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- Deputy President Paul Mashatile has issued an invitation to political parties represented in Parliament to attend a coalition framework meeting.
- Mashatile says the meeting will deal with the legislative framework for coalition governance.
- The DA and the UDM have indicated they will attend the meeting to be held this Friday.
Deputy President Paul Mashatile will meet with opposition political parties represented in Parliament for legislative discussions to help stabilise coalition governments that have wreaked havoc in the country's hung municipalities.
The DA and the UDM have confirmed they will attend the meeting slated for Friday.
Other political parties likely to attend the meeting are the EFF, ATM and the ANC.
The 2021 municipal elections saw a record number of hung municipalities left with no majority.
The ANC had more seats in these councils, but the party was forced to negotiate to meet the majority to govern.
The DA had also used its council numbers to form coalitions with political parties, including the Freedom Front Plus, Cope, ActionSA and the ACDP. This grouping governed in Joburg, Tshwane and Ekurhuleni, but these councils saw instability caused mainly by political shifts and desires by the ANC and the DA to govern.
The coalitions have been complicated by allegations about an obsession with positions rather than service delivery.
Joburg, Nelson Mandela Bay and Tshwane have seen more than five motions of no-confidence votes submitted against mayors and speakers.
Legislative solutions are paramount to balance political power and a steady stream of service delivery for citizens.
READ | Coalitions have seen parties 'fight for the spoils', says Mashatile as legislation is mooted
The DA and the ANC have been vocal about the need for coalition legislation.
The turmoil seen at the municipal level has raised fears that the same scenario could play out at a national level.
The ANC is expected to face its toughest election in 2024, and some elections experts have predicted the party could receive below 50% in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal.
Last month, Mashatile told Parliament that dialogue was needed and its focus should include the need for stable good governance.
The discussion on a legal framework for coalitions will be challenging based on proposals touted by the biggest parties, the ANC and the DA.
The most controversial of these was legislating that the party with the biggest majority in a coalition would get to lead the government.
READ | 1% electoral threshold mooted to bring stability to local government
Another proposal spoke to introducing a 1% threshold of political party representation. This would limit how many political parties could qualify for representation in legislatures, Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Thembi Nkadimeng said in May.
These two proposals would likely not favour smaller political parties such as the UDM and African Transformation Movement.
UDM leader Bantu Holomisa said these suggestions were gatekeeping initiatives by the ANC and the DA to protect their dominance.
He would also be unwilling to support limiting motions of no-confidence votes and introducing a threshold.
"We must regulate coalitions because it is a new thing, especially if it will also be the case at the national level. On local government, the law says you must have a government within 14 days; that is not enough time. You must give a party at least three to six months to negotiate with others," Holomisa said.
"Limiting the motion of no confidence votes will go against democracy.
