“Although politics sometimes sees strange bedfellows coming together, I can’t see the different opposition parties forming a minority government in the municipality.”
This was the view of Prof. André Duvenhage, a political commentator affiliated with the NWU.
Duvenhage predicts that the ANC might try and establish a coalition with the EFF or, more probably, the Patriotic Alliance (PA) in J.B Marks.
In their first election in J.B Marks, the PA managed to gain 2.34 per cent of the vote, securing two seats on the council as a result.
Sixty-seven council seats are available in the J.B. Marks Municipality. The ANC has won 33, the DA, 17, the EFF, 6, FF Plus, 9 and the PA, 2.
After the 2016 elections, the ANC had 34 seats, while the opposition parties as a collective had 33 seats. In 2021, the opposite is true. The ANC has 33 seats, while the opposition, as a collective, has 34 seats.
“I can’t see the EFF and Freedom Front Plus, for example, sitting around a table to discuss a coalition. These decisions are usually made at a national level and then play out at a local level,” Duvenhage stated.
The ANC has lost its outright majority in the J.B. Marks Municipality.
The party got 48 per cent of the vote in the recent local government elections. In 2016, they garnered 50.86 per cent of the vote. Late on Wednesday afternoon, the counting of the votes within the municipality had been completed.
The ANC wasn’t the only party to lose support. The DA’s support also dropped from 32.21 per cent in 2016 to 25.36 per cent in 2021. The Freedom Front Plus more than doubled its support, climbing from 5.38 per cent of the vote in 2016 to 13.54 per cent in 2021. Marlene Steyn du Toit from the FF Plus noted that the party was very proud and happy with the results. “We have shown phenomenal growth. We would just like to thank the voters of J.B. Marks for the trust they have put in the Freedom Front Plus. We look forward to the next term in council, with a stronger presence to serve our community,” she said.
According to her, coalition discussions would be negotiated at a national level.
“Before the elections, the Freedom Front Plus was on record that coalition politics was the future in South Africa,” Steyn du Toit continued.
Chris Hattingh, the constituency head of the DA in J.B. Marks, agrees that coalitions and co- operation between opposition parties are big party decisions but adds that any such decisions would always be made in the best interests of the voters.
