Western Cape coalitions hold steady despite council rupture in City of Joburg

Democratic Alliance (DA) Western Cape interim leader Tertuis Simmers told Daily Maverick that the strength of any coalition government in the province “is dependent on the effective and respectful working relationship between all councillors that form the coalition partners”. 

This is in contrast to the chaotic scenes played out in the City of Johannesburg council where the DA-led multiparty coalition collapsed after the removal of DA Speaker Vasco Da Gama and mayor Mpho Phalatse.

Simmers confirmed that all coalitions and their agreements were finalised by the Federal Council chair, Helen Zille. 

“Where we do have DA-led coalition-governed municipalities in the Western Cape, we aspire to maintain a respectful working relationship with our coalition partners to enhance service delivery for all citizens,” said Simmers when asked about a potential spillover of the coalition chaos from the big metro into smaller municipalities, particularly in the Western Cape, the only province governed by the DA. 

Simmers continued: “The strength of any coalition government in the Western Cape is dependent on the effective and respectful working relationship between all councillors that form the coalition partners, with a full understanding that they all govern in the interest of the residents.” 

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Brett Herron, the Good party secretary-general, said the coalition between the DA and Good in the Witzenberg municipality was “fairly stable”. Good is also in a multiparty coalition with the DA in Nelson Mandela Bay, and it is in a coalition with the African National Congress and the Patriotic Alliance (PA) in the Theewaterskloof municipality. 

Herron described what happened in Johannesburg as showing that South Africa was still in a “kindergarten” phase of coalitions, where there was a clamouring for positions instead of a focus on programmes centred on service delivery. 

He told Daily Maverick that Good initially did not want to enter into coalitions — only where the party had to choose a side — in order to form a government or stabilise a municipality. 

Initially, Good formed a multiparty government with the ANC in Nelson Mandela Bay, but Herron said it withdrew from that coalition because of infighting in the ANC and corruption allegations against the City manager, Noxolo Nqwazi.  

“We weren’t going to be part of that,” said Herron as the party then moved to form a new coalition with the DA in Nelson Mandela Bay. 

Echoing Simmers’ sentiment about respect, Herron said, “respect is where you start” as a political party and that respect could move to either trust or mistrust. Coalitions were about trust, respect and parties demonstrating maturity, added Herron.

However, Herron said a problem was that coalitions became “ANC-led” or “DA-led” coalitions instead of multiparty coalition governments, which caused bickering and disputes in metros. 

Democratic Alliance Western Cape interim leader Tertuis Simmers. (Photo: Supplied)

Broken coalitions