Here is the full text of deputy president Paul Masatile's opening address at the national dialogue on coalition governments in Cape Town on Friday:
I would like to welcome all of you to this national dialogue on coalition governments. Our gratitude also goes to our hosts, the University of the Western Cape and the Dullah Omar Institute of Constitutional Law, Governance, and Human Rights.
Whatever the configuration of governance, the electorate and the people as a whole expect from those who govern nothing less than the material improvement of their lives, a better future for themselves and their children as well as guarantees for peace and security. You will all have seen our discussion paper entitled: “A Policy Framework Towards Stable Governance.” It makes the important point that “Coalitions are an unmistakable expression of choices that the electorate has made. It is democracy at work!” It also identifies problems and challenges in the local sphere of government, among them: “lack of skills, inadequate revenue, indifference from both administrators and politicians, and the substitution of the public good with self-interest.
The discussion document also says, in passing: “Career politicians, without any prospects of employment elsewhere, face a constant risk of job insecurity”. This is no minor matter. It is closely related to a broader sociological characteristic of South African society, which manifests the continued racial imbalance in the distribution of opportunities, wealth, poverty, unemployment, and inequality.
Implicit in this is the nature and character of the South African political party and the national political culture that it promotes in word and in deed. We will be well-served to defer to Ben Okri: We must salute the work done by a number of institutions on how to improve and stabilise coalition governments at the local level. The government has contributed some proposals towards a framework for coalitions. These include:• coalition leadership based on the actual votes received by each party in an election;• working towards poverty eradication through a growing and inclusive economy, and;This is an open process in which everyone is free to make proposals.
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