Coalition politics, which started with the Democratic Alliance (DA) taking control of the City of Cape Town with a number of smaller parties in 2006, became more widespread in 2016. There are now indications that it could spread to provincial or even national level in 2024.
Transition into democracy
Some parallels have been drawn with South Africa’s transition to democracy in 1994. President Cyril Ramaphosa terms the proliferation of parties and candidates in the recent elections as “another milestone in the advance of our democracy”, likening it to the signing of the country’s constitution 25 years ago this month.
A record 325 parties took part, up almost 50% from the number recorded five years ago.
The proliferation of parties and candidates was interpreted by analysts as a general loss of faith in the governing ANC, and to a lesser extent the opposition DA, which also saw a
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