ActionSA says it has taken Laingsburg, its first Western Cape contest

ActionSA says it has emerged as the largest party in Laingsburg, a town in the Western Cape Karoo, in what the party describes as its first local government election contest in the province.

The claim was made in a post on the party’s official X account on Thursday, 5 November. “ActionSA emerges as the largest party in Laingsburg,” the post read, calling it “a historic breakthrough” and saying the result “reflects our expanding footprint and growing presence beyond South Africa’s major urban centres.” The party thanked Laingsburg.

The post did not give a seat count, a vote share or a margin, and it did not name the party it overtook. It also did not say when the election was held or which council the result applies to. The material supplied carries the party’s announcement and a photograph, and nothing that independently confirms the outcome.

ActionSA is led by Herman Mashaba and has campaigned chiefly on immigration enforcement, border control, crime and municipal service delivery, positions it has argued in metros including Johannesburg, where Mashaba was mayor from 2016 to 2019. The party has presented itself as an alternative to the established parties in local government, and its messaging has leaned on the argument that councils should be run on delivery rather than coalition arithmetic.

A result in Laingsburg, a small agricultural town on the N1, would be the party’s first foothold in the Western Cape, a province where the Democratic Alliance has dominated local government and where the party has not previously held council seats. Whether the town’s council is hung, and what the numbers mean for control of it, is not established by the material supplied.

ActionSA has not released the Laingsburg figures, and no confirmation of the result accompanies the post. The Enquirer has not independently verified the claim.