The IEC has rejected Action SA’s appeal to register as a political party. In September, the commission rejected the party’s application because of similarities with the Party of Action and the use of the South African flag on its logo.
Former Johannesburg mayor Herman Mashaba is the founder of Action SA which was officially launched last month.
Mashaba left the DA over a leadership disagreement at the end of 2019.
The former Johannesburg mayor then set up The People’s Dialogue, a platform to facilitate discussion between SA citizens and himself as a precursor to the official launch of Action SA.
In a statement, the party has described the commission’s decision as shocking.
Our appeal has been successful in respect of the IEC’s rejection of the ?? flag, but rejected on the grounds of similarity.
We are consulting our legal team to study the Commission’s reasons to uphold the decision of the Chief Electoral Officer.https://t.co/vdTVNWfQKz
— ActionSA (@Action4SA) November 10, 2020
The party says it’s concerned that a Chapter 9 institution charged with safeguarding the country’s democracy could make such a flawed decision.
The party’s national spokesperson, Lerato M-Ngobeni, says they will consult their legal team on the way forward.
“We are definitely consulting with our lawyers. It’s very sad in our country that in order for justice to happen, we always have to be running to the courts, but it is our legal right to be able to do so – we will defend our process, our identity so that in future we set a precedent that any other person or organisation that wishes to register a political party does not have to go what we are going through.
We know we stand an excellent prospect of successfully reviewing the IEC’s decision by the High Court on an urgent basis, however, we must now determine the merits of our options.
— ActionSA (@Action4SA) November 10, 2020
