ActionSA merges with Forum 4 Service Delivery ahead of 2026 elections.

By Lehlohonolo Lehana.

In a move to build the space for the rational opposition alternative in South Africa, ActionSA has announced its merger with the Forum 4 Service Delivery (F4SD).

The merger was announced during a media briefing in Johannesburg on Wednesday morning.

The F4SD was launched in 2015, has over 42 000 members and has contested the last two local elections.

The organisation has 38 municipal seats in five provinces, including a Mayor, 8 MMCs, and 8 Chairpersons of Municipal Public Accounts Committees.

ActionSA national chairperson Michael Beaumont said the merger will strengthen both parties’ presence in preparation for the 2026 local government elections.

“As far back as September, ActionSA was engaged by the Forum 4 Service Delivery after we had departed from the multi-party charter to talk about how we could come together, and I think that gives you a sense of how long these engagements have been going on and how much consideration was taken.”

Beaumont announced that F4SD will contest the 2026 election under the ActionSA banner, but would retain limited autonomy under their newly signed cooperation agreement.

Under the agreement, the parties will campaign under the banner of ActionSA, but members will have dual membership to allow them to keep the seats they have already earned.

The parties will formulate an amended constitution, will hold a joint elective conference to be held this year and will facilitate the amalgamation of structures at regional, provincial and national levels.

“We need to come together in a way that creates one organisation with one mission and one purpose for the South African people,” said Beaumont, stressing that F4SD members join as equals.

He hoped this would be the first such announcement, as talks with other organisations were in their “infancy” but that solution could be found through mutual sacrifices.

ActionSA president Herman Mashaba said, the time has come for opposition parties to come together and build a growing alternative that will be increasingly supported by South Africans who feel let down by a failed political establishment.

“With the GNU faltering under policy paralysis and the progressive caucus proving ineffective, it is becoming increasingly evident that South Africa needs a growing rational centre.”

In addition to the amended constitution a position of a Deputy President was created, which F4SD leader Mbahare Kekana will fill.

Kekana holds a postgraduate diploma in management from the University of the North West, a Masters in governance from the University of the Free State and a doctorate in political science from UKZN. He has also recently added an LLB to his qualifications.

His primary tasks will be working towards building ActionSA structures and rallying community members to take on their challenges.

Scroll to Top