The election is over, the fighting must stop, and the coalitions must begin — that was the blunt message from DA Federal Leader Geordin Hill-Lewis at the national Results Operations Centre on Friday, as the country faced hung councils in nearly two-thirds of its municipalities.
After a bruising local government election that left no party with outright control in most of the country’s major metros and in scores of smaller councils, South Africa has entered its most coalition-dependent era yet. Governments will now have to be negotiated, not simply declared.
Hill-Lewis was clear that outright majorities will be the exception, not the rule. The real battle now is for coalitions.
“So the attention of the country now necessarily turns to all of those metros and probably somewhere around 150 or even more other councils around the country which will be hung and which will not have a majority and will need a coalition government. That means, if it does end up being 150 or 160, that roughly two-thirds of South Africa’s local municipalities will need coalitions,” he said.
“That is really an epoch-changing development in our politics. Previously, coalitions have been needed here and there in a spattering of places around the country. Now they will be needed in nearly two-thirds of all local municipalities.”
That shift, he argued, demands a different kind of politics from the one that dominated the campaign trail. The insults, the attacks and the point-scoring must give way to negotiation and compromise, because residents in struggling towns and cities cannot afford another round of instability.
That is why, he said, it is time to rise above the campaign.
“That is why I said at the beginning it is time to rise above the cut and thrust of the election campaign and put the residents of all of those towns and cities first and start to put together governments.”
Hill-Lewis said the DA has already started reaching out. But he refused to name names.
“We have already reached out to many parties over the last 24 hours and will continue to do so today. At the moment, those talks are informal. They are more discussions about having discussions.”
He would not be drawn on who exactly the DA is talking to, which parties are in, which are out, or what deals are on the table. And there is a reason for that.
In his telling, the negotiations cannot be conducted in public, through press conferences and leaks, if they are to hold. What the country needs now is not posturing, but governments that work — governments built on mutual respect for each party’s mandate, rather than on public pressure and premature announcements.
“We will approach these coming negotiations with an attitude of deep respect and humility and respect most importantly for the mandate those parties have received from their voters,” he said.
“We will approach the next few weeks with respect for the mandates those parties have received from their voters, and humility, and a commitment to trying to put together governments that get those towns and cities working for everyone who lives in them.”
He repeated the invitation, but kept the details deliberately vague.
“So now I want to invite other parties who want to put South Africa first, who want to put the residents of those towns and cities first, to join us in these talks.”
The underlying warning was clear: without stable, honest coalitions, the long-promised repair of towns and cities will stall before it starts.
“We know that these cities desperately need a period of long and sustained progress under honest, integrity-driven government that can actually start their repair and rebuilding.”
“I hope that all political party leaders from all parties will know that the election is now over. All of the cut and thrust that comes with the election is now over. And it is time now to rise above and to put the people first and to put together governments that can actually fix these towns and cities,” he said.
By 13:00 on Friday, vote counting had already raced past 80%.