Coalitions enforce co-operation for the good of society and represent democracy at work
In a public lecture in the Norwegian capital, Oslo, more than a decade ago, philosopher and public intellectual Slavoj Žižek made a statement that is instructive for the SA body politic today. He said that “ideology mystifies the real problem, not any imaginary problem”.
Moving past ideology and on to values avoids stalemates based on ideology, which serve to obfuscate the real problems in pursuit of some or other imaginary problem. Total rule by any one political party or ideology in SA is over, and since coalitions are the inevitable future of governance we had better find ways to make them work.
Coalitions force co-operation for the good of society. Indeed, they represent democracy at work. Nor are coalition governments novel or unique. Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Cyprus, France, Germany, Greece, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Kosovo, Latvia, Lebanon, Lithuania, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Pakistan, Thailand, Spain, Sweden, Trinidad & Tobago, Turkey and Uruguay have all recently had coalition governments at national level.
The second consideration is the political reality of a coalition government in SA post-2024. All credible indicators suggest the ANC will get less than 50% of the vote in the elections, which represents a major breakthrough for our maturing democracy. It means, whether we like it or not, there will be a coalition government in 2024.
The EFF’s entire brand is built around being anti-ANC. Specifically, it is built around being anti the so-called Ramaphosa faction of the ANC. Joining a Ramaphosa-led ANC coalition would be electoral suicide for it too. So, an ANC-led coalition with smaller parties aligned to it is the most likely outcome. Unfortunately, this would not change SA’s current trajectory. It would merely prolong the misery faced by the millions of citizens who are struggling to survive.
Third, I propose extending the period prescribed in law for negotiating a coalition agreement from two weeks to one month. More time to negotiate would produce more thorough and long-lasting agreements that can be made public and serve as a contract between the government and the people.
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