ActionSA: Stay or cough up R200k

A former ActionSA councillor says she has resigned after being forced to sign a contract that ties her to the party until the 2026 local government elections.

According to Gen Durand, who left the party on Monday, councillors were told to meet at a hotel in Johannesburg a few days ago. At that meeting, they were presented with contracts that indicate that if they leave the party before the elections, they will be sued for R200 000.

A witch-hunt

Durand believes the contract is part of a witch-hunt exercise to identify which ActionSA councillors had applied to become DA councillors and those who are planning to jump ship before the elections.

“I refused to sign the contract because they did not want to give me a copy, and they did not even want us to go and study these contracts at home. I mean, this contract had financial implications,” she told The Citizen.

“This contract is legally binding in nature,” she added.

Several sources close to the matter have described this contract as a “political pre-nup.” They believe a majority of councillors were uncomfortable with signing this contract but were forced to do so.

“People want to keep their jobs, that’s the only reason they agreed to sign,” said a source.

Meanwhile, Durand denies that she was planning on leaving ActionSA for the DA. She believes she was racially profiled because she is white.

“I have always been loyal to this party, but things are no longer the same,” she said.

Durand believes that ActionSA founder Herman Mashaba is putting everyone in the party in the middle of his personal vendetta against Helen Zille.

“They have a long history together, and they parted ways in a manner that is not amicable, and their history is biting at him, and now he wants to show her,” she said.

ALSO READ: Mashaba’s message to Zille on wayward councillors: ‘The sooner she takes these people, the better’

Mashaba responds

But Mashaba told The Citizen that he has evidence that Durand and another councillor had applied to become DA councillors after the local government elections.

“We have the evidence, and that is why she resigned. We were about to take her to a disciplinary council, but she left because she knows that we have the evidence,” he said.

Mashaba alleged Durant was working for DA mayoral candidate Helen Zille while she was still inside the ActionSA caucus.

“Look at her now, she is jobless. Helen must give her a job,” he said.

Mashaba labelled Zille as “evil” and claimed she was trying to destroy his party before the elections.

“She has been calling some of my councillors,” he said.

‘We haven’t been poaching’

The DA told The Citizen that it has “not been poaching any ActionSA or any other party councillors to cross the floor.”

“Councillors are coming to the DA because of its democratic internal practices, as well as the real offer of change we present to South Africans, as demonstrated by our government track record.”

Durand also said she had not spoken to Zille or applied for a DA councillorship.

“This is rubbish, they have no evidence, and it was all hearsay. That speaks about the integrity of the party,” she said.

Floor crossing

A few days ago, more than 30 ActionSA activists, including one PR councillor, were welcomed into the DA by Zille at an event in Soweto.

These activists complained about a lack of democratic process inside ActionSA. They also alleged factionalism and bullying.

NOW READ: Why Mashaba snubbed Maimane, De Lille and Zibi