ActionSA Mayoral Candidate Khumalo Voluntarily Surrenders to Police

• A large crowd of ActionSA supporters gathered at Katlehong Police Station as Xolani Khumalo voluntarily handed himself over to authorities
• The party insists the charge is false and accuses police of protecting criminals while targeting Khumalo
• ActionSA leadership vowed to stand by Khumalo, calling the situation victimisation and affirming his community work will remain central to his mayoral campaign

A large crowd of ActionSA supporters gathered at Katlegong Police Station this morning, 19 January 2026, to back Ekurhuleni mayoral candidate Xolani Khumalo, who voluntarily handed himself over to authorities.

The party maintains that Khumalo faces a false assault charge stemming from a 2025 incident involving a confessed drug dealer.

Action SA joins in protest outside the police station

ActionSA national chairperson Michael Beaumont accused the police of protecting criminals, explaining that the alleged victim had been found with unlicensed ammunition, arrested, and then released, before laying a charge against Khumalo.

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ActionSA chairperson Michael Beaumont defends Xolani Khumalo

This is after what the party deems a false assault charge following a 2025 incident involving a confessed drug dealer.

Speaking outside the station, Beaumont said the party has no plans to suspend Khumalo.

“Why would we suspend him on the word of a criminal? If anything, this only strengthens our resolve to campaign harder. This is the man we want as mayor of Ekurhuleni,

“We are confident the court will show this is another case of victimisation. Xolani is being targeted by the police, while those who stand up to them are being punished. We are fed up—fed up with corrupt police and drug dealers operating as if they own our country. We want to take our country back,” said Beaumont

Action SA stands by Khumalo

Leading up to Khumalo handing himself over, ActionSA firmly defended its Ekurhuleni mayoral candidate, Xolani Khumalo, as he prepared to hand himself over to police on 19 January 2026 over an alleged assault matter. The party’s national chairperson, Michael Beaumont and the party insist that the allegations stem from a dispute involving an alleged drug dealer and that Khumalo’s community work will be a central feature of his campaign. Supporters and commentators on social media have expressed mixed reactions to the situation.

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Briefly News articles on Xolani Khumalo's case

Previously, Briefly News reported that ActionSA rejected claims that police are “hunting” its Ekurhuleni mayoral candidate, Xolani Khumalo, calling those reports misleading and inaccurate. The party emphasised that Khumalo is voluntarily handing himself over to the South African Police Service in response to an alleged assault matter rather than being pursued by officers. ActionSA leadership described the narrative of a police manhunt as false and stressed their support for Khumalo amid the ongoing situation. The party’s response aims to clarify the situation and counter viral claims about the circumstances surrounding Khumalo’s planned engagement with police.

Xolani Khumalo has announced he will hand himself over to the South African Police Service (SAPS) on Monday, 19 January 2026, after reports that police intended to arrest him on an alleged assault charge from a 2025 incident involving a suspected drug dealer. ActionSA says Khumalo proactively met with SAPS to clarify the situation and agreed to surrender, calling the charge part of ongoing harassment linked to his anti‑crime work. The party alleges the assault accusation follows a 2025 police raid in Katlehong, where a suspect was released despite unlicensed ammunition being found, and that the individual later filed charges against Khumalo. ActionSA has expressed solidarity with Khumalo, condemned what it calls police and criminal collusion, and said it will monitor the process closely as part of broader concerns about law‑enforcement failures.

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Source: Briefly News