WILLIAM GUMEDE | Notion that coalition governance results in instability misinformed

In the past, SA has had many “hung” municipal councils, since 1994 to be exact – when no single party has had an outright majority, without governments formed thereafter being unstable, yet more recently a number of municipal coalition governments have increasingly collapsed, giving the wrong public perception that coalitions at municipal level are inherently unworkable.

The rise of instability at  municipal level because no parties received an overall electoral victory, is only a phenomenon that has emerged after the 2016 municipal elections, when the ANC lost majorities in many large metro councils, and either had to govern in coalitions or opposition parties formed governing coalitions.

Currently, there are 32 “hung" councils in the country. Despite  public failures of some of the big metro coalitions – especially Johannesburg, Tshwane and Nelson Mandela Bay, municipal coalitions are generally well governed.

Any argument that coalition governance automatically results in instability, incoherent delivery and division, is misinformed. Coalitions have been successful in national, provincial, and local government since 1994. Coalitions have worked even if the partners had different ideological outlooks, policies and stances.

Former SA president Nelson Mandela presided over a government of national unity, a form of coalition government, to promote reconciliation, inclusiveness and participation, when he included all the other major opposition parties into government, including the National Party, the former governing party, even though the ANC won the 1994 elections.

Between 1994 and 1999, there was a provincial government of national unity between the ANC and the IFP in KwaZulu-Natal. There was a provincial coalition between the DA and opposition parties in the Western Cape between 2009 and 2014 and a city coalition between the DA and opposition parties in Cape Town between 2006 and 2011.

Coalition governance  – multiple parties governing –  are prominent in more than 40 countries of the world – and is therefore a significant form of governance. In Africa, since the end of the colonialism in the post- World War 2 period, it has been the mostly successful form of governance in Africa’s modern history.

Effective coalition governments boost oversight of the management of government, as individual coalition partners hold each other accountable for public service delivery. Coalition governance allows for  greater participation of minorities in governance, helps cater for the interests of all groups in a country and for the adoption of policies that caters for marginalised constituencies.

There have been deliberate attacks on coalition government as a form of governance, either out of ignorance or to sway voters not to vote for smaller parties. Such misguided attacks wrongly create public sentiment against coalition governments.

Since 2016, large metros with big budgets, procurement contracts and lucrative positions have fallen in opposition hands. This means the fights for control over resources have become more intense.

Parties that are unseated, when in opposition, try to dislodge new governing parties or make them unstable, in order to grab back control. Many parties in opposition wrongly  believe opposing a governing coalition is bringing it down – rather than holding it accountable.

Coalitions need compromises for the greater good of public service delivery, leadership maturity to rise above ego, pettiness and self or individual party interest and effective conflict resolution mechanisms.

However, in many cases dominant parties are not making enough compromises; smaller parties are often made to feel excluded – or small parties demand outsize concessions in return for them to be a partner in coalitions.

Many of the failed coalitions have not built conflict resolution mechanisms into their governance structures as part of their partnership deals.

Importantly, effective coalition governance cannot take place until SA has a professional public service. There is often no firewall between party political and the public administration; this means that if a coalition government collapses at  local level, public services often also collapse.

There is often very little transparency from coalition partners about the details of coalition agreements. Parties in most cases do not provide information about agreements to their party structures and members. Party leaders are even less inclined to provide information about coalition agreements to voters. It is critical that coalition governments make coalition agreements public.

If coalition laws are going to be explored, it is better to explore variations of minority governments, in which governments may continue with agreements of cooperation on a case-by-case basis with other political parties they are not in a formal coalition with – to ensure stability. 

There has to be greater society-wide embrace of coalition governance as a credible form of governance for the country. Effective coalition politics demands better governance culture, for leaders and parties to prioritise the best interest of SA, and not self, their political parties, and ultimately demands mature political leaders – which are currently not widely present.

• Prof Gumede co-chaired the Salga dialogue that made proposals for a coalition governance legal framework for all spheres of government