To avoid instability, threshold must be met before coalitions are formed, says Ramaphosa

To lessen instability in local government, President Cyril Ramaphosa on Tuesday suggested thresholds needed to be met before political parties formed coalitions.

“It is this that we need to resolve and stabilise local municipal government and that is why we are saying of having a threshold. 

“If you have a threshold where your support level goes beyond that threshold you can then be part of a coalition government so that there is no instability. In the end it is the service that we provide for our people rather than spoils of government.” 

Ramaphosa made the remarks during a joint press briefing after a state visit by Finland President Sauli Väinämö Niinistö at the Union Buildings in Pretoria.   

Ramaphosa was asked what lessons South Africa could learn from Finland on coalition governments.  

His comments come at the back of Thapelo Amad’s resignation as Johannesburg mayor on Monday. 

TimesLIVE reported that Amad was facing a motion of no confidence together with speaker Colleen Makhubele, set for Tuesday. There is instability in a number of municipalities with mayors and speakers facing votes of no confidence as political parties jostle for power in coalition-led municipalities. 

Ramaphosa said: “They (European countries) have been involved in the coalition business for much longer than we have.”  

He said those countries also had developed and stable public service architectures where even as the parties might change in terms of government, the provision of services to the population continued.  

“This is because they have established that stability at a public servant's level and we have not yet reached that level and that is why whenever there are changes in coalition government at a political level, it also impacts negatively on the services that should be provided to ordinary citizens.”  

That’s why, he said, SA needs to learn how these countries have mastered this.  

“It is for this reason that we have decided on professionalising the civil service because the more your civil service is professionalised, and people with good skills are appointed, the better tenure they have in their positions.” 

Weighing in, Niinistö said he could not recall a time when a party in his country had more than 30% support so it was necessary to partner up with other parties. He said coalition partnerships started more than 100 years ago but models differed in other Nordic countries. 

Ramaphosa went on to say that coalitions in South Africa dated back to the birth of democracy.  

“The very first government led by President (Nelson) Mandela was a coalition called the government of national unity and beyond that the majority party has always brought in people from minority parties, up until today. 

“I have in my cabinet participation by a minority party and that has always worked well.”

Ramaphosa said he looks forward to lessons South Africa can draw from countries like Finland. 

TimesLIVE

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