Failed quorums, ousted speakers, fake acting speakers, bribery to betray coalition partners — SA’s metros have become sites of intrigue and high drama.
Coalitions at the scale we have now are relatively new to SA — in 2016, the country went from one coalition-run metro to three. In 2021, the game changed again — now only three of the country’s eight metros are not run by a coalition government.
Less than a year after the election, there has been high drama in many of these metros, particularly Nelson Mandela Bay — which the DA is on the cusp of winning back — and in DA-run Tshwane, Ekurhuleni and Joburg.
“The ANC is far more fragmented and paralysed internally in some places than many of our multiparty coalitions
— Thomas Walters
The DA this week averted the loss of Joburg thanks to a last-minute court victory on Monday. The crisis for the DA was sparked two weeks ago when rebel coalition councillors backed a motion of no confidence in DA speaker Vasco da Gama, which came close to paving the way for an ANC mayor to be elected.
Does the intrigue, betrayal and perceived chaos in these metros spell crisis? Does it mean delivery has ground to a halt and all that parties do all day is insert daggers into the backs of their opponents?
The FM caught up with DA deputy federal council chair Thomas Walters, fresh from a weekend retreat with party mayors, to sound out his views on the party’s experience over the past 10 months. He says the sturm und drang in coalition-run councils does not mean they are dysfunctional.
“Yes, it might be more dramatic but it’s not dysfunctional. In fact, I would say a lot of what you call drama makes for a more functional council. Politicians are present, they are engaged, they are actively involved in what is unfolding,” he says.
Walters tells the FM that the tension seen in coalitions across the country is part of a transition process from single-party dominance to multiparty coalitions — and is only likely to deepen. In countries such as Germany, where coalitions are the norm, the events in Joburg would barely have caused a stir.
“This is all part of coalition politics, this is a good space. Our political system, as envisioned by the constitution, is proportional in nature. It was not designed for one-party dominance, which was the case from 1994 until now. What we are seeing now is a normalisation, a transition in which the actual political party system is catching up with what the constitution envisioned,” he says.
The retreat over the weekend brought together the DA’s mayors from across the country to share what they had learnt about delivery, governance and making coalition administrations work. Provincial leaders also participated.
That is psychological gymnastics, this underlying fear that we cannot antagonise the bully. This is about serving society
— Thomas Walters
Walters believes that all the coalition governments the DA controls are working better than many municipalities that the ANC is running on its own.
“The ANC is far more fragmented and paralysed internally in some places than many of our multiparty coalitions. Is there conflict? Yes. But solutions are found quite easily and also more transparently and at less cost to citizens and those we deliver to,” he says.
In Tshwane, too, the metro coalition has come under strain, with accusations in August — led by coalition partner ActionSA — that DA mayor Randall Williams was guilty of irregular procedure in a power station tender. The issue has since been resolved.
“There’s a lot of noise but the questions you must ask are: is it functional, is there delivery, are budgets passed, can we form a government? And the answer to all those questions is yes,” Walters says.
The EFF plays a key role in many councils, even though it is not part of any formal coalition. For instance, the party worked with the ANC in Joburg to remove Da Gama.
“The EFF is not out to make coalitions unstable, its ideological roots tend towards making government as a whole and the constitutional order unstable to reach its ideological goals,” Walters says. “When you don’t have votes, you have to substitute that with a sense of power and that sense comes from being able to cause chaos and instability.”
The FM understands an issue that arose at the weekend gathering was the effect of the party’s national policy stances on local government functioning. Insiders said one example cited was the DA call for the removal of police minister Bheki Cele, which some attendees feared could result in a backlash from the police in metros run by the DA.
But Walters says the campaign against Cele is almost a last resort after years of attempting to intervene in the fight against crime at an intergovernmental level. He maintains that the end result of those attempts was “institutional stonewalling and a sort of lawful undermining” of the DA government in the Western Cape. He says the party should not allow fear of repercussions at local government level to inhibit it from speaking out on any matter.
“That is psychological gymnastics, this underlying fear that we cannot antagonise the bully,” he says. “This is about serving society. We cannot line up for crumbs off the table when we are trying to serve citizens and do our jobs, we deserve respect. It is about insisting that the government works the way it should, it is not some favour bestowed on society by the ANC.”
Almost a year in from the 2021 local government elections, Walters is cautiously optimistic that the chaos in many coalitions is all part of a healthy growing-up process.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.