The Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA), Thembi Nkadimeng, says a threshold needs to be established to guide how coalition governments are formed.
She was speaking to media on the sidelines of the National Dialogue on Coalition Governments held in Cape Town.
“You need to be elected by a certain number of people. Also, a party that has gained the highest percentage needs to be given the… first pass of ticket to negotiate within a particular timeframe to form a government. We could then agree that if they can’t, the ticket passes to the next one.
“I do believe that coalitions are a reality of democracy but managing them is what government needs to be able to learn. The good thing about political parties is that they have worked and they are sitting on the table… to discuss the possibility of… how best to manage a coalition," the Minister said, stressing that holding to account those who are elected remains key.
The Minister pointed out that this will not leave smaller parties out of positions in council.
“The small parties will have a voice. They will have a voice in PR [proportional representation] and other ways of how you get into council and in wards. Nobody will close you out in a ward but we have to have a threshold. You can’t get 10 votes in a community where there are 10 000 people and you say you represent the entire community.
“So we are suggesting a 1% [votes threshold]. In other countries, it goes even as high as 5% but these are other learning areas that we are getting from countries that have grappled [with coalitions],” Nkadimeng said. – SAnews.gov.za
