ActionSA has confirmed that its leader is among five shortlisted candidates to lead the party’s 2026 Johannesburg mayoral campaign, with a final decision expected on 21 February

Even before his speech on Thursday, many opposition parties had already given the president a ‘fail’

The former speaker suggested there were no differences in how the party she has left and Jacob Zuma’s uMkhonto weSizwe were being run

The Democratic Alliance had threatened to withhold its vote unless President Cyril Ramaphosa fired the errant higher education minister

The Democratic Alliance won’t back the budgets for the departments of higher education, human settlements and police

Some ANC members want former speaker Margaret Arnolds to return after the incumbent was ousted

The South African Municipal Workers Union said it would not march but would ask for a meeting with the president when he visited the city

Party leader Herman Mashaba has played down his ambitions of being ActionSA president

The party wants to use its growing influence in Gauteng metros to consolidate its presence

ActionSA has ruled out future coalition agreements with the Democratic Alliance.

It is still not clear exactly who ActionSA will field as its preferred candidate

Parties say the signature ceiling is too high for them to participate fairly

But the Democratic Alliance’s Gauteng leader said John Steenhuisen’s comments had not harmed the charter