Unhappy: Several parties signed their objections. Picture: supplied
Politics parties were grappling with the issue of a coalition government on Sunday as the IEC completed its tally of the votes, with no single party with enough support to form a government through a parliamentary majority.
As the IEC finished counting votes and no party garnered the outright majority required to rule and form a government on its own, political parties were left with no choice but to form coalitions.
Although the ANC is still a leading party with over 40%, it fell short of the required 51% to rule. And that has necessitated the formation of coalitions with a lot at stake.
However, the provincial ANC spokesperson, Khalid Sayed, said that although they will talk about coalitions in the national government, that issue is out of the table in the province.
“We are the official opposition in the province. Any talks of coalition become irrelevant in the Western Cape,” he said.
GOOD secretary general Brett Heron said they are waiting for the outcome of the results and the seat allocation. “We are not in discussions about any coalitions.”
EFF Western Cape Chairperson, Unathi Ntame, said they are still auditing the results, and coalition talks are being handled nationally.
”At this stage, we are hoping to retain a seat in the Western Cape Provincial Parliament and the National Assembly,” said Ntame.
DA provincial leader Tertius Simmers said as we digested the results of the elections and their implications, “I know that many of you are feeling uncertain and anxious about the future.”.
He said the voters have not given an outright majority to any party, thereby demanding cooperation from their political leaders.
“Yet, it is important to remind ourselves that we have faced times of even greater uncertainty before. Throughout our history, South Africans have overcome seemingly impossible odds.
He said that throughout the election campaign, he has encouraged voters to support the DA and the Multi-Party Charter to ensure that we achieve a collective majority of 50% plus one to form a new government.
Simmers said he indicated in his speech last year what the DA’s position would be in a scenario where the ANC loses its majority and the MPC falls short.
“I said that if this scenario materializes, The DA will make it our number one priority and do absolutely everything in our power to prevent an ANC-EFF Doomsday Coalition from taking power.”
“All throughout the election campaign, the DA undertook to rescue South Africa from the Doomsday Coalition. We will now do our level best to do exactly that,” he said.
According to an opinion piece published on IOL by Junior Lebese, the DA and ANC are currently busy with backdoor negotiations for the coalition, which she considers sophisticatedly racist to the core.
“The deal, as reported by the Sunday Independent, stipulates that the DA will take over parliament, which provides oversight functions to the Executive. The DA will run the national assembly, while the ANC, on the other hand, runs the executive and takes all the ministerial positions and runs them ‘undisturbed’.”
zolani.sinxo@inl.co.za
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