The South African political landscape changes with every election. More and more voters are giving political parties a mandate that they would prefer a coalition government.
Citizens are speaking with a clear voice that they do not trust a single party to run their local municipalities. Coalition government is becoming a norm with every election because many citizens have become disillusioned with too much power concentrated in one political party.
Concentration of power in a single party has resulted in arrogance, incompetence, deployment of poorly qualified cadres, callous attitudes towards the poor and disinterest in serving communities with the dedication and diligence required to meet their expectations.
Politics has degenerated into a spectacle of individual importance rather than service to the community. Despite the false narrative of a flourishing democratic dispensation in our country, there is no policy to hold politicians accountable when they fail to deliver on promises made through their manifestos.
The policy assumption and practice is that other politicians are suitable to hold their counterparts accountable. Citizens are pushed to the back and become passive participants in holding politicians and parties accountable when they fail to deliver on their promises.
When the term of office ends, politicians who failed to deliver are allowed to re-campaign without a sense of guilt or remorse.They are given free space to bring justifications for their failure without accountability.
Such a behaviour has become the norm. The president of the country could pronounce on a national broadcaster that he will build 1-million houses or create a million jobs within a year. When the year lapses, there is no accountability from the president or his party with regard to the feedback to communities. Monitoring and evaluation is nonexistent.
Politics becomes a game in the midst of the majority of the country struggling on a daily basis due to poor or no service delivery, high unemployment, inequality, high levels of crime and corruption. The 2021 local government elections sent a conspicuous message to political parties that co-operative governance through coalitions is the future for this country.
The question that must be answered by political parties is whether they will accept the invitation and heed the call to co-operate. The recent experience from coalition arrangements in the country is that many politicians invest in their egos than the need to co-operate in serving their constituencies.
It becomes an elitist group where parties seek to get something for their own benefit for participating in the coalition instead of looking for a convergence of ideas and vision to serve the immediate community. Coalitions work well where the immediate objective is to focus on the need of the community instead of the party and its narrow party politics.
Failure to find common ground within a coalition can only lead to the collapse of the coalition. It leads to poor or no service delivery and residents are the biggest losers. Coalition governance needs sober and mature political minds to be managed well.
Yes, coalitions might be a new phenomenon for the country, however, templates and benchmarks have always existed from countries such as Germany and Scandinavian countries. Our politicians need to invest more in young people. A country that fails to attract youth participation and involvement in its current affairs is doomed from the start.
• Mnisi is a Sowetan reader
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