Staff Reporter.
Herman Mashaba’s ActionSA party has finally been registered to contest the 2021 local government elections after he decided to change its logo.
The IEC ruled against ActionSA in September rejecting the party’s registration over concerns that the party’s logo which features the South African flag appeared too similar to that of another party -Party Of Action (POA).
The IEC cited a violation of section 16 (1)(b) of the Electoral Commission Act which states that the electoral office may reject a party’s registration if its distinguishing mark or symbol resembles that of another party which may deceive or confuse voters.
Mashaba then launched an appeal of the decision with the commission and that appeal was ultimately dismissed.
ActionSA said in a statement on Sunday it had received written communication from the IEC confirming its application to be registered as a political party had been approved.
“This follows the decision taken by ActionSA to forgo its legal challenge of the IEC’s previous decisions and make the changes to the logo that would see the party registered. This decision was inspired by the need to focus on the issues that matter to South Africans, “said Mashaba.
He said the new logo remains consistent with the original logo.
Mashaba launched his party in August after resigning from his job as Johannesburg mayor and as a DA member, after the election of Helen Zille as the party’s federal council chairperson.
His resignation was followed by then party leader Mmusi Maimane and chairperson Athol Trollip.
“This was important to ActionSA because its identity was the subject of a nine-month- long public engagement process. It keeps the shapes of the SA flag infused with the direction arrow denoting the progress of the ‘A’ for action. In real terms, the colours of the logo have simply changed to green,” said Mashaba.
Our confirmed registration from @IECSouthAfrica ????
2021 is going to be an exciting year for #ActionSA and South Africa! pic.twitter.com/V1Lf6fGUOf— ActionSA (@Action4SA) December 13, 2020
“It is important to note that during the challenges to register with IEC, ActionSA did not slow down its important work in any way,” said Mashaba.
He said his party has been touring the country and now has 160,000 volunteers.
The party has redesigned its logo which had previously been designed to resemble the South African flag. The new logo is painted green and no longer has the national flag colours.