It has become increasingly clear that the country needs to start thinking of life without Ramaphosa - and the ANC - in charge.
South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa delivers the 2022 state of nation address to a joint sitting of Parliament. Coalitions could soon be a feature of national government.
Jaco Marais/Pool Images/Gallo Images via Getty Images)
Heidi Brooks, Mapungubwe Institute for Strategic Reflection
Stable coalitions will depend on strong democratic values being embedded among political elites.
Sam Matekane, Lesotho’s new prime minister has the daunting job of restoring public trust in politics and government.
Molise Molise/AFP via Getty Images
Unable to change the country’s vulnerability to shifts in the global and regional economy, the new prime minister Matekane has few economic levers to pull.
Mpho Phalatse, mayor of Johannesburg.
Photo: City of Johannesburg
Parties must forego ideological rigidity and compromise for the common good, says Mpho Phalatse about making coalitions work.
South African president Cyril Ramaphosa (L) is congratulated by leader of the Inkatha Freedom Party Mangosuthu Buthelezi (R) after being elected president of South Africa during the swearing in of new members of the National Assembly.
Nic Bothma
The failure of the 2021 post-election deal is a missed opportunity for the African National Congress and Inkatha to work together.
Mxolisi Kaunda mayor of eThekwini. If parties or individuals succeed in the politics and practicalities of governing a metro, the rewards are considerable.
Darren Stewart/Gallo Images via Getty Images
Turnout was low. But not equally so across the board. Patterns show it was not a statement by all voters – it was a message from ANC supporters.
Former Nelson Mandela Bay Mayor Athol Trollip, from the DA, third from left, and his deputy Mongameli Bobani, from the UDM, extreme right, help clean up a street in 2017.
by Werner Hills/Foto24/Gallo Images/Getty Images
South Africa’s political parties would do well to learn from Ireland, where the three largest political parties negotiated a coalition treaty that stipulated mechanisms for conflict resolution.
Failure to campaign due to COVID-19 has fuelled calls to synchronise polls.
EFE-EPA
The stalemate in Tshwane is a manifestation of coalition arrangements that serve the partisan interests of parties, to the detriment of citizens.
Lesotho’s former Prime Minister Tom Thabane, left, and his successor Moeketsi Majoro, at the latter’s swearing in ceremony at the Royal Palace in Maseru.
Molise Molise/AFP-GettyImages
Moeketsi Majoro’s installation as Prime Minister is welcome. But it does not guarantee much needed political stability in an era of complex coalition politics.
Leader of the Economic Freedom Fighters Julius Malema (C) addresses the media after local elections in 2016.
EPA/Kim Ludbrook
Chief Research Specialist in Democracy and Citizenship at the Human Science Research Council and a Research Fellow Centre for African Studies, University of the Free State