Africa-Press – South-Africa. The DA’s plan to introduce a Private Members’ Bill to stabilise chaotic coalition governments have been gazetted for public comment.
According to DA chief Siviwe Gwarube, the draft Bill intends to limit the number of motions of no confidence in mayors, deputy mayors, speakers and whips to only one motion per 12-month period from the date of the last motion.
“However, as a safety net, the draft Bill will propose that additional motions of no confidence may be brought in exceptional circumstances where a person was found to be in violation of the Constitution or law; misconduct or the inability to perform the functions of office.
“The purpose of this provision is to safeguard against instances where a motion of no confidence is brought on frivolous political grounds but then shortly thereafter, there is a real and valid ground for their removal,” Gwarube said in the official notice.
The proposed legislation, in the run-up to the 2024 elections, is to prepare Parliament for the likelihood of coalition governments at a national level.
“South Africa is currently in a transitionary phase where the ruling party no longer holds majorities in a number of metros or councils across South Africa. With the 2024 national elections around the corner, these elections are poised to be the first instance where the ruling party will slip below 50% of the votes. What this means for South Africa is that coalition governments will now be the ‘new norm’,” Gwarube said.
Should a coalition government be required in 2024, parties and independent candidates would have to find workable coalitions agreements.
“However, what we have witnessed at municipal level are continuous political attacks on coalition governments from opposition parties who politick smaller parties to cross the floor in exchange for valuable MEC positions should the current government be successfully removed by way of a motion of no confidence.
“What we see in practice is motions of no confidence being used as a political tool, rather than for the mechanism it was originally intended, being a process to remove a speaker or mayor from office due to them not fulfilling their duties adequately. In fact, these motions are brought on spurious grounds only due to the fact that the opposition coalition has 50% +1 of the votes to pass the motion,” Gwarube said.
Previously News24 reported on the DA five point plan to address chaos in coalition governments.
The plan includes:
Gwarube said the constant motions make cities or municipalities ungovernable as a new executive is installed every other month.
“There can be no question that this practice will continue, which has, and will continue to have, a disastrous impact on the stability and running of a municipality,” she said.
Interested parties and institutions are invited to submit written representations on the proposed content of the draft Bill to the Speaker of the National Assembly.
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