SMANGALISO MKHATSHWA | Coalition can work in SA if leaders are disciplined and put the citizens first

As expected, the hottest topic of this year’s elections is the formation of coalition governments. Political pundits predict that no political party will win an outright 51% majority.

People are entitled to daydream. They can, as they often do, be selective in their analysis on research findings. Parties with a slim majority still need the support of others to form a government.

Frenetic horse trading is already in full swing overtly or clandestinely. The chaotic charade in cities such as Johannesburg, Tshwane, Nelson Mandela Bay and other municipalities does not augur well for this system of governance.

Their failure in municipalities may be a precursor to what is likely to happen in the post 2024 elections in the higher spheres of the government. That won’t augur well for future stability of service delivery, including economic growth.

It is common cause that governing parties with votes only go into coalition with other parties as a last resort. While I am not opposed to coalition governance per se, our much-needed social transformation project can only be retarded if we follow that route.

Interparty governance has worked well in all established democracies such as Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Germany, and others. There are some success stories also in some African and Asia countries as well.

They have succeeded because they have a long tradition of democracy and have developed strong governance institutions.

Change of government does not threaten the stable provision of essential services, like water, power, sanitation, education, justice, national security, road infrastructure, health, and recreation, etc. They have regulated the system.

Their public representatives don’t go into politics because they are jobless or starving. They join politics for the sole purpose of promoting a particular agenda like environment. Their coalition arrangement usually attracts the best brains – people who have a lot of experience in various disciplines.

When the ANC was defeated by the DA in the key metros of Tshwane, Johannesburg, Ekurhuleni, Mandela Bay in 2016, the coalition governments were formed.

Unfortunately, that resulted in unintended consequences. Service delivery and good governance almost collapsed. Council meetings degenerated into spectacular charades. Sometimes the passing of budgets took ages much to the detriment of development and service delivery.

While politicians tested each other’s strengths, millions of ordinary people were deprived of their right to quality service delivery and stable administration.

Such a situation demands an unequivocal call for social justice. When council or legislatures are in disarray, public representatives are not in a way disadvantaged. They continue to enjoy their lives of privilege and comfort, while the masses struggle with lack of service delivery to which they are constitutionally entitled.

If the failure of coalition government in municipalities is anything to go by, our national development programme runs the risk of being derailed or delayed unless SA has a government that has enough muscle to take and implement critical national imperatives without having to be bogged down by dragging reluctant political parties kicking and screaming.

However, now that coalitions have become a necessary evil, the government must create an enabling tool to guarantee uninterrupted provisions of essential basic services. We can learn something from Kenyan government where parliament introduced a legal framework that regulates policies, objectives and modus operandi that are binding on all parties that formed the coalition.

According to the Institute of Election Management Services in Africa head Terry Tselane, SA has reached a point where there is a need for institutionalisation or regulation of coalitions.

“We must consider the establishment of an office of the registrar of political parties. In terms of the system the parties that enter into coalition must develop an arrangement which is signed and deposited in the registrar,” Tselane says.

Unlike in countries that enjoy social, cultural and political homogeneity, SA is still plagued by historical, cultural and social dislocation.

Governance by coalition is a foreign concept not based on the African philosophy of ubuntu. This is a debate for another day.

• Father Mkhatshwa is a chairman of Moral Generation Movement, a former ANC MP and Tshwane mayor