{
  "id": 19321712,
  "title": "Coalition negotiations must put the people at the centre",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/11/10/coalition-negotiations-must-put-the-people-at-the-centre",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-11-10T11:06:31.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "IOL",
    "slug": "iol",
    "url": "https://iol.co.za/pretoria-news/opinion/2026-11-10-coalition-negotiations-must-put-the-people-at-the-centre/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "The 2026 local government elections in South Africa have concluded, leaving a critical task ahead: translating the results into a stable and effective government. A clear outcome emerged from the polls - no single political party garnered an outright majority in most municipalities, thus paving the way for coalition governance to remain a defining aspect of South Africa's democratic framework. This dispersed political power requires parties to find ways to collaborate.\n\nAs these coalition negotiations progress, two key principles must guide the process. Firstly, every contesting party entered the elections with the aim of gaining political power and contributing to government. Secondly, these negotiations must prioritize the voters' will and the urgent need for service delivery over narrow ideological preferences, factional interests, and political posturing.\n\nWhile it may seem self-evident, it is frequently neglected in the subsequent moral debates. Political parties are not charities, but vehicles through which groups of citizens seek to shape society. Municipal councils determine road maintenance, refuse collection, water supply, and local economic support. Therefore, parties must recognize they must cooperate, compromise, and demonstrate political maturity when voters have denied any single party an outright majority.\n\nHowever, South Africa's previous coalition experiences have often resulted in instability rather than cooperation. Municipalities have become battlegrounds for political maneuvering, with coalition agreements breaking down swiftly. Political parties now prioritize securing positions, titles, and political influence over addressing community challenges. Coalition negotiations should instead focus on which political arrangement best serves the people who voted, not on which party gets the mayoral chain or which agreement pleases party headquarters.\n\nThe central concern should be whether the resulting administration can provide stable, accountable, and effective governance. Municipal politics is ultimately measured by practical outcomes: reliable electricity, working streetlights, clean streets, dependable water infrastructure, effective wastewater treatment, safer neighborhoods, and opportunities for local economic development. Residents are less concerned with ideological purity than with whether their municipalities function.\n\nChinese revolutionary and political theorist Deng Xiaoping's words, \"It does not matter whether the cat is black or white, as long as it catches mice,\" aptly illustrate the importance of practical outcomes in South Africa's coalition negotiations. Bread-and-butter issues must dominate the discourse. If parties with different political ideologies can work together to improve electricity supply, enhance water provision, repair roads, and attract investment, their ideological differences should not obstruct collaboration. Even parties sharing similar ideological positions but lacking stable governance should not overlook administrative competence for shared ideological alignment. Successful coalitions do not rely on complete ideological agreement; they rely on shared objectives, clearly defined responsibilities, and a willingness to compromise for the public good. While parties must not abandon their identities or principles to govern together, they must identify where their interests intersect and translate those areas of agreement into practical action. Municipal governance is not an academic seminar on political theory; it is an exercise in solving everyday problems that directly impact people's lives.",
  "summary": "South Africa’s post-election coalition talks must prioritise stable administration, measurable service delivery and accountability over party positions and political bargaining.",
  "key_points": [
    "Coalition negotiations must prioritize voter needs over ideological preferences.",
    "Previous coalition experiences in South Africa have often resulted in instability.",
    "Practical outcomes like reliable electricity and road maintenance should drive negotiations."
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}