Coalitions: Haphazard, people want power, according to analyst

As the fishy politics in local government continue impacting ordinary citizens, the possible collapse of multiparty coalition governments are close, with the growing disastrous state of affairs in Gauteng’s three metro councils.

Ahead of the Democratic Alliance’s (DA) “real state of the province address” expected to take place today; several other parties had bemoaned the position of Gauteng metros – City of Joburg, Ekurhuleni and Tshwane – under DA-led coalitions.

Some people claim citizens have lost faith in the coalitions. The DA occupies 71 seats in the Joburg city council, 69 in Tshwane and 65 in Ekurhuleni.

Expert weighs in

Political analyst Dr Levy Ndou said there was no firm ground for the coalition governments because coalitions were created in a haphazard way where people sought to position themselves for power.

According to Ndou, because parties focused on power – those who were isolated from a coalition would always do their best to ensure the coalitions collapsed.

‘No principles’

“There are no principles but they are only based on what they will get out of those partnerships,” he said. Ndou said with what was presented to the public by the establishment of coalitions – members of coalitions in most instances were treated equally but it was necessarily not an expression of the voters on the ground.

He added the resignation of Tshwane mayor Randall Williams would not guarantee the “stability in coalitions” they spoke of.

Williams resigned from office on Monday as he came under pressure from the DA’s coalition partners, following poor audit outcomes under his watch.

NOW READ: Tshwane mayor Randall Williams resigns

ActionSA’s Gauteng provincial leader, Bongani Baloyi, said the multiparty coalitions in the three metros were difficult to manage. ActionSA was still in coalition with the DA in Tshwane but remained an opposition party in Joburg and Ekurhuleni.

Initially, the DA controlled all three metros but was now only left with one. Baloyi said the DA-led coalition lost in Joburg because they could not get the Patriotic Alliance to support them.

‘Arrogance’

“Because of their arrogance, we could not get that coalition, which was the consequence of the DA being arrogant and frustrating the negotiations in the City of Joburg,” he said.

Baloyi said because of the DA-led coalitions inability to deliver sustainable services and lack of faith in them, as happened in Joburg and Ekurhuleni, caused the coalition governments to collapse.

The DA is leading a minority government in Ekurhuleni. Baloyi said Ekurhuleni had always been a minority government which could not pass any budget or deal with any issues of council.

“It is difficult to sustain such a government in that manner, as we have seen the regression of services in Ekurhuleni. Go to townships in Ekurhuleni and see the state of service delivery and how there have been serious regression,” he said.

Baloyi added although they were taken aback with the resignation of Williams, it was welcomed. Ndzipho Kalipa, former member of the mayoral committee of infrastructure and development in Ekurhuleni and member of Congress of the People, said the lack of renewal, firmness and leadership would lead to the downfall of multiparty coalition governments.

Kalipa said the core problem and the possible collapse of the coalitions was on the basis of lack of fairness, lack of leaders with transparent principles to defend the values and agreements they entered into.

READ MORE: An alternative to messy political coalitions

– lungas@citizen.co.za