Africa-Press – South-Africa. ActionSA has slammed claims by its former Gauteng chairperson Bongani Baloyi that Herman Mashaba is controlled by the party’s donors and that his new party, Xiluva, would not take funds from corporate donors, to maintain its “political purity”.
At a media briefing on Thursday, Baloyi announced the launch of his new political party, Xiluva, which will compete in next year’s national elections.
The party is targeting “youth” between the ages of 18 and 45, and will register with the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) on 3 April.
Baloyi also announced that former ActionSA Ekurhuleni leader Tlhogi Moseki would be the party’s chairperson, who, until Wednesday, was a councillor in Ekurhuleni.
He said the party, which was aiming to change the narrative around youth, would not accept sponsorship from corporate donors, but would accept donations from South African citizens.
“The fear for us is to be captured. You know, in our experience, and the chairperson can tell you here, when he was asked why there is a perception that we are voting for the ANC in Ekurhuleni, the main question he was asked was, ‘what will donors say?'” said Baloyi.
Baloyi claimed that a donor he spoke to had told him that Xiluva would have to form an arrangement with the DA to receive financial assistance.
He hinted that donors had dictated who ActionSA should partner with.
“Once you’re a political party and you worry so much about what donors will say if you want to move left or right, it puts you in a very difficult position.”
ActionSA national spokesperson Michael Beaumont dismissed Baloyi’s claim, calling it “nonsense”.
He said:
Beaumont insisted that donors had no say over the decisions made by the party.
“I can tell you we have had donors tell ActionSA, ‘you need to go into coalition with the ANC’, and we said, ‘terribly sorry, please keep your money’. Donors don’t drive the direction of ActionSA.”
According to a recent report by the IEC, ActionSA received funds from three donors, Martin Moshal, Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, and African Equity Corporation (Pty) Ltd.
Beaumont said the party’s decision-making body consisted of 25 members and no donors.
“ActionSA’s decisions, whether it relates to coalition or anything else, have absolutely no influence brought upon it by donors. Our decisions are made by various decision-making bodies as mandated by our Constitution.”
Beaumont, who has been at the forefront of managing donors, added that Baloyi had not interacted with donors during his time at the party, adding that it was “implausible”.
For More News And Analysis About South-Africa Follow Africa-Press
