LETTER: Coalitions are the future - Business Day

The ructions in the government of national unity (GNU) are a manifestation of SA’s democratic growing pains, and it would have been naive to have expected smooth sailing in the country’s first post-apartheid national coalition.

This is the first time SA has been governed at national level by a coalition since the 1950s, when the Afrikaner Party and National Party formed a coalition after the 1948 election, with the former being absorbed by the latter ahead of the 1953 elections. For the vast majority of South Africans this is their first experience of having no single party winning a majority in parliament.

Coalitions are SA’s future — given our proportional representation system, coalitions are a feature rather than a bug and they will become only more common in future, nationally and in all nine provinces. In the vast majority of countries that use proportional representation coalitions are the norm — SA has actually been an outlier in having a party winning majorities in such a system.

Thought must be given to how coalitions are managed and whether legislation is needed for this purpose. Something that must certainly be given attention is the short time after an election in which a government must be formed in SA — just 14 days. 

In many other countries that use proportional representation and where coalitions are common, far more time is provided for parties to negotiate coalitions and to draw up robust agreements.

Uncertainties about the GNU were always inevitable as the country and its political parties grappled with the new reality of coalition government. All parties need to come to terms with this new way of doing things, whether they have been used to being in government or opposition.

If things are done right SA will only benefit from no longer having its politics dominated by one political party.

Marius Roodt
Institute of Race Relations

https://www.businesslive.co.za/bd/opinion/letters/2025-04-10-letter-coalitions-are-the-future/