Political parties say they will not rubber-stamp any proposal by the government on the framework of coalitions unless all discussions have been finalised.
This emerged after Deputy Minister of Cooperative Governance Parks Tau said there was a draft Bill that has been crafted by his department to deal with the issue of coalitions in the country.
But opposition parties said they were being taken along this process when the ANC has a predetermined outcome on the framework for coalitions.
But Deputy President Paul Mashatile denied that there was a predetermined outcome on coalition discussions.
Mashatile said opposition parties will not rubberstamp the process.
But the IFP, ActionSA, DA, Freedom Front Plus, United Independent Movement (UIM) and Spectrum National Party (SNP) said on Monday they will not be party to a predetermined outcome.
UDM leader Bantu Holomisa also raised concerns about the nature of the coalitions.
The IFP, SNP, UIM, Freedom Front Plus, the DA and ActionSA will next week hold their coalition summit in Johannesburg.
They said they will not rubber-stamp any process by government on this issue.
“There are a number of points arising from the discussions which we believe to be sensible approaches to improving the stability and performance of coalition governments. However, there are also elements of the discussion that produce concerns around which we will need to engage further.
“Not least among these concerns, is the revelation on Saturday from Deputy Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Parks Tau, that a draft bill has already been produced by the department prior to the convening of the National Dialogue.
“This group of parties will not legitimise a pre-conceived outcome, drafted by ANC-aligned officials, for the last days of ANC majority in parliament to protect its interests in future coalitions,” said the parties.
But Mashatile denied this, saying the views of political parties will be taken on board.
He said the draft bill was a separate process to the discussions on coalitions.
“The draft bill does not affect this process. You will recall that the DA have their own draft bills to say what needs to be amended to ensure that coalitions work better. When I was answering the questions in Parliament, I did say the Minister of Cogta (Thembi Nkadimeng) indicated that they were drafting a bill. But once I announced the dialogue, they slowed down to allow this process. Same as the DA. I said the issues you raise in the bill, bring them here, because once we have a framework that is agreed to by everybody then that lays the basis for legislation.
“The minister will go back, look at the bill, take into account this framework and I hope other parties will do the same,” said Mashatile.
South Africa is preparing to go into elections next year. The ANC has been losing support in the previous national and provincial elections.
In the municipal elections two years ago, it lost some metros and councils. The local government elections had resulted in more than 80 hung councils.
But some of the coalitions that were formed have been unstable and this affected service delivery.
siyabonga.mkhwanazi@inl.co.za
Politics