JOHANNESBURG, Gauteng — As South Africa approaches the 2026 local government elections, the legislative delay of the Municipal Structures Amendment Bill—widely referred to as the coalition bill—has prompted the government to explore alternative frameworks to manage municipal partnerships. With coalition governments expected to remain a staple in municipalities where no single party secures an outright majority, officials are scrambling to establish guidelines before the November 4 polls.
The proposed legislation aims to introduce mandatory, publicly accessible written coalition agreements, regulate the appointment and removal of municipal office-bearers, and establish new timeframes for forming governance structures. It also seeks to curb political instability by extending negotiation periods from 14 to 30 days and limiting frequent motions of no confidence in hung municipal councils.
However, the portfolio committee on cooperative governance and traditional affairs recently indicated that the complexities of local coalition dynamics make it difficult to rush the bill into law. Civil society organization My Vote Counts also cautioned against hastening the legislation, warning that doing so could reduce public participation to a mere procedural hurdle rather than fulfilling its constitutional purpose.
Acknowledging the tight timeline, Deputy Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA), Dickson Masemola, confirmed that the remaining time is constrained.
“We are looking at alternative legal and administrative means that will still be able to provide a minimum understanding on the part of the political parties,” Masemola explained. He noted that even without the formal coalition act, the government intends to provide a basic framework to guide parties when constituting coalitions. Masemola also reminded future councilors to prioritize the interests of South Africans above all else.
Political commentator and author Rebone Tau highlighted that Parliament has been slow to act on coalition governance, noting that coalitions have been a prominent feature in metropolitan areas since 2016. Tau recalled that during the era of the late chief whip Jackson Mthembu, a delegation visited Germany to study their coalition models, where negotiations can take three to six months and result in detailed, written agreements that hold leaders accountable.
“We are still sitting with that same conversation,” Tau observed, pointing to the instability and service delivery challenges currently plaguing various municipalities.
Tau emphasized the need for detailed public agreements, contrasting the proposed municipal framework with the current Government of National Unity (GNU) arrangement. She noted that the GNU’s agreement resembles a “letter of intent” lacking specific key priorities, which has led to internal friction, such as the Democratic Alliance (DA) resorting to legal action. Tau warned that once the bill eventually passes, political parties must not treat written agreements as a mere box-ticking exercise for compliance.
“It should be strengthened in a way that there should be implementation of those agreements, there should be accountability and assessment,” she urged, referencing discussions she had at a recent conference regarding the bill.
Addressing the frequent leadership changes in cities like Johannesburg, Tau argued that municipal instability is largely driven by political egos rather than fundamental policy differences. She criticized small parties with less than 1% of the electoral mandate for playing disproportionate political games.
“Local government should be centered around service delivery because the core of government, its heartbeat, is local government,” Tau stated. She added that the bill’s proposal to limit the number of motions of no confidence—suggesting a cap of two or three per administration—would help restore governance stability by preventing endless behind-the-scenes lobbying that delays the business of the day.
Echoing concerns about the political culture surrounding these partnerships, Prof Ntsikelelo Breakfast pointed out that coalition arrangements have frequently proven unworkable due to the behavior of the political elite.
“The political elite at local government level in particular have a tendency to rush into joining forces… without developing a conflict resolution mechanism to deal with their own internal contradictions,” Breakfast explained, identifying this lack of foresight as a primary driver of local government instability.
While the formal coalition legislation remains stalled, the push for structured, accountable, and service-delivery-focused municipal governance continues. Political parties and newly elected councilors will now have to navigate the upcoming November elections relying on existing administrative guidelines and a growing public demand for stable, effective local leadership.
