LISTEN | Multiparty charter taking shape as power sharing, cabinet redesign and principles are agreed upon

The multiparty charter has made strides towards a solid agreement, having decided on common governance principles, power sharing and a redesign of cabinet in their bid to topple the ruling party.

Convention chairperson Prof William Gumede said through the two-day “robust discussions”, the parties are “getting there” — potentially paving their way to the Union Buildings.

As negotiations continued into day two, Gumede said the grouping — which consists of the DA, FF Plus, IFP, ActionSA, SNP, UIM and Isanco — were edging closer to providing “key solutions” for the country.

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Key among these was the decision to share power proportionally to the electoral outcome at the polls. This means individual parties will be allowed to campaign using their respective identities to appeal to the electorate in order to perform optimally at the polls — this will determine the chunk of power they receive should they assume government. 

“Once the election results are released, they will then deal with representation among themselves according to how much each party would have got,” he said.

The charter also agreed to use a merit-based approach in their allocation of positions in government. “They will look for the best candidate for the position, among them or outside, and that's what will form the basis for appointments. It will not be politically motivated, patronage-based or cadre deployment-based,” he said. 

In addition, the parties have reached consensus that the political parties that assume executive positions will be divorced from those that take up the legislative arm of government. 

“The parties will ensure a diversity of parties are represented in both the executive and legislature, but there is an agreement that no one party will dominate one sphere over the other. The executive and legislature must also reflect the diversity of the South African people,” he said.

Lifestyle audits will be introduced and implemented on all members who take up office in government.

Gumede said coalitions in the past have failed at a local level with power sharing at the core of the breakdown because politicians have been unable to agree on how to share power.

He also announced that the parties have agreed to reconvene in the coming months to develop a fully fledged policy plan.

“In two days you cannot agree on each and every policy, but you can agree on key principles, and they've done that. They do also commit to working on a fully fledged, properly researched policy platform in the months to come, based on the pillars of the agreement.”

The policy agreements had to be relaxed, however, as the invitation to new political party members of the pact was still open, he said. These would be given space to provide input as there were ongoing negotiations to bring in more parties.

“As individuals we have different opinions on how to deal with the challenges facing the country and reaching an agreement on some of the key issues is groundbreaking.”

While the group had been having consecutive meetings leading up to the convention, the two-day negotiations at the Emperors Palace in Kempton Park were important not only to iron out certain issues but to also reach an agreement and break down the trust deficit among them, he said.

“Some of these parties had, in the past, competed very vigorously among each other in a very hostile way and now they are beginning to forge a way to partner in a coalition — obviously it is not easy, but there is progress.”

As the first pre-election coalition agreement in the country's modern history, Gumede said a pact of this nature was unprecedented, even around the world, apart from a few instances.

“From having opposed each other and disagreeing to now sitting around the table to map out policies together, they are doing well. We expect to have a solid agreement signed by the end of the convention.”

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