Africa-Press – South-Africa. South Africa’s social issues and a stagnant economy are creating a stampede towards the political sphere, especially by the youth, who increasingly demand greater representation in politics.
This is according to Deputy President Paul Mashatile, who delivered a keynote address at the government’s national dialogue on coalition governments in Cape Town on Friday.
Leaders from government, political parties and civil society are attending the dialogue, along with traditional leaders and faith leaders. It is expected to take place over two days.
Mashatile was frank about the untenable instability and disruptions at municipalities and appealed to politicians to think about the country’s future democracy.
But Mashatile also focused on the link between politics and the economy.
He highlighted the monetisation of votes and seats in municipal governance, patronage and rent-seeking as some of the problems in local government.
“It is also exacerbated by an economy that has not grown sufficiently over the years to absorb greater numbers of job seekers. Together, both factors – the sociological characteristics of our society and the stagnant economy – manifest in a stampede towards the political sphere, especially by the youth, who increasingly demand greater representation in politics than the professions and the rise in variants of right-wing and left-wing populism alike,” he said.
Mashatile also spoke about the coalitions framework document which discusses career politicians without any prospects of employment elsewhere, who face a constant risk of job insecurity.
He said:
According to Mashatile, the country’s social structure and its economy are central to all endeavours.
“With or without coalitions in any sphere of government, but most especially because of coalitions, South Africa requires a growing economy, which creates opportunities for people beyond the political sphere. As an enduring dividend of freedom, such an economy will be a factor in social and political stability, state and nation-building, all of which can elude us if the economy fails,” he said.
The 2021 municipal elections saw a record number of hung municipalities with no majorities.
The ANC had more seats in these councils, but it was forced to negotiate for the majority to govern.
The DA had also used its council numbers to form coalitions with political parties, such as the Freedom Front Plus, Cope, ActionSA and the ACDP.
This grouping governed in Johannesburg, Tshwane, and Ekurhuleni, but the councils saw instability caused mainly by political shifts and desires by the ANC and DA to govern.
Furthermore, Mashatile said, while South Africa must be ready and willing to learn from the coalition experiences of other countries, the country’s own politics needs to be considered.
“Our history of a unique colonialism that is unlike any other and the enduring legacy of that special colonialism has a direct impact on our politics today and will undoubtedly be the case for a long time to come. We must therefore craft viable partnerships that reflect the South African context in all its nuances, complexity, and opportunities,” he said.
He added that the “frequent collapse” of coalitions at the local government level “is deliberate, sometimes even unrelated to the pursuit of the public good, and can be minimised down to a healthy level, with little detrimental effect on municipal administration”.
He also highlighted opportunistic political behaviour, enabled by institutional loopholes and the lack of a threshold for the admissibility of a motion of no confidence among the major challenges in hung councils.
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