Friedrich Ebert Stiftung South Africa (FES), the South African Local Government Association (SALGA) and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) collaborated in hosting a two-day seminar under the theme of “Strengthening Coalition Governance for Effective, Efficient and Transformative Service Delivery”. The seminar was held on the 28th and 29th of February 2024 and was attended by esteemed politicians, academics, and civil society organizations. The seminar took place at the CSIR convention center in Pretoria.
The event had speakers and panelists who have a wealth of knowledge when it pertains to arears of governance, research and political sciences contributing to the discussions such as Cllr Bheke Stofile, Prof Susan Booysen, Dr Levy Ndou, Dr Mike Sutcliffe, Ms. Phindile Kunene, Mr. Nelson Muffuh, Prof Jaap Visser to name but a few. Ms. Nondumiso Sithole, advisory council member at the Inclusive Society Institute (ISI), attended and partook in what has become a central and critical area of discussion in the South African political landscape, especially as the country draws nearer to the 2024 National and Provincial elections.
The collaborative efforts are intended as actions that are meant to not only be progressive but pro-active stance in responding to the National dialogue on Coalition Government. The seminar ended with a resolution that the output of the discussions that were held in in the interactive sessions a report would be borne. The aim of the report is to document findings from the seminar that may assist in contributing to finding solutions looking at best practices not only locally, regionally but also globally. This report is aimed at adding towards the developing of an inclusive framework that can positively guide and cater for new legal and political processes that will and have thus far emanated from coalition politics. Lance Joel Chief Operating Officer at SALGA raised the point that “coalitions should be based on legal and responsive agreements that reflect the needs of communities, rather than individual or political interests of the coalition partners”.