Return to power | Johannesburg’s new ANC mayor, Dada Morero, surrounded by his coalition partners on Saturday.
In 2024, a coalition government is the only game in town. Now is to prove to South Africa that it is something to rely on at the ballot box, writes the BOSA chairman. Protector Jack.
Dear leaders of the coalition governments,
I write to you as an angry and disappointed citizen. What has happened over the past week, which began in the Johannesburg City Council, is an embarrassment to your political parties and a betrayal of the will of the people.
Instead of mature and honest compromise, you behave like a group of preschoolers in a backyard brawl. Arguing, fingering and mudslinging. Just when nuance and rationality were called for, it seems the adults left the room and a fight ensued.
Why are citizens angry and disappointed?
Of course, if you live in Johannesburg, the outcome of last week’s developments means you are back to living under an ANC government. Mismanagement and theft are back and service delivery will be stopped.
But the most significant factor that makes citizens – myself included – angry about this debacle is that, in your selfish and short-sighted rants, you are campaigning for the re-election of the ANC in 2024.
Please stop your behavior and don’t give coalitions a bad name. We have a country to save and a national coalition government is the only game in town for 2024. Your deception undermines that.
The role of grand coalitions in South Africa
I want to remind you all that it was a grand coalition that ultimately led to the end of apartheid. I was a founding member of the United Democratic Front (UDF) in 1983, at the height of the war. The UDF itself was a large front of nearly 700 groups. It was multiracial, culturally and gender diverse, and had representation from many faith-based groups across the country.
How did it succeed then?
Because there was a central mission to unite: the creation of a democratic, united and non-racial South Africa in which segregation is abolished and society is freed from institutional and systemic racism. Everything else was secondary to the central mission. And each participant understood this and knew that compromise was necessary on the smaller issues.
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You have a similar role in South African history at this moment: to demonstrate to the nation a viable, sustainable and credible alternative to the ANC and one-party rule in South Africa. We remember that since ancient times South Africa has been governed by a dominant political party. Through British colonialism, to African nationalism, to the era of liberation, at all times, one party ruled the roost.
For any big coalition to work, you have to learn from the UDF in “keeping the main thing, the main thing”. Furthermore, I urge you to proactively show South Africans the many strengths of the coalition governments.
Coalition governments are not always the chaos we’ve seen. What we often see are council meetings where there are cross-party fights and constant points of order and deviation. What we don’t see is that budgets are negotiated and passed, economic plans are negotiated and passed – and, most importantly, every constituency is considered and served fairly. You need to demonstrate more of this, collectively.
Learn from others
Finally, to learn from others. Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Cyprus, France, Germany, Greece, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Kosovo, Latvia, Lebanon, Lithuania, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Pakistan, Thailand, Spain, Sweden, Trinidad and Tobago, Turkey and Uruguay have recently had coalition governments at the national level. There are lessons to be learned from each.
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Coalitions remain a permanent feature of governments around the world and serve as an accountability mechanism and a bulwark against excessive power. South Africa will not be the first nor the last to form a coalition government at the national level.
In 2024, a coalition government is the only game in town. Now it is to prove to South Africa that it is something to rely on at the ballot box.
– Mkhuseli “Khusta” Jack is the chairman of Build One South Africa (BOSA).
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