Future Realities of Coalition Governments in South Africa

The 2016 local government elections in South Africa, held on 3 August 2016, marked a crucial turning point in the politics of the country. These fifth local government elections in democratic South Africa were characterised by a marked change in patterns of voting, and consequently, in the constitution of local government. An unprecedented loss of power in the country’s metropolitan municipalities by the governing African National Congress (ANC), which subsequently resulted in the formation of several coalition governments with opposition parties with simple majority. This seismic shift in power has had implications for local government at both a theoretical and practical level. What lessons, if any, have been learned from the 2016 elections? And how, if at all, do they help us to prepare for the multiple scenarios that could potentially play themselves out? These questions and more are engaged in this book. Through interviews with various local and national government practitioners in the country, as well as the Southern African Development Community (SADC).