South Africa’s (SA) Department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA) has issued a new set of coalition guidelines aimed at stabilising municipal governance following the recent local government elections.
Following Wednesday’s formal gazetting of the election results, municipalities now face a strict 14-day statutory deadline to convene and constitute their councils. The framework comes as roughly 138 metropolitan and local municipalities, accounting for nearly 65% of all councils nationwide, resulted in hung councils with no single party securing an outright majority. These municipalities will now rely on formal coalitions, minority administrations, or alternative power-sharing arrangements to govern.
Elaborating on the directive, CoGTA Spokesperson Pearl Maseko-Binqose stated that the guidelines offer practical mechanisms for political parties and municipal leadership to structure power-sharing agreements, mediate internal disputes, and shield municipal administrations from political interference so that basic service delivery continues uninterrupted.
–ChannelAfrica–
