Coalition talks: Two weeks of intense bargaining ahead

Time is running out for political parties in 66 hung councils to form coalitions or, at the very least, come to working agreements in new municipal governments.

Parties normally have 14 days to constitute a new council and the clock would normally have started ticking last Thursday, when the IEC published the results and fixed the deadline for 19 November at 6pm.

But parties have four more days to play with as the final election result was only gazetted on Wednesday, which shifts the deadline to 23 November.

“The count starts when the councillors are declared elected,” said the IEC’s deputy chief executive officer, Masego
Sheburi.

“This was done by way of a Time is running out for political parties in 66 hung councils to form coalitions or, at the very least, come to working agreements in new municipal governments. Parties normally have 14 days to constitute a new council and the clock would normally have started ticking last Thursday, when the IEC published the results and fixed the deadline for 19 November at 6pm.

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Gazette [on Tuesday], so the 14 days are counted as from 9 November.”

After that deadline is met, the IEC has no further role and Sheburi said that the department for cooperative governance and traditional affairs (Cogta) under Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma then takes over the baton.

After the deadline has passed, councils are expected to convene for the first time and elect office bearers, including the mayor and speaker.

Should there be no coalition and at the very least a working agreement between parties, the first session may present significant challenges and, should a mayor be elected eventually, the process may be scuppered by a vote of no confidence tendered by an opposing party.

To date there has been no firm indications from any party about who is being engaged over what. Only demands. But DA leader John Steenhuisen confirmed to The Citizen that his party is busy talking to the IFP, ActionSA and the Patriotic Alliance.

This is likely in addition to other potential partners who share similar values, such as the ACDP and the Freedom Front Plus.

If parties cannot find common ground to work together there may be grounds for a rerun of the local elections.

President Ramaphosa hinted at this on Monday with the EFF’s Floyd Shibangu barking back that the EFF would destroy the ANC if there was a rerun.

Political scientist Dr Ralph Mathekga said: “I think parties need to sober up and realise the extent of the crisis at local government and that a rerun can create further crises for the dominant parties.

“It is certainly an unstable term for local government that’s off to a rocky start.”

Steenhuisen took a more pragmatic approach to the situation. “I think it’s way too early to predict that agreements cannot be done. There remains a full fortnight from today to strike deals,” he said.

“It is also not as simple, as the ANC is attempting to make out. Clearly, it’s a strategy to try and bully parties into hastily signing deals.

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“We are still very busy putting coalitions together in many of these councils and we will do so on the basis of forming stable coalitions that focus on service delivery.”

But Mathekga was concerned.

“I think we should not disillusion ourselves with the search for stability in this term of local government. It’s just what it is sadly.”

Political commentator Russel Crystal said: “The real crunch for the ANC is that nobody wants to work with them.

“Their only route to a working coalition is to work with the EFF, but the question is would the EFF want to work with them because, traditionally, the party prefers loose working agreements over formal coalitions.”

He adds the crunch time will come two days before the IEC deadline, around 21 November.

“This is when we will start seeing things taking shape or end up with minority governments.”