To make a coalition or not? That's the question

As the local government election results stream in, parties are considering who they might be able to work with.

Pretoria - As the local government election results stream in, parties are considering who they are willing to form a coalition with.

Their biggest challenges will be clashes on ideology and policy, as coalitions are often marriages of convenience that many parties would prefer to avoid but cannot if they want to rule.

The EFF reiterated on Thursday that it would not initiate partnership discussions with the ANC.

Chairman Dali Mpofu said that if the ANC were rejected by voters, then it would be against the EFF’s left-wing approach to force voters to still deal with the ruling party.

“What we will do is get into a partnership with all opposition parties, not any specific opposition party. But even that arrangement is going to be based on principled conditions,” said Mpofu.

The party justified serving only the interests of the poor and said that stand would influence who it would be willing to govern with.

The ANC said it was not thinking about coalitions at this stage.

Spokeswoman Khusela Sangoni said coalitions were tactical marriages of convenience and that it would not get into any coalition with the DA any time soon.

The IFP, which is regaining ground in municipalities after taking a battering over the last few years, has attributed its growth to ANC infighting in KwaZulu-Natal and the disqualification of its rival, the National Freedom Party, from participating in the polls after it failed to pay its registration fee in time.

IFP MP Liezl van der Merwe said the party was optimistic about its performance in various areas, especially in KwaZulu-Natal, where it retained the Nkandla municipality.

The IFP said it would consider partnership talks with the DA at the Abaqulusi Municipality in KZN.

Elections Bureau