‘Coalitions not a solution to ANC’s problems’ – Makhura

Apart from the load shedding crisis, the issue around coalitions also came under discussion at the African National Congress’ (ANC) four-day long National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting.

Coalitions have been a major talking point for a while considering the levels of instability in some of the country’s biggest metros and municipalities.

Some of the metros that have been affected by instability include the City of Tshwane, City of Ekurhuleni as well as the City of Johannesburg.

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Addressing the media on Sunday, ANC NEC member David Makhura said they were not discussing who they are going to work with in 2024, stressing that they are working towards victory.

“We have looked at all the data, election trends at by-elections and we have also looked at what is also happening with other parties and therefore we are focusing on fixing the coalitions that were given rise to by the 2021 local government elections.

“We are also looking into where those coalitions are, who is in those hung councils and with whom should the ANC work with,” said Makhura.

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He stressed that the ANC was not resigned to coalitions, saying one of the reasons one cannot bank on coalition arrangements to fix the deep structural problems is because of many decades of apartheid.

ANC not investing in coalitions

Makhura said coalitions happen because people don’t trust any of the political parties.

“Why voters don’t trust any of those political parties is because when they make an assessment, whether you are the incumbent or in opposition, they come to the conclusion that they may not vote for you and so the ANC is spending time fixing that.

“We are not investing in coalitions but we are investing in going back to the people, to reconnect with them and truly respond to their needs, but we also have to fix existing coalitions,” Makhura said.

How to fix existing coalitions?

According to Makhura, there is a tendency to romanticise coalitions.

“People were saying South Africa’s democracy has now matured, celebrating coalitions but what is our experience now in 2023? It’s a big disappointment and the point we are making is that coalitions are part of democracy, but they are not an answer… they can’t be an answer to our problems and that is why we have to fix those coalitions.

“Based on our beliefs and our vision for South Africa, we would like to put in place certain measures such as a legislation to govern coalitions as this will enable us to ensure that where there are coalition agreements, they are subjected to some legal authority,” Makhura said.