Elections 2026 | Mashaba heads to country’s richest square mile to cast his vote

ActionSA president and Johannesburg mayoral candidate Herman Mashaba will head to the country’s richest square mile on Wednesday to cast his vote, as he seeks to return to the city’s highest political office.

Mashaba is scheduled to cast his ballot at 9am at the Sandton Fire Station in Sandton, according to the party’s election-day arrangements.

The venue is familiar territory for the former Johannesburg mayor, who has cast his ballot at the same polling station during three previous elections: the 2019 national elections, the 2021 local government elections and the 2024 national and provincial elections.

READ:ActionSA welcomes two political parties in its fold to beef up local elections campaign

From DA mayor to ActionSA leader

In 2019, when he was still serving as Johannesburg mayor under the Democratic Alliance (DA), Mashaba was scheduled to vote at the Sandton Fire Station. He returned to the same venue in 2021 and 2024, by which time he was leading ActionSA, the party he established after leaving the DA.

This time, however, his vote comes as he seeks to reclaim the mayoral chains. He however faces tough competition from the likes of the DA’s Helen Zille, African Transformation Movement’s Vuyo Zungula, Patriotic Alliance Kenny Kunene and the EFF’s Dr. Tlaleng Mofokeng.

Ward 91’s political significance

There is also an interesting political dimension to his choice of voting station.

Sandton Fire Station falls within Ward 91, which is represented by a DA councillor. The ward has traditionally been a DA-supporting area, although ActionSA also attracted a notable share of the vote during its first electoral contest in 2021.

In the 2021 local government elections, the DA won the Ward 91 councillor ballot with 44.3% of the vote, followed by the ANC with 24.6%. ActionSA came third with 16.8%, while the EFF received 9.4%.

On the proportional representation ballot, the DA secured 42.3%, while ActionSA received 19.5%, placing the new party among the contenders in the ward.

ActionSA’s Johannesburg breakthrough

ActionSA’s performance in Ward 91 reflected its broader electoral breakthrough in Johannesburg in 2021, when it emerged as the metro’s third-largest political party in its first local government elections.

The party secured 16.05% of the vote and 44 seats in the Johannesburg council, behind the ANC and DA, positioning itself as a significant player in the city’s coalition politics.

The results marked an important entry into Johannesburg’s political landscape for Mashaba, who had left the DA two years earlier after serving as the city’s mayor.

READ:Local government should be the cornerstone of effective governance

Manifesto centred on service delivery

ActionSA’s 2026 manifesto focuses on fixing struggling municipalities by improving basic services, including reliable water and electricity, functioning roads, proper sanitation and regular refuse collection.

On coalition politics, the party says it will not enter into pre-election coalitions but is open to post-election agreements based on written commitments, service delivery targets and accountability.

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