1 December 2019
Sunday Politics
In the aftermath of the 2016 local elections, many among us were elated at the prospect of entering a new era of politics, an age of coalitions.
We felt that finally the wasted years of a one-dominant party that abused its majority to loot our coffers, undermine our intelligence, run down our townships and cities; destroy our public hospitals, schools, clinics, among others, was a thing of the past.
We were hopeful, reasonably so, that the new dawn of our politics will ensure that there is accountability, arrests for those who stole from us, fixing of public facilities and a new way of doing things anchored on ethical and moral leadership.
Fast forward to now, the coalition governments of Johannesburg, Tshwane and Nelson Mandela Bay have brought little in the way of change – but chaos.
Tshwane has been limping from one scandal to the next, the latest being mayor Stevens Mokgalapa being put on suspension for suspected sexual activity in the office. Former mayor Solly Msimanga had to quit amid the GladAfrica scandal.
Both Msimanga and Mokgalapa have faced numerous attempts to remove them through motions of no confidence.
In Nelson Mandela Bay, a protracted battle for power saw the demise of Athol Trollip as mayor and the instal lat ion of Mongamel i Bobani, a man from a party that received the least votes in the area.
In Johannesburg, the country’s economic powerhouse, former mayor Herman Mashaba had a hard time running the municipality until he made friends with the EFF. He too faced a countless number of motions of no confidence.
There is a body of evidence to show that coalition politics have deepened careerism, opportunism and, most notably, slowed down service delivery.
Politicians in coalition governments know too well that the system provides for a short-cut to power, which is why we have been subject to one motion of no confidence after the other, leading to instability in councils.
The focus in the so-called hung councils has been a contestation for power at the expense for service delivery.
Coalitions undermine that sacrosanct democratic principle of majority rule. Our cities, if coalitions continue, now face the prospect of being run by politicians that most of us as residents did not vote for.
As the horse-trading continues to take place in the jostling to replace Mashaba on Wednesday, we need to pause and ask ourselves: are coalitions the future we want?
With the 2021 municipal elections looming, the question is whether this pact of the elite does work for us residents or not.
