Coalition deals must be public, prioritise service delivery: Analyst
Political parties negotiating coalition governments following the local government elections should ensure that their agreements are made public and prioritise service delivery over the distribution of political positions.
Bar the Cape Town Metro, it looks like all the other metros are heading for coalition government for the next five years. More hung councils are also expected to be announced at the end of the vote counting.
Local government expert Dr Lungelwa Kaywood says written coalition agreements, clear dispute-resolution mechanisms and administrative stability are essential to preventing the political instability that has affected several municipalities, including Johannesburg.
She warns that residents should not have to suffer disruptions to essential services whenever coalition partners disagree or a mayor is removed.
“I do want to say that what will make coalitions work, if there’s anything that I have learned, is written agreements that are made public. It cannot be a secret between the political parties. It has to be built around the plans to deliver services, not just about who gets the municipal manager job, who gets the CFO job and all of those things,” she argues.
“And what I have seen in the guideline for the Western Cape is the move towards stabilization in the administration. When we have a political leadership that is not (working) can we at least ensure that refuse removal happens? Can we ensure there’s some stability at the administration level?” she adds.
Kaywood argues that while councillors should be allowed to set directions, municipalities should be allowed to run the day-to-day operation.
“When a mayor changes, there’s no need for a municipal manager to change or for the CFO to change,” she says.
Kaywood argues that a lack of accountability and consequences is one of the key issues facing failing municipalities.
“You can’t have accountability without consequence management. We see the same audit problems reappearing every year. So if it’s a mistake, then municipalities are making the same mistakes every year because we can afford to because nothing will happen,” she argues.
Kaywood has also advocated for greater voter education on the constitutional responsibilities of municipalities, saying some political parties are campaigning on issues that fall outside the mandate of local government.
She says the fact that political parties can attract electoral support while campaigning on matters such as immigration, which is not a municipal competency, highlights the need for voters to better understand the responsibilities of different spheres of government.
“I mean, there’s a political party that was campaigning using immigration, for instance. And I laughed, and I said, oh, but immigration is not a competency of local government. But I’m sure you have been monitoring the results. They’ve actually done well, relatively well,” she says.
“So, in as much as it is positive for that political party, it says a lot about the need to educate our communities,” she adds.
The ANC is leading nationally, followed by the DA and the MK Party, as vote counting continues.
LGE 2026 | Unpacking coalition governments:
