ActionSA leader Herman Mashaba stepped onto the floor of the Independent Electoral Commission’s National Results Centre on Nov. 13, 2026, to claim a political breakthrough built partly on media obsession with his immigration stance.
The party emerged from the 2026 Local Government Elections as a critical kingmaker, particularly in Gauteng, where it captured the third-highest share of support and outpaced the African National Congress in Tshwane, according to reporting by The Citizen. Mashaba told journalists that coverage of illegal immigration and frequent comparisons to the Democratic Alliance placed his organization in the daily spotlight despite limited campaign resources.
Elections data analyst Wayne Sussman said that anti-migrant sentiment played a measurable role at the ballot box last week, helping drive ActionSA’s resurgence following a dip in the 2024 national elections compared to the 2021 municipal polls, EWN reported.
Speaking at the Cape Town Press Club, Sussman explained that township voters increasingly identified with Mashaba’s hardline migration platform after growing disillusioned with the ANC, the Economic Freedom Fighters, and former Jacob Zuma. Sussman added that opinion polls misjudged the impact of Mashaba, while noting that the Patriotic Alliance performed disappointingly by sliding out of the country’s top eight political parties.
“In our eNCA Markdata poll, it was clear that anti-migrant sentiment was for the first time going to play a key role in this election, and they are one of the parties associated with anti-migrant points, and I think it’s one of the reasons they did so well,” said Wayne Sussman, elections data analyst.
In Johannesburg, published allocations grant the DA 91 seats and ActionSA 43, falling just two short of the 136 seats required for an absolute majority in a council where various coalition permutations remain viable. Another option in Johannesburg involves the ANC, ActionSA, EFF, and MK, which together hold 138 seats.
In Tshwane, the DA won 74 seats, ActionSA secured 48, and the ANC finished third with 44 seats, eNCA reported. Reaching a governing majority in Tshwane requires 108 seats. Sussman outlined multiple coalition paths for the metro, noting that while a grand coalition between the DA and ANC would yield 118 seats, a partnership between ActionSA and the DA would comfortably clear the threshold with 122 seats.
An alternative scenario joining the ANC and ActionSA amounts to only 92 seats, meaning they would need other parties to reach the required number, such as bringing in the EFF’s 13 seats to leave them two short of a majority. The ANC, ActionSA, EFF, and MK together hold 109 seats in Tshwane.
In Ekurhuleni, a DA and ActionSA agreement of 106 seats falls seven short of the required 113, while the ANC, ActionSA, EFF, and MK hold 128 seats together.
ActionSA’s 78-page election manifesto references illegal immigration three times, promising to utilize municipal powers alongside the Department of Home Affairs and the South African Police Service to address violations.
“You were obsessed with it, and that helped us to be in the spotlight every day,” Mashaba told the gathered press at the National Results Centre.
