KWADUKUZA, Friday 4 September 2026 — ActionSA has named councillor Sipho Zungu as its new mayoral candidate for KwaDukuza Local Municipality after its original candidate, Halalisani Ndlovu, left the party for the Democratic Alliance, forcing a leadership change two months before the 4 November local government elections.
Zungu’s appointment was announced during ActionSA’s KwaDukuza ward-candidate event at the municipal town hall on Tuesday, according to the North Coast Courier, which reported the change on Friday.
The replacement follows Ndlovu’s resignation from ActionSA shortly after the party selected him as its mayoral candidate.
ActionSA had formally unveiled Ndlovu as its KwaDukuza contender on 8 August alongside Zwakele Mncwango for eThekwini and Zwe Nxumalo for Newcastle.
Less than three weeks later, Ndlovu returned to the DA, a party in which he had previously spent almost a decade.
His move was announced at a DA briefing on 27 August and was independently reported by News24, The Witness and other outlets at the time.
Ndlovu had also been serving as an ActionSA proportional-representation councillor in KwaDukuza.
He said his departure was not motivated by the prospect of securing a position and noted that he had already occupied the top position on ActionSA’s proportional-representation list as its mayoral candidate.
Ndlovu instead argued that the DA offered a stronger platform to challenge the municipality’s current administration.
That assessment represents his political position rather than an independently established finding about either party’s electoral prospects.
He will now campaign alongside DA KwaDukuza mayoral candidate Privi Makhan, rather than pursuing the mayoralty himself.
The DA has presented Ndlovu’s return as part of an effort to consolidate opposition support in KwaZulu-Natal.
DA national campaign manager Ashor Sarupen said when announcing the move that Ndlovu had concluded that opposition fragmentation could strengthen the ANC or other competing parties.
ActionSA’s decision to elevate Zungu means the party will nevertheless remain in the KwaDukuza mayoral contest rather than withdrawing or endorsing another opposition formation.
Zungu is already an experienced local-government representative.
He has previously served as an ActionSA councillor in KwaDukuza and has been involved in municipal debates over service delivery and governance. Municipal and regional records have previously identified him as an ActionSA representative.
KwaDukuza, which includes Ballito, Stanger and surrounding North Coast communities, is among the more politically competitive municipalities in KwaZulu-Natal.
The ANC currently governs the municipality, while the DA, IFP, ActionSA, MK Party and other formations are competing for influence as the province’s political landscape continues to fragment.
The contest therefore has implications beyond the fortunes of the two candidates.
Ndlovu’s move gives the DA an experienced former ActionSA councillor who has already campaigned on municipal financial management, electricity losses and infrastructure concerns.
ActionSA, meanwhile, must effectively restart part of its mayoral campaign around Zungu after losing the candidate it presented to voters less than a month ago.
The timing also makes candidate-list administration important.
The IEC’s nomination deadline has already passed and candidate verification is under way ahead of publication of final lists on 16 September.
The precise positioning of Ndlovu and Zungu on their respective parties’ submitted candidate lists will therefore be important in determining whether either is positioned to enter the next council through a ward or proportional-representation seat.
The electoral significance will become clearer when the IEC publishes the certified candidate lists.
For now, the change leaves KwaDukuza with a revised ActionSA leadership offer while strengthening the DA’s local campaign with a councillor who until days ago was heading a rival party’s bid for the mayoralty.
