My Vote Count warns Parliament against rushing Coalition Bill before elections

Civil society group My Vote Counts has cautioned Parliament against expediting the passage of the Municipal Structures Amendment Act, often referred to as the Coalition Bill, ahead of the upcoming November local government elections. This warning emerged following the bill's introduction by the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) last week.

The Coalition Bill aims to establish a regulatory framework for coalition governments, addressing growing concerns related to coalitions in local governance. The Department of Cogta expressed its preference for the bill's approval before the local government elections. However, My Vote Counts questioned whether Parliament could meet its constitutional responsibility to ensure meaningful public participation before the elections, given the bill's introduction with only roughly 76 days remaining before the polls.

The organization highlighted that processing the bill within such a short period could risk treating public participation merely as a procedural hurdle instead of a binding constitutional obligation. My Vote Counts emphasized that the bill's fast-tracking is not due to an unforeseen emergency, as it has been in development for over two years.

The organization plans to seek clarification from the portfolio committee and Cogta Minister Velenkosini Hlabisa regarding the timeline for public hearings, the time allocated for public comment, and whether constitutional obligations will be fulfilled without undue haste. The portfolio committee is scheduled to receive a briefing on the Coalition Bill tomorrow, following which decisions on the duration for public comments and public hearings will be made.

The bill seeks to address the rise in hung councils—increasing from 24 in 2000 to 81 after the 2021 local government elections. The key amendments proposed in the bill include the election and removal of council officers by a show of hands or secret ballot, the requirement for motions of no confidence against various officials to be tabled once per year, and the mandate for coalition parties to enter into a coalition agreement governing their participation in municipal governance.

This agreement will be submitted to MECs for local government and published in the provincial gazette. The bill also provides for the establishment of the Municipal Public Accounts Committee within 30 days of the Speaker's election, outlining criteria for the chairperson's election.