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The Democratic Alliance in KwaZulu-Natal welcomes the steps taken by the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) against the former ActionSA Councillor for Ward 34 in eThekwini, Andrew Akkers, after it the IEC notified the Municipality that he was no longer eligible to serve as a Councillor after publicly joining ActionSA. 

On 4 July 2026, ActionSA National and Provincial leadership welcomed Akkers, who claimed to be an Independent Councillor, as a member of ActionSA and announced that he would be joining their eThekwini caucus. However, the legal problem that this created is that under amended legislation, no Independent Councillor may join another political party and still keep their seat. In this instance, they would lose their seat, and the IEC would notify the relevant Council to declare a vacancy. This of course makes sense as you cannot have an “Independent Councillor” who is then a party-political member and Councillor.

Whether this was disclosed to Akkers by ActionSA is unclear, but the result of their unveiling of Akkers as “their Councillor” means that Ward 34 now no longer has a Ward Councillor until the upcoming Local Government Elections on November 2026.

Ultimately, the decisions by Akkers and ActionSA have hurt the residents of Ward 34 and exposed their naivety when it comes to matters of local government.

The Democratic Alliance gives residents of Ward 34 and eThekwini assurance that we will always act in their best interests, free from publicity stunts that cause harm to them. That is why the DA is ready to govern in eThekwini and elect Haniff Hoosen as the next Mayor.

Issued by DA KZN Chairperson Dean Macpherson