SUSAN BOOYSEN
SOUTH Africa’s 28-year-old, continuously transforming multiparty democracy was reminded of its own fragility when, in September, a coalition running its biggest city, Johannesburg, collapsed. The speaker and the mayor lost their jobs. A new coalition took office, only to be removed by a high court verdict three weeks later. This was followed by the ousting of the mayor of the adjoining metropole of Ekurhuleni.
This isn’t the first time that the administration of a city has fallen apart due to coalition politics. Acrimonious scenes have played out across the country in metropoles such as Nelson Mandela Bay and Tshwane, large towns such as Knysna, and hamlets such Cederberg in the Western Cape.
These seemingly anarchic moves are becoming more common as the party political struggle intensifies between the African National Congress (ANC), which still dominates South Africa’s politics even though it’s in decline, and the biggest opposition party, the Democratic Alliance (DA).
The ANC is increasingly
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