South Africa,” he said.
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Kopane joins other prominent black members of the DA who terminated their memberships of the party, such as Mashaba and former federal leader, Mmusi Maimane.
Bongani Baloyi, former DA member and mayor of Midvaal local municipality, joined ActionSA as the party’s Gauteng Provincial Chairperson in January.
Baloyi became the youngest mayor at just 26 in 2013. He terminated his membership with the DA in December last year after 14 years with the party.
Former Gauteng provincial leader John Moodey also joined ActionSA after leaving the DA in 2020.
Moodey was in May appointed Director of Operations at ActionSA.
ActionSA national chairperson Michael Beaumont was a managing director at the DA in KZN and Gauteng before being appointed as the chief of staff in the City of Johannesburg in 2016 by Mashaba.
Beaumont resigned with Mashaba in 2019 after spending nine years with the DA
Former Nelson Mandela Bay mayor Athol Trollip resigned from the DA along with Maimane in 2019. He joined Action SA in February as the Eastern Cape Provincial Chairperson.
Additional reporting by Getrude Makhafola and Thapelo Lekabe
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