ActionSA and F4SD merger at risk as leaders wrestle

A clash has erupted between ActionSA president Herman Mashaba and his North West regional right-hand man and the party's member of the North West provincial legislature, Kwena Mangope, that threatens to see the two part ways as political allies.

- Eric Mthobeli Naki

This is after Mashaba asked the MPL to resign for allegedly neglecting his duties as a public representative.

ActionSA said Mangope failed to support party councillors in Ditsobotla local municipality, but he said he was unable to support them because ActionSA provincial chair Thabo Nkashe stood in his way to undermine his work.

The tension arose after Mashaba told him to resign immediately. ActionSA top leadership also accused him of being absent from office for a long time without providing an explanation.

Mangope acknowledged his absence but said it was compulsory for him to serve a 12-month mourning period as Kgosi (chief) of Bahurutshe Boo-Manyane tribe.

He had to stay home and perform no duties during a mandatory traditional mourning period required of him by his ancestors as the chief of his tribe.

He said this is an ancestral obligation which he communicated to Mashaba's office in writing.