KwaZulu-Natal premier Sihle Zikalala has urged political parties in the hung municipalities to work together to form governments that will deliver services to the people.
Speaking at a briefing on Monday, Zikalala said the low turnout by the electorate in the November elections is an indicator that voters declared that there should be no outright winner.
“This is a clear message that they want political parties to work together through the democratic process of co-governing in KwaZulu-Natal… We would like to appeal to all political parties to be united and work together. We must never lose sight of the fact that we have a province to develop and a country to grow.
“This is something that no political party can achieve in isolation from the rest of society,” Zikalala said.
In KwaZulu-Natal, the ANC lost its previous 56% share of the votes to 41.4%.
The IFP scored 24.29%, the DA got 12.82%, the EFF 8.64% and the NFP stood at 2.09%.
This was the first time the ANC dropped below 50%, a reflection of the national picture of electoral support.
There are now 20 local municipalities and one metro, eThekwini, which must be governed through a coalition in KZN.
At the weekend, the IFP came out clearly that it would not be working with the ANC in the province.
The IFP said it was willing to go into coalition with the DA, the EFF and other smaller parties, including independent candidates. The party will, however, work with the ANC outside the province as its relationship with the party’s national leadership differs.
The EFF on the other hand has said that it is willing to engage any political party that approaches it for a coalition government. But any party will have to have a clear agenda of land redistribution, water provision, jobs, sanitation and care of disabled people.
Zikalala said all municipal managers, who oversee the first council meetings, have supplied dates and venues for the inaugural meetings. Councils are supposed to meet within two weeks after the gazetting of elections results.
As a result, political parties are now racing against time to find coalitions partners before the first council meeting.
Experts, who spoke to Sowetan last week, said the local government coalitions failed dismally in the country as they were used by political parties to get positions.
They said for coalitions to work, parties must understand there needs to be a compromise and a plan through which those governing can serve the communities which elected them.
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