Unstable coalitions must find solid ground: Paul Mashatile

The government is working on a process to review the negative impact of unstable coalitions on service delivery, says Deputy President Paul Mashatile.

It will take the form of a dialogue involving political parties and the public, and use the South African Local Government Association's (Salga) framework for coalitions as a guide.

The framework, developed by Salga after the 2021 local government elections, aims to assist political parties in structuring coalitions.

The instability of some coalitions requires special attention as municipal functionality is critical for service delivery, said Mashatile.

“The issue of coalitions is part of a discussion on improving the quality of our democracy. While working towards the dialogue, the government will review the negative impact of dysfunctional coalition arrangements and their effect on service delivery.

“We are particularly concerned that though some municipalities are weakened because of low economic growth, approval of development proposals that would boost economic growth are derailed because of endless disruptions in coalition governments,” the deputy president said.

Coalitions, especially in Gauteng, have been chaotic since the 2021 local government elections, with its three metros — Johannesburg, Ekurhuleni and Tshwane — effectively becoming revolving doors for mayors and executive committees, to the detriment of citizens.

Constant change in such committees has negatively affected service delivery, with some municipalities, especially Tshwane, failing to pass budgets.

Dialogue on coalitions will go a long way in determining “the appropriate mechanism” to constitute them, Mashatile told the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) on Thursday.

Salga's 48-page framework seeks to guide parties on coalition negotiations, what to prioritise, what concessions and commitments to make, and avoiding conflict. 

It also states that even if negotiations are private, constituencies must be updated on progress, what is agreed upon and what the sticking points are. 

The guidelines also advise political parties to involve local councillors and not limit negotiations to national leaders.

“National or regional involvement in coalition negotiations is understandable because political parties have party-wide preferences and policy positions on coalitions. However, if party leaders negotiate without local input, it reduces the effectiveness of the local bargaining process,” the document reads.

“This is because national or regional leaders are not always able to bargain effectively with respect to the government programme for a specific municipality. What are the specific challenges in that municipality? What are the needs [and] aspirations of the community in that municipality? What are the local dynamics that will make a coalition successful or not?”

Mashatile said: “Local government is the closest government to the people. I think it’s important for us to emphasise that point. We need to minimise disruptions as much as we can at that level. The participatory approach is correct when dealing with these matters because we need to ensure our municipalities are accountable to the people. We must make sure that whatever they do is about improving service delivery to communities.

“We must ensure those at local government level are only informed by that approach, that we are here to serve our people, we are accountable to them and all arrangements that must be made or have to be made must always put people first.”

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