The DA Once Warned About Wasted Votes – Now They Are One

In 2014, Helen Zille told South Africans not to “waste their votes on smaller parties.” A decade later, she repeats the same line, now parachuted into Johannesburg as the DA’s face for 2026.

But the truth is this: the only wasted vote in Gauteng today is a vote for the DA. John Steenhuisen claims votes for parties like ActionSA only empower the ANC. Yet the DA itself sits comfortably in the bloated Cabinet of the Government of National Unity, governing with the ANC, Patriotic Alliance, and others at the national level.

The DA attacks coalitions while depending on them. This is hypocrisy of the highest order. The issue is not coalitions - the issue is weak leadership.ActionSA has already demonstrated that coalitions can deliver when led with discipline and values. Johannesburg residents remember years when corruption was fought, services improved, and accountability was restored. That was not theory – it was proven leadership shaped in this city. The DA wants to be seen as the party of competence. But Gauteng knows better.

• In Tshwane, seven years of DA governance left behind billions in Eskom debt, slashed infrastructure budgets and repeated adverse audits.
• In Johannesburg, the DA collapsed coalitions through arrogance, walking away when compromise was needed. Their actions paved the way for the ANC’s return to power.

The DA has broken coalitions across Gauteng, then blamed everyone else for the chaos it caused.The recent Ward 130 Soweto by-election told the real story: a four-way contest. The ANC stumbled to just 34%, ActionSA surged to 23%, MK followed with 22%, and the EFF trailed at 17%. This is the shape of Gauteng politics in 2026 – no party will govern Joburg alone.

Victories will be secured in fractured wards where disciplined campaigns and credible leadership tip the balance. It, therefore, means that a party with enough political tolerance and humility to work with others stands a better chance of delivering quality services to residents. The DA has demonstrated that it possesses none of these qualities.

In this reality, a DA vote - with no township growth strategy and no humility to work with others – is truly wasted.ActionSA offers more than competence. We offer Competence and Community Control:

• Service Compacts: enforceable ward agreements on refuse collection, streetlights, and potholes.
• Citizen Dashboards: transparent reporting online and in community spaces.
• Ward Service Contracts: local entrepreneurs and youth groups contracted for maintenance and safety patrols.

This is not a distant promise of “Cape Town competence.” It is a homegrown plan, rooted in Johannesburg’s lived reality, and already proven before. The DA once warned about wasted votes. Now, it is the wasted vote.

Every DA vote entrenches arrogance and hypocrisy. Every ActionSA vote weakens the ANC, strengthens coalition stability and builds a government rooted in both competence and community control.

Gauteng deserves better than political theatre. It deserves leaders who listen, build and deliver. That is the ActionSA alternative in 2026.

Funzi Ngobeni MPLActionSA Gauteng Provincial Chairperson