Africa-Press – South-Africa. Ahead of the 2024 national and provincial elections, the DA is proposing the introduction of legislation to stabilise coalitions.
Part of the party’s legislative agenda in the run-up to the 2024 elections is to prepare Parliament for the likelihood of coalition governments at a national level.
On Thursday, DA leader John Steenhuisen detailed the party’s plan for coalitions.
“For the first time in 70 years, the era of one-party domination is coming to an end,” Steenhuisen said, adding that there is a need to prepare for coalition politics.
“South Africa’s electoral legislative frameworks need to catch up with the state of our democracy and current South African reality. This legislation is not a fix to a DA problem with coalitions. It is a fix to a South African problem with coalitions. Any party wishing to be part of a coalition government after 2024 should welcome the stability promoted by these legislative changes,” he said.
The proposal comes shortly after the DA’s ousting in the City of Johannesburg. Mpho Phalatse was removed and had to vacate her mayoral post after the election of Cope’s Colleen Makhubele as the speaker in the council.
The ANC is back in government in Johannesburg, and political parties are playing the blaming game.
According to Steenhuisen, the ANC’s situation is getting worse, with poverty, service delivery failures, crime, corruption, debt and unemployment spiralling out of control.
“We cannot afford to replace failing ANC governments – whether at a national, provincial or local level – with unstable, cumbersome coalitions. Yet, this is exactly what happened in the Johannesburg, Tshwane, Ekurhuleni and Nelson Mandela Bay metros after the 2021 local government elections. In these metros, residents face the constant risk of disrupted service delivery.
“If the current state of metro coalitions is replicated at national and provincial government levels post 2024, it will lead to permanent instability, with South Africa possibly even becoming ungovernable,” he said.
“If coalitions are to be the future in South Africa, then Parliament needs to take the necessary legislative steps to ensure that they are stable and able to deliver. Many other countries have done just this and are governed by successful, stable coalitions. If we fail to stabilise coalitions, the poorest communities will bear the brunt of their dysfunction, since they are most reliant on government services,” Steenhuisen said.
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