Does South Africa deserve coalitions?

As the country is fast approaching the 2024 national elections, coalition governance seems to be the order of the day but South Africans seem confused who exactly to vote for in the upcoming polls due to infighting among coalition partners.

With the public spat between the Democratic alliance (DA) and ActionSA, parties that largely shared an ideology, do we really deserve a coalition government?

The coalitions have not worked in the manner they were supposed to where they existed all over the country as parties seem to be only using the partnerships a step ladder to political power.

Is the devil that we know not better to deal with than trying the devil we don’t? We have seen the ANC and Economic Frredom Fighters (EFF) working together in the City of Joburg to topple the DA.

As if this is not enough, the two parties are now gunning for the Ekurhuleni municipality which they want to wrest from another DA-led coalition.

If these two parties form a coalition governance, none of the other parties would be able to challenge them for power.

But the question is: do we really need an ANC and EFF government? This is concerning because at the height of the Commission of Inquiry into State Capture, President Cyril Ramaphosa labelled his party, the ANC, as “accused number one for corruption” and the EFF seem to agitate for open borders to allow foreigners free pass into South Africa, a move which received universal condemnation from South Africans, including the EFF’s own members.

Former black leaders in the DA who have left the party have accused it of racism, saying Friday 12 14 October 2022 the party was only looking out for white South Africans.

The DA has been in charge in the City of Tshwane since 2016 but to date, the people of Hammanskraal, north of Pretoria, are still forced to drink water that has been declared unfit for human consumption.

The DA seem to blame the ANC for everything despite them being in charge in that municipality for so long.

ActionSA, the new kid on the block, also appears to be on the brink of a split in the near future as its leader Herman Mashaba is refusing to work with the ANC while some of its members are in favour of the idea of cooperating with the ANC.

It appears as if the only way for ActionSA to keep relevance is to be in power, which is why they are tiptoeing around the idea of divorcing the DA.

As most of its leaders are former DA members, the question: is what it the ActionSA going to do differently that they did not do in the DA? Who we then vote for?

Do we really have the appetite to even bother ourselves with voting in the light of this confusion? The ANC has failed, the DA appear to be failing and always having petty fights with its coalition partners and the EFF seems to be all over the place with its notorious flip flopping.

ActionSA is a newly formed party and has a long way to go before toppling the three big boys. There are no permanent friends or permanent enemies in politics and politicians are in it for themselves.

We need to wake up as South Africans because they are not working for us but themselves, their families and their comrades.

This is why you will hear them complaining about the perks they get from taxpayers’ money when they are in power.

Remove them from power, then you will know about the great ideas they have to change South Africa for the better.

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