KWADUKUZA, Thursday 27 August 2026 — ActionSA’s KwaDukuza mayoral candidate Halalisani Ndlovu has resigned from the party and joined the Democratic Alliance, abandoning his own mayoral campaign to support DA candidate Privi Makhan little more than two months before South Africa’s local government elections.
The move was confirmed by DA national campaign manager Ashor Sarupen on Thursday, less than three weeks after ActionSA publicly named Ndlovu as its candidate to lead KwaDukuza after the 4 November election.
Ndlovu is already a councillor in KwaDukuza and has been one of ActionSA’s prominent local representatives in the municipality.
His departure therefore removes both a sitting councillor and the party’s selected mayoral candidate during the final stages of candidate registration.
ActionSA had announced Ndlovu alongside Zwakele Mncwango for eThekwini and Zwe Nxumalo for Newcastle during a KwaZulu-Natal mayoral candidate launch earlier this month.
Ndlovu will no longer pursue the KwaDukuza mayoralty and will instead support Makhan, the DA’s candidate for the municipality.
According to the DA, Ndlovu concluded that competing opposition campaigns could divide votes and improve the prospects of the ANC retaining control or increase the influence of the EFF and MK Party in post-election coalition negotiations.
That explanation reflects Ndlovu and the DA’s assessment of the electoral contest rather than an established projection of the November result.
The defection is particularly notable because Ndlovu and Makhan have worked alongside each other as opposition councillors while representing different parties.
Both have been prominent critics of the ANC-led municipality on questions including financial management, infrastructure and service delivery.
Ndlovu has raised concerns over KwaDukuza’s electricity losses, municipal financial oversight and water-supply failures, while Makhan has also campaigned on municipal accountability and infrastructure performance.
KwaDukuza, which includes Ballito, Stanger and surrounding North Coast communities, is currently governed by the ANC.
The municipality has experienced political instability during the present council term, including leadership changes and disputes surrounding municipal governance.
The DA is seeking to increase its representation under Makhan and potentially deny the ANC outright control.
Ndlovu’s move strengthens the DA campaign with an incumbent councillor who has an existing political profile in the municipality, while creating an immediate organisational problem for ActionSA.
The party must now decide whether to replace its mayoral candidate, proceed without a designated mayoral contender or make broader changes to its KwaDukuza candidate slate.
The timing makes that decision particularly urgent.
Political parties have until 17:00 on Friday, 28 August to submit their final candidate nominations to the Electoral Commission.
Ndlovu’s move therefore comes less than 24 hours before the deadline and after ActionSA had already publicly presented him to voters as the person it wanted to run the municipality.
The defection also illustrates the increasingly fluid competition among opposition parties in KwaZulu-Natal.
The DA, ActionSA, IFP and other parties are simultaneously competing against the ANC and MK Party while positioning themselves for possible coalition negotiations in municipalities where no party wins an outright majority.
For ActionSA, the immediate significance will depend on whether Ndlovu’s departure remains an isolated defection or affects other candidates and activists in its KwaDukuza organisation.
For the DA, the move gives Makhan an experienced local ally who, until this month, was preparing to contest directly against her for the mayoralty.
The first indication of the broader consequences should come after Friday’s IEC deadline, when the final composition of the parties’ KwaDukuza candidate slates becomes clearer.
