See how a potential coalition might take shape

WITH elections just 50 days away and no single party guaranteed a majority in the National Assembly, readers should expect more back-room manoeuvres as the framework for potential coalitions takes shape.

The current crop of ANC leaders is cognisant of this reality, having seen their grip on metros falter through two successive local government elections, and forced into marriages of convenience with, at times, problematic coalition partners.

Moves by the ANC’s top leadership to excise its election list to Parliament of controversial names is possibly one way the party hopes to attract potential coalition partners who will make all sorts of demands.

Just last week, the EFF boldly demanded of the ANC that in a potential ANC-EFF coalition, Floyd Shivambu be made finance minister. Anyone who would have read the EFF’s Seven Cardinal Pillars would know that EFF is unlikely to get its wish, but that’s part of the dance when it comes to negotiating.

The ANC might find a coalition with smaller opponents, like Al Jamah and the IFP, much more palatable. That will probably come at the expense of Cabinet positions.

The DA, on the other hand, is hoping to block a potential alliance of the ANC and the EFF. Those to the right, like the Free Market Foundation, are adamant that any partnership with the ANC will subsume the DA.

This past weekend, it emerged that the ANC might remove the names of prominent leaders from its election list to Parliament over their involvement in state capture.

Deputy Water and Sanitation Minister David Mahlobo; Sports, Arts and Culture Minister Zizi Kodwa; former minister Malusi Gigaba and senior ANC MP Cedric Frolick are facing the boot after they were cited in the Zondo Commission report into state capture.

The move by the ANC’s top seven officials, along with the party’s integrity committee, sends a clear message to voters and potential coalition partners that the ANC is serious about fighting corruption within its ranks.

Former speaker Nosiviwe MapisaNqakula’s forced resignation might be seen as evidence of the ANC turning over a new leaf.

Ultimately, South Africa’s voters will decide whether the ANC is serious about tackling corruption and misconduct within its ranks.