An important grouping must be considered as the intricacies and dynamics of South Africa’s new national and provincial coalition governments play out — the many inhabitants of the country who do not have a physical seat at the table.
South Africa’s political landscape has forever changed due to the major electoral shift experienced in the past week, but the population’s needs, interests, and voices remain the same. These must not be forgotten or misread as the louder voices of political haggling, ministerial allocations, and policy prioritisation take centre stage. A people-centred coalition must shape its democracy from now on.
The new coalition agreement between the African National Congress (ANC), the Democratic Alliance (DA) and the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) has seen a monumental change in South Africa’s political landscape. In KwaZulu-Natal, a coalition comprising the IFP, DA, ANC and National Freedom Party (NFP) has been set up with Thami Ntuli elected as the new premier of KZN.
Read more in Daily Maverick: New KZN Premier Thami Ntuli announces coalition cabinet during inauguration address
So far, South Africa’s experience of coalition governments has proved thorny and a struggle. The nature of the relationships between political parties has, for the most part, been contentious and difficult, making it difficult for coalitions to work.
Deputy Minister of Higher Education Buti Manamela has described the coalition governments of the City of Johannesburg and the City of Ekurhuleni as clear examples of why coalition governments fail to respond to the citizens. He described coalition governments as being “unsustainable, which delays service delivery, policymaking, and leadership inconsistency”.
People-centred coalitions
While these examples and that of Nelson Mandela Bay show how coalition governments can fail, these new coalition governments need to be conscious of those failures and be open to reinventing ways of making them work. People-centred coalitions are a way to do that.
People-centred coalitions are an expression of the needs and interests of the population. They are not about which party holds more power and influence and how it can wield more. It goes beyond that to power that translates to representing the interests of the voiceless and vulnerable.
The focus is not on power struggles and divisions but on uniting to tackle persistent and longstanding socioeconomic and developmental concerns. This requires finding ways to harmonise divergent policy ideas, engaging in healthy and rigorous debate grounded in evidence, formulating policy grounded in shared goals and accountability, and avoiding endless and never-ending arguments that shift away from the important issues. Time is of the essence here, so it must be used wisely.
Coalitions have been used to establish power-sharing arrangements and can be used to deepen and strengthen democracy. In learning the art of coalitions, political parties must practice the art of compromise to develop the most sustainable and effective policies and programmes.
It is time to acknowledge this significant shift and reflect on how to use it to acknowledge and actively pursue the needs of the population and not party agendas.
This national unity government coalition can bring about positive change if used to broadly protect, promote and uphold the needs of the citizens. After all, governments are here to serve all the people.
With the food crisis, high rising economic costs, unemployment and climate-induced fragilities, this is a time for South African parties to remember who matters and come together to improve the life of every inhabitant within its borders.
This coalition can breathe new life into South Africa’s democracy if there is a commitment to compromise and focus on the citizens. DM