SOUTH AFRICA: Political Parties Establish Tight Coalition Terms
After the 2016 Local Government Election, where political parties failed to gain an outright majority in many towns, coalitions and kingmakers have become the trendy news in local government politics.
There are eight hanging municipalities in Gauteng, including the three metropolises of Johannesburg, Tshwane, and Ekurhuleni. ActionSA, a newcomer, has returned to the electorate to determine how it should approach alliances.
They are adamant that they will not form a coalition with the ANC, according to their national spokeswoman, Lerato Ngobeni. She mentioned that they will enter coalition talks with parties dedicated to a zero-tolerance approach to corruption. And as well they will form a coalition based on the principle of transparency. She noted that since Thursday, they’ve been having a public participation poll on their website.
Meanwhile, the Democratic Alliance (DA) says it is open to work with any party that agrees to the 17 principles mentioned on its website. Aspiring coalition partners must commit to good governance, non-racialism, and the rejection of gender and racial quotas.
In this round of elections, the Freedom Front Plus (FFPlus) gained by leaps and bounds, doubling its number of seats. Pieter Groenewald, the leader of the Freedom Front Plus, has stated that they will not collaborate with the ANC or the EFF on principle.
Her view was that they need to make sure that any coalition we join is durable and stable, therefore they’ll pay close attention to who the other members of that particular coalition are. She enforced that must set an example for the 2024 election by demonstrating to voters that a stable and responsible coalition administration is possible.
The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) desire equal access to water, land, and work for all South Africans, as well as transparency and non-racialism. In addition, they want all coalition agreements to be publicly disclosed.
The Patriotic Alliance (PA), another prospective kingmaker and newcomer, has established a group to discuss any partnerships.Patriotic Alliance head of legal affairs, Eugene Botha commented on their mission is to secure municipal governance while also ensuring service delivery to respective communities emphasizing that they haven’t been served in a long time.
He pointed out that as a result, they do not hold a position on any party in which they declare that they will not do business with. However, they want them to understand that they will remain neutral.
The party has decided not to join any coalitions in local government.
Source: Liela Magnus | SABCnews
Abeeb Lekan Sodiq is a Managing Editor & Writer at theafricandream.net. He is as well a Graphics Designer and also known as Arakunrin Lekan.
