Editorial: Deepening era of coalitions will test the maturity of South Africa’s democracy: The low voter turnout in the local polls is something our leading parties must take to heart as they look to rebuild their relationship with the electorate.
, during which supporters of the defeated former president, Donald Trump, attempted to overthrow a more than 200-year-old democracy. Was it merely a blip; an “immature” response to political contests — a storming of the Capitol not to be repeated for another 200 years?This week, South Africa held its sixth local government elections in what’s still a very young, 27-year democratic experiment.
We’ve long spoken of a trust deficit that exists between the state, business and the general public. These polls clearly demonstrate that there’s a growing trust deficit between the leading political parties and, especially, the young people in the country — understandably so, given theTheir stayaway is a statement in and of itself: one can’t dismiss it as the immaturity of our democracy.
But the level of maturity required to do so has certainly been lacking, given the bewildering responses from some of our leading political parties to their disappointing results. Democratic Alliance leader John Steenhuisen hasn’t been alone in expressing his disquiet with the work of the Electoral Commission of South Africa , but he has also blamed the media for criticising both himself and the party in the run-up to the elections.
Democracy is delicate in nature, and such utterances about the IEC and the media at large add yet another layer of discord. As our country enters into a deepening era of, we can only hope that our body politic is able to show maturity in the “horse-trading” that inevitably comes with it. The focus must be on improving the lives of everyday South Africans, and the plight of women and the youth in particular, to strengthen the foundations of what is still a capricious experiment with democracy.
If it’s about point-scoring and focusing on the outcomes of party elective conferences and national polls in three years’ time, we can expect only stagnation. Making coalitions work is going to take maturity: this means our body politic has some growing up to do.If our elections coverage helped inform your decision at the polls, cast your vote for an informed public and join our subscriber community.
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