Deputy President Paul Mashatile has denied claims by smaller parties that there was a deal between the ANC and DA on coalitions.
This was after the two parties proposed a number of changes in the law. The smaller parties claimed these changes would exclude them from democratic processes and getting elected.
One of the issues was the 1% threshold for parties to get a seat in council or national legislature, which was supported by the DA and the ANC, but rejected by the smaller parties including the NFP, UDM and the GOOD party.
But Mashatile, who was on Saturday closing the National Dialogue on coalitions in Cape Town, said there was no deal between the ANC and DA.
He said the purpose of the national dialogue was to get all parties on the table to agree on the form of coalitions to avoid unstable governments as seen in municipalities.
Mashatile said since 2016 there have been a lot of coalitions.
“Since 2016 there have been various forms of coalitions. We have now identified where the weaknesses are. This dialogue is to say how do we make it work properly.
“I think the most important thing, is let us remove suspicion. There were inputs yesterday that suggested that the ANC and DA made some deal and they are now using this to rubbers tamp. There is no deal.
“We are here to make sure that we come up with a framework that is agreeable to all of us,” said Mashatile.
Mashatile also said the issue of parties working together started in 1994 where the ANC, IFP and the National Party had the Government of National Unity.
“We have agreed that this issue about coalitions is something that is with us. It needs to be discussed and we must learn from those who have walked this road before us.
“We must be prepared to learn from others, but we must also learn from our own experiences. I was sitting with some of the colleagues, and we were saying at the beginning of this democracy, right from 1994, the founding fathers of this nation engaged with other parties.
“I recall very well that there was a time we worked with the National Party and you will recall the Government of National Unity. It was not national, even in provinces. I am sure honourable (Amos) Masondo will recall when I was still in Gauteng, we sat in the Executive with the National Party.
“This thing of working with others is not a new thing. It happened in KZN, the IFP and the ANC worked together in the government of provincial unity,” said Mashatile.
He said in Gauteng the ANC and the National Party were in the government of provincial unity.
Mashatile said in KwaZulu-Natal the IFP was in a similar arrangement with the ANC.
The issue of a framework on coalitions was about ensuring stability at all levels of government.
Mashatile had called for the summit in order to allow for a framework that will be developed to stop disruptions in coalition governments.
The three metros in Gauteng - Johannesburg, Tshwane and Ekurhuleni - have had different mayors in the last two years. The same applied in KwaZulu-Natal, Eastern Cape and other provinces where there were hung councils.
siyabonga.mkhwanazi@inl.co.za
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