Point of View: Inside coalition talks, how much are political parties willing to compromise?

Kaya 959 Reporter

There’s been ongoing conversations by South Africa political parties following the outcome of the local government elections.

One major contentious conversation is around the City of Tshwane, which due to the election outcomes will need to have a coalition government. This will only be successful if political parties put their interests aside and prioritise service delivery.

The embattled City of Tshwane is among the 66 hung municipalities following the local government elections.

Also Read: The Elections of Knowns and Unknowns

Economic Freedom Front

The EFF indicated that it would like to govern in Ekurhuleni, in an exchange that would see the ANC benefitting from an EFF vote in Johannesburg.

However, conditions published in a statement by the EFF need to be adhered to.

The conditions were posted on the official EFF Twitter account:

EFF Has Formed A Coalition Negotiations Team And Coalition Framework Of Principles pic.twitter.com/1rcQ9IF9US

— Economic Freedom Fighters (@EFFSouthAfrica) November 5, 2021

Democratic Alliance

The DA indicated that it doesn’t want to work with the ANC nor the EFF.

The ANC, which suffered major losses in the municipal election last week is expected to make pronouncements in the coming week of the outcomes of the coalition talks.

Also Read: Ramaphosa calls on parties to unite for the sake of the people

African National Congress

President Cyril Ramaphosa addressed his member on Monday, at the ANC’s post-elections briefing at the University of Johannesburg.

He insisted that the ANC will not go into coalitions at any cost. The president said they were not begging for coalition partners.

Point of view with Phemelo Motene spoke to Thembalani Mazibuko, a researcher at the Electoral Institute for Sustainable Democracy in Africa (EISA) and Political Analyst, Tinyiko Maluleke.

Mazibuko zoned into the Gauteng Province and gave an analysis of what was happening behind the scenes.

“What politicians say to the public, their supporters and the media may be very different to what they say behind closed doors. It’s very difficult to definitively analyze what political parties mean at this stage. We don’t even know if they are speaking in good faith.”

The 2021 Municipal Elections Results

Out of 213 councils the ANC only managed to get a majority in 116 municipalities.

2021 Municipal Elections Results #LGE2021

In the eight contested metropolitan councils, the top three parties are: pic.twitter.com/hztXRvAjTi

— IEC South Africa (@IECSouthAfrica) November 4, 2021

A national overview of the outcome of #LGE2021. In terms of the 213 municipalities contested:

• @MYANC achieved a majority in 161 Municipalities.
• @Our_DA achieved a majority in 13 Municipalities.
• @IFPinParliament achieved a majority in 10 Municipalities

— IEC South Africa (@IECSouthAfrica) November 4, 2021

Tinyiko Maluleke says even though the coalition negotiations may be difficult, it’s a lesser devil for the voters who have opted to vote the way they did.

“The only thing as much as the voters are concerned, we can take the voters as one party, amongst the negotiating parties. As far as the voters are concern, the only thing worse than a coalition government, is an 80% given to one political party. That’s what the voters are very much afraid of, that’s why they voted the way they did.”

He also mentions that if there is a deadlock during the negotiations, the parties will have to have a minority government.

Maluleke predicted that voter turnout is likely to remain the same in 2024.

Written by: Zuko