The DA recently tabled an interesting proposal at its federal congress: any coalition agreements the party enters into “must be made public and be based on a signed, written document that explicitly outlines the principles of the agreement, key policy priorities and governance protocols”.
The congress did not adopt this proposal, but I believe if effectively applied by all political parties in South Africa during coalition formation such an arrangement could contribute to coalition transparency, stability and shared principles.
In turn, this is likely to strengthen governance processes, including a greater focus on policy implementation.
The government of national unity’s (GNU) statement of intent, which underpins South Africa’s broad coalition at the national level, contains some foundational principles to which all the GNU parties agreed. It also has a basic minimum programme of priorities, including an agreement that GNU parties would hold a lekgotla to develop an agreed policy agenda. This led to the adoption of the 2024-29 Medium-Term Development Plan by the cabinet.
Though commendable, the statement of intent may be insufficient compared with other jurisdictions. In 2019 and 2023 a delegation from different political parties visited Germany to study how coalitions are established and work. There, coalition formation is an arduous and often lengthy process that includes detailed agreements that focus principally on government policies rather than government positions.
South Africans deserve municipal governments that put their interests ahead of those of political parties. It can’t only be a game of numbers rather than being guided by key priorities of government
In Germany, the coalition agreement is often more than 100 pages long. It is very detailed compared with those in South Africa, which are often not clear. There is clear policy alignment before a government is formed in Germany, while in South Africa a new coalition is sometimes formed only to remove another political party from power.
In Germany, most of the time the coalitions last full terms, whereas here, especially at local government level, there are constant reports of governance collapse through never-ending motions of no confidence. Parties act as kingmakers in both countries, but in Germany they generally accept they can’t get everything.
For instance, the current coalition agreement between the Christian Democratic Union/Christian Social Union bloc and the Social Democratic Party contains specific policy agreements across several areas, including trade, energy and climate, borrowing and taxation, labour, defence and migration.
This enhances certainty and minimises grounds for potential conflicts in the coalition. While the coalition has experienced some tensions, its blueprint has held it together so far despite its slim parliamentary majority.
In contrast, the South African statement of intent contains broad agreements that don’t go much into specifics. Consequently, the ANC and the DA, for example, have clashed repeatedly over transformation policies such as the Expropriation Act, Basic Education Laws Amendment Act and BEE. The GNU almost failed to pass its inaugural budget after disagreements about a proposed VAT increase because of internal disagreements, despite its large parliamentary majority.
The situation appears to be worse at the provincial and local government levels. In Gauteng the ANC recently reached a deal with the EFF that saw the appointment of the EFF’s Nkululeko Dunga as the province’s finance MEC. This agreement appears to have been triggered more by the hitherto minority government’s failure to pass an adjustment budget in the provincial legislature than a shared policy framework or principles.
As the November local government elections draw near, the need for more structured coalition agreements becomes even more pronounced. South Africans deserve municipal governments that put their interests ahead of those of political parties. It can’t only be a game of numbers rather than being guided by key priorities of government.
Coalition governments are here to stay, and how they are put together needs to be transparent and pragmatic. There is a need for political will across all parties that go into these negotiations. South Africa formed a GNU in 1994 and in 2016, and coalitions now govern several metropolitan municipalities. Key political actors need to use this experience to strengthen coalition stability and ultimately governance.
• Tau is an independent political commentator and author.
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