Abstract

Coalitions are trending within the South African political discourse, especially after the 2016 local government elections. These coalitions are inspired by the increase in the number of hung municipalities after every local government election in South Africa. Most of these coalitions are constituted by minority parties to weaken the ANC majority, of course, some are constituted by the ANC to maintain and consolidate its ability to form a government. Whereas coalitions are a popular phenomenon in the present-day political environment they are still characterized by instability and frequent change of political hands arising from political differences between coalition partners. Coalitions are not an exclusively South African phenomenon and have been in existence across the world. South Africa is still weak on pre-electoral pacts and party-to-party alliances. This paper assesses the future possibility of coalitions in South Africa and provides a reflective analysis of the global political arena. The author argues that coalitions do have a future in South Africa.

Keywords: Coalitions, Hung councils, Parliaments, Legislature, Governments, Elections, Executive