DA proposes bill to govern party coalitions

Political instability in government coalitions is at the heart of the service delivery crisis, says the Democratic Alliance’s (DA) Chief Whip, Siviwe Gwarube; that is why a legislative framework is needed to secure the stability of coalitions.

She says the current system, governed by “gentlemen’s agreements,” had no sound governance principles, often leading to service delivery problems.

‘CITY OF JOHANNESBURG SEVERAL MAYORS IN MONTHS’

“When we look at metros such as the City of Johannesburg, which has had several different mayors in a couple of months, it is clear that this vicious circle cannot continue if we hope to provide proper service delivery to the people.”

“We need to ensure that a government that has been put in place is allowed time to properly implement its plans, processes, and budgets in order to actually serve the people and not their own pockets,” Gwarube said.

She said that the systemic service delivery issues, water shortages, and infrastructure maintenance had been caused and exacerbated by the coming to power of the ANC/EFF coalitions.

‘METROS NEED TO BE RESCUED FROM COALITIONS OF CORRUPTION,’ SAYS DA

“Unless residents of the metropolitan areas are rescued from the coalitions of corruption, we will see the cities plunge into even more chaos,” she said.

The DA says it has a solution to the governance crisis by introducing two bills in a trilogy of coalition legislative proposals to regulate coalitions in local governance. 

“As we enter into a period of our democracy where no single party will have a majority of the vote, it is crucial that we safeguard ourselves against those who may be persuaded to leave stable coalitions to join others with the promise of payment or better MEC positions,” said Gwarube.

DA PROPOSES COALITION AND STABILISATION BILLS

“This Bill thus limits local governments to only one MONC per 12-month period. However, should an event of such a consequential nature occur, which would ordinarily warrant a Motion of No Confidence (MONC), the Bill provides for the creation of an independent panel which will determine whether the MONC is one brought on valid grounds,” she added.

Gwarube said the validity of the MONC will be considered on one of three grounds: whether the person in office has violated the Constitution or the law.

The other second and third grounds are whether the person has been found guilty of misconduct or cannot perform office duties.

REMOVE POLITICAL ASPECT OF MOTIONS OF NO CONFIDENCE – SAYS GWARUBE

“This independent panel thus removes the political aspect of the MONC and looks at it with pure objectivity. If one of the three grounds is met, the panel will recommend that the MONC be tabled for debate,” explained Gwarube.

“Accordingly, any person or party who does not support this Bill may have other hidden agendas or motives for wanting to be able to constantly bring MONCs in a metro to cause instability,” she concluded.