PRETORIA, Wednesday 2 September 2026 — Former African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP) Tshwane caucus whip and proportional-representation councillor Thabang Moshidi has joined ActionSA, with the move coming just over two months before South Africa’s local government elections.
ActionSA’s Tshwane region announced Moshidi’s membership on Wednesday while party leaders were campaigning in the capital and putting up election posters featuring Tshwane Mayor Nasiphi Moya, the party’s mayoral candidate.
The party described Moshidi as a former ACDP councillor and caucus whip and said he had joined ActionSA’s Tshwane membership.
Moshidi appeared alongside ActionSA president Herman Mashaba, Gauteng provincial secretary Evelyn Mondlana and Tshwane regional chairperson Derick Mahlangu during the campaign activity.
Moshidi served as ACDP caucus whip
City of Tshwane records have listed Moshidi as an ACDP PR councillor and the whip of the party’s caucus.
He entered the Tshwane council following the 2021 local government elections, when the ACDP secured two proportional-representation seats in the metro. Electoral Commission candidate records from the 2021 election listed Moshidi second on the ACDP’s Tshwane PR list.
Moshidi later contested the Ward 64 by-election for the ACDP in November 2023. ActionSA’s candidate in the same contest was Henriette Fröhlich, who is now an ActionSA councillor in Tshwane.
The ACDP’s Tshwane representation changed in 2025 when Avinesh Chetty entered council as a PR councillor following the departure of Ronald Morake. Tshwane council minutes recorded Chetty and Moshidi as councillors during meetings earlier this year.
Chetty was subsequently announced as the ACDP’s Tshwane mayoral candidate for the 2026 local government elections.
ACDP retains entitlement to PR seat
Moshidi’s move to ActionSA does not transfer his existing council seat to his new party.
The Local Government: Municipal Structures Act provides that a councillor elected from a party list vacates office if the councillor ceases to be a member of the party from whose list they were elected.
The vacancy is then filled from the applicable party list, meaning the ACDP retains its entitlement to the proportional-representation seat rather than the seat moving with Moshidi to ActionSA.
The City of Tshwane’s online councillor directory still listed Moshidi as an ACDP PR councillor and caucus whip on Wednesday. The directory also contained other information that had not yet been updated, including its listing of former ACDP councillor Ronald Morake.
It was not immediately clear whether the administrative process to formally record Moshidi’s council vacancy and appoint an ACDP replacement had been completed.
Move comes during election campaign
The change in party membership comes as political parties intensify campaigning ahead of the 4 November 2026 Local Government Elections.
The election date was formally gazetted on 7 August, triggering the election period and closing the voters’ roll.
ActionSA is campaigning to retain the Tshwane mayoralty under Moya, while the ACDP is contesting the metro with Chetty as its mayoral candidate.
ActionSA had not indicated at the time of publication whether Moshidi would contest the November elections as one of its candidates or what formal role he would hold in its Tshwane structures.
The ACDP had also not publicly responded to Moshidi’s departure or announced who would replace him as caucus whip and, where applicable, as a PR councillor.
