Put residents first in South Africa’s new political reality – IRR

27 August 2024

The seismic election of 29 May has upended South Africa’s political realities, with alliances that would have been the stuff of fantasy only a few months ago now becoming commonplace. 

The new Government of National Unity (GNU) arrangement at national level is seeing new alliances being formed at municipal level. However, parties must ensure that when it comes to developing new governing arrangements in municipalities the interests of residents, and not other concerns, must be the priority. 

Says IRR writer and analyst Marius Roodt: “The formation of the GNU has upended many of South Africa’s old political certainties. Parties that would never have worked together before are now reconsidering their relationships in various municipalities, but it is residents who must come first, not party-political concerns.” 

Roodt says the new working arrangement in Johannesburg between the ANC and ActionSA, where the two parties were just shy of a majority to govern the city, makes sense if it stabilises the city and allows the hard work of turning it around to begin. However, he adds that it isn’t entirely clear that a similar arrangement that could topple the current government in Tshwane would make as much as sense. 

“It is not clear that helping to vote out the current mayor and government in Tshwane will be in the best interests of the people of Tshwane. The city has been significantly more stable than Johannesburg and has had ActionSA members in senior positions, notably the deputy mayor,” notes Roodt. 

“Will changing the current governing arrangements in Tshwane help residents and put them first? That question should guide political decision making. It is in the interests of political parties to do so because the answer will determine their success in the 2026 local government elections.” 

Roodt concludes: “No party, including the two largest in the country, has an innate right to rule. But when coalition arrangements are considered, it is residents and citizens who must be put first, rather than party-political interests. It is an open question whether this is the case in some of the most recent developments in Gauteng.”

Issued by Marius Roodt, IRR Head of Campaigns, 27 August 2024