Three weeks ago we went to the polls to elect preferred political leaders to run our cities and towns.
The good news is that the outcome showed a much more representative picture of our political landscape.
This was a demonstration of a stronger and maturing democracy.
Since then, party leaders have been involved in talks to form coalition governments.
The bad news is that so far these talks have not been fruitful.
As we begin a crucial week on the local government calendar – most council meetings are due to sit this week – these parties are no closer to forming stable, workable governments in most of the hung councils.
It would seem the problem remains the egos of the personalities at the negotiating table.
On Saturday, the DA upset the apple-cart when it announced it would field its own mayoral candidate in Johannesburg, going against the wishes of its potential partners – ActionSA, Freedom Front Plus, UDM and ACDP – who agreed that ActionSA leader Herman Mashaba should be nominated.
The DA’s rationale is that putting Mashaba in the mayoral office was akin to installing an EFF mayor, as they believe he is pliable and subject to EFF whims.
The DA’s decision has angered the other parties so much that some have threatened not to support it in Tshwane, potentially reducing the DA’s chances of running the capital and possibly handing it back to the ANC.
These parties view the DA’s stance as negotiating in bad faith and a demonstration of its arrogance.
Either way, for the rest of us the crux of the matter is a sobering one.
We begin this week with no clear indication of who will run some of our major councils and seemingly no end in sight for egotistical bickering by politicians.
Importantly, the events of the last two weeks show what the politics of local government might look like for the next five years.
Indeed, we are mindful that in any democracy political manoeuvring to win the most influence is a normal part of the horse trading game.
But what we have seen here suggests that, ultimately, those we have placed our trust in to represent the interests of the people are in it for themselves.
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