Government will be hosting a two-day National Dialogue on Coalition Governments which kicks off at the University of the Western Cape tomorrow morning.
The dialogue is convened by Deputy President and Leader of Government Business, Paul Mashatile.
President Cyril Ramaphosa is also expected to deliver the keynote address at the dialogue which will bring together political parties and civil society organisations.
FF Plus
The Freedom Front Plus (FF Plus) says it’s looking forward to participating in the event.
FF-Plus leader, Pieter Groenewald, says it’s an important event.
“I will be present at the coalition dialogue that is taking place this weekend. It is important for me as leader of the Freedom Front Plus to put forward our proposals. And I will also make a submission at this coalition dialogue. We must remember in South Africa; coalition government is something new and we are all going through a learning curve. The electorate as well as the politicians – we want to put forward our ideas and our proposals. That’s why I will be present.”
PAC
The Pan Africanist Congress (PAC) says it will be attending the dialogue to ensure that it does not miss out on anything happening in the country’s politics.
PAC leader, Mzwanele Nhyontso, says he will make a submission on his concerns.
Nhyontso says the PAC remains skeptical about the national dialogue.
“Of course, as PAC, we are going to attend this coalition dialogue and now listen – as PAC, we are attending but we are not looking forward to the dialogue because we have seen how coalitions are conducted in South Africa. We have seen the level of dishonesty. We have seen the level of greediness after all coalition have been established. Now we are not looking forward…We are going there because we don’t want to miss anything that is happening in South African politics.”
Al Jama-ah
Meanwhile, Al Jama-ah says it does not support that a framework should be developed for coalition governments.
Party leader, Ganief Hendricks, elaborates.
“When we met with the deputy president and when it was my time to respond, I advised the deputy president that we don’t believe that there should be a framework of a coalition government as the reasons for the framework is a motion by the Democratic Alliance and Al Jama ah does not support the motions of the Democratic Alliance if it’s gonna (going to) lead to a return to white rule and apartheid. The reason is that it is a constitutional principle that there be a multi-party democracy and it’s not a constitutional principle to have a framework for a coalition that will have a threshold violating the principle of one man vote.”
NFP
The National Freedom Party (NFP) says coalition governments will not succeed unless politics are separated from administration.
Shaik-Emam says the party cautiously welcomes the dialogue.
“We believe this is a step in the right direction. However, unless we separate politics from administration, practically, coalition governments will not survive. It is quite clear that political parties are entering coalitions governments, not serving the interest of the people but more importantly as to how they would benefit and as such they are sharing strategic positions with budgets which will benefit political parties. As the NFP, we are saying unless you close that gap and ensure that all appointments and procurement are done independently of all political parties, the chances of successes in coalition governments is minimum.”
