National dialogue on coalitions is what South Africa needs

30 June 2023

The meeting that Deputy President Paul Mashatile held with political leaders today about engaging in a national dialogue concerning coalitions in South Africa was pivotal.

The reason is that coalition governments are completely new to South Africa and entail a learning curve – for politicians, on the one hand, as well as for voters on the other – to understand how coalitions are meant to function.

What could pose a problem is the ANC government's plan to draft legislation for coalitions, with the agenda of furthering its own interests.

The FF Plus is not opposed to legislative reforms that will ensure greater stability. The problem, however, is that the ANC is trying to manipulate the process to ensure that it remains in power.

An example is that the ANC seems intent on changing the country's electoral system by replacing the current proportional voting system by a constituency voting system.

I have already warned against this, seeing as a constituency voting system could help the ANC to remain in power even though it does not have the majority of votes.

With a constituency system, the decisive factor is the number of constituencies won by a specific party and not the number of votes.

The ANC also wants to pass legislation which determines that the president must be elected from the largest party in the coalition. The FF Plus does not agree with this, and is of the opinion that the most suitable candidate must be elected as president based on merit.

As far as the president is concerned, the FF Plus's view is, furthermore, that the electoral system should be amended so that the president can be elected by voters in a separate process, and not from Parliament as is currently the case.

Electing a person who is directly accountable to the people of South Africa will make a significant difference.

The FF Plus will actively participate in the process and dialogue relating to coalitions, and will contribute meaningfully by sharing its views.

It is imperative to prevent the ANC from passing legislation that will only benefit itself.

Issued by Pieter Groenewald, FF Plus leader, 30 June 2023