The ANC's loss of majority support in three big cities has reinvigorated South African democracy. But can the DA and the EFF forge an unlikely marriage? If they cannot, the ANC is poised to co-opt the kingmakers. There was no democratic euphoria on Diepsloot's Pear Street on Wednesday afternoon. The queue was two blocks long, the wind was as cold as poverty, and the faces of the voters expressed a thousand shades of gatvol.Gatvol or not, most of Diepsloot's voters entrusted their dwindling stocks of patience and hope to the ANC, who won 63% of the poll in the Pear Street district, to the EFF's 26% and the DA's 7%.story_article_left1Rebecca, a regal woman with tired eyes, wearing a black doek, offered a representative take: "I'm just hoping the ruling party will fix what they need to fix. That's what I hope will happen." She didn't sound remotely confident that it would.The DA desk outside the station was staffed by three women: a matronly party agent, Gertrude, and her two young colleagues. Their candidate was one Doctor Chavalala. The EFF desk next door was staffed by four men, campaigning for one Victor Mokgobi.Three metres of potholed pavement, and an ideological chasm, separated the two desks.One of the DA team said an EFF member had shouted an obscene insult at the trio of belles in blue. "He said we were just servants of the whites," she said. The EFF man's superior stomped across no-man's-land to chat with Gertrude. He offered a brusque apology on behalf of his comrade. A sulky truce ensued.Then an EFF-branded Toyota Fortuner came throbbing up Pear Street, past the Miracle Centre Ministries church. Apocalypso bass boomed from its subwoofers, and a tangle of cadres jived on the roof. As it pulled up, ANC campaign workers observed the premature jubilation with folded arms and cynical smiles, knowing Diepsloot would stay green.Yes and no.By Thursday morning, the urban political canvas was drastically repainted. The ruling party has been stripped of its majorities in Johannesburg, Pretoria and Port Elizabeth. Unless it strikes unlikely coalition deals with the EFF or the DA, it will be deposed from all three metros.The humiliation of being kicked out of the country's two capitals - economic and political - is hard to overstate. It was always coming, but now it's arrived. The ANC has become the party of the backwoods.block_quotes_start It's always easier to extract concessions from someone who has something to lose - and we don't block_quotes_endBut what will the new era of coalition rule mean for the gatvol of Diepsloot - or the gatvol of Sandton? The high road would be the belated dawn of constructive conflict in our politics, with the kingmaking EFF and a buoyant DA looking beyond their ideological discord to deliver pragmatic coalition governance.Northern Europe's social democracies are often governed by consistently effective coalitions between socialist and liberal parties, who share an overlapping set of priorities. But this is not northern Europe, in case you hadn't noticed.The low road would be an era of tedious logjam in urban politics; endless turmoil and brinkmanship, with coalitions forming and splitting at the drop of a beret or the tweet of a madam. The spat between the blue and red desks in Diepsloot could be replicated at the pinnacles of the two parties, where Julius Malema and Mmusi Maimane would have to arrange an awkward marriage between "post-racial" liberalism and revolutionary neo-Marxism.On Friday, EFF national chairman Dali Mpofu promised that the party would play hardball in the coalition talks. "It's always easier to extract concessions from someone who has something to lose - and we don't," he said. "We are not interested in positions - we are only interested in improving the lives of the marginalised, so we will negotiate with that as our only priority."full_story_image_hright1While the party's national spokesman Mbuyiseni Ndlozi and Malema have said there was no chance of ANC-EFF coalitions, Mpofu conceded that such an eventuality was not impossible. "You never know, but for that to happen we would have to go back to our structures and get a mandate," said Mpofu. "And it would have major implications for the next national elections."It's even conceivable that the ANC and DA could strike a deal in one of the hung councils. So a three-way game of political seduction has begun. It is arguable that the ANC has a stronger negotiating position than the DA, since it is able to offer national concessions on pro-poor policy that the DA cannot.But the EFF's leaders have to decide which coalition partner will be least damaging to the party's image, and then seek rank-and-file support for the choice.Mpofu insisted that whatever transpired, the EFF would not tone down the militancy and intransigence of its performance in parliament (which helped win a climbdown from President Jacob Zuma on Nkandla but also prevented substantive policy debate) if it gained a share of municipal power.block_quotes_start These elections are not about the DA taking over - this is a referendum against the ANC block_quotes_end"We will maintain our stance of radicalism, whether it's from a position of opposition or a position of governance. It is easier to maintain that as opposition. But our supporters have told us throughout the campaign that they approve of our strategy in parliament, and they've demonstrated that by increasing our numbers. So we can't change our radical stance or we risk losing our credibility and our brand."The DA also has non-negotiables, said Johannesburg mayoral candidate Herman Mashaba on Friday. "Anyone wanting to come into a coalition with us has to respect the rule of law, and must be committed to serving the people of Johannesburg, to civil service. And they must understand that corruption will be declared public enemy No1: it will not be tolerated."On the question of land expropriation without compensation, the EFF will have to understand that is not our competency at local government level. We can't get involved in that. If they want to deal with those issues then let them go to national government."Mashaba said the DA was committed to compromising on other issues for the sake of a coalition, to serve the electorate's composite will. "When you get into this kind of marriage, it's not ideal. But at the end of the day, I'm a democrat, and the voters have spoken, and we have to respond. The mandate we have is for a coalition, so we have to be flexible and navigate one. But I'm a person who understands that life will never be easy.mini_story_image_hright2"This is not about us - it's about dealing with high unemployment, investing in infrastructure, getting roads and electricity and flush toilets to the people of Zandspruit and Alexandra. And I don't know how anyone would want to derail that. The only reason to derail that is if you want to steal from the people."Who would object to us giving title deeds to the people of Soweto and other areas, to the houses they've been living in for so many years? Especially if we have the EFF as our partners - I think they must support us on that."And these elections are not about the DA taking over - this is a referendum against the ANC. And the ANC have been living in their own world. And we were very fortunate that Zuma was their face. Zuma was a gift to us, honestly."On Thursday, ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe spoke from a distant planet of complacency when he blamed the ANC's crippling drop in support on a low turnout - making the astonishing claim that black citizens don't understand the importance of voting.The gatvol citizens of Diepsloot would beg to differ...