Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana has moved to reassure investors and citizens that state operations remain firmly intact following South Africa’s (SA) local government elections, despite major political realignments that produced a historic number of hung municipalities.

Addressing delegates at the TEHA CEO Dialogue summit in Johannesburg on Thursday, Godongwana downplayed fears of governance paralysis, asserting that democratic coalition-building processes will yield stability in due course. “People were worried that there’s going to be elections and it’s going to be doomsday, no, we woke up and we are still going to have a country that’s properly run,” Godongwana told the summit. “We have an election for the first time in our country’s history where 123 municipalities hung. We are also learning how the democratic practice functions, but I can tell you now you don’t need to be panicking. The outcome of whatever happens is a stable local government, with some few exceptions.”

Beyond domestic politics, the Godongwana turned his focus to continental economic growth, contending that Africa does not suffer from a shortage of domestic savings or available capital. Instead, he noted that unlocking robust capital mobilisation requires deploying appropriate investment instruments, strengthening investor perceptions, and establishing a confirmed, bankable pipeline of infrastructure and development projects.

–ChannelAfrica–