The Gauteng Provincial Legislature will hold its first sitting of the 7th administration on Friday. The sitting will see the swearing-in of members of the legislature and the election of a Premier, Speaker and other leadership for the next five years.
In what was described as one of the most hotly contested elections, the ANC in the province managed to garner 28 seats in the legislature, followed by the DA with 20 seats, with the EFF in third position with 11 seats. New parties are expected to enter the legislature for the first time, including MK, ActionSA, BOSA and Rise Mzansi.
The ANC finds itself in a precarious position, for the first time in three decades, the ruling party has lost its majority.
The party has seen a significant decline from 2019 where they garnered 50. 2% of the vote, to only managing to attract 35 percent this year. This leaves the ANC needing alliances to garner a majority.
“Well, the Premier will be elected. The Premier is likely to come from the ANC and one must also understand that the parties who would sway in Gauteng at the moment are the DA and the ANC and they would also happen to be on opposite sides ideologically. The ANC has put forward policies that are transformative that the DA does not agree with,” says political analyst Prof Sipho Seepe.
The majority parties have been engaging in talks and meetings since the announcement of the results to form a government both nationally and provincially.
“The federal council also recognizes the work done by the negotiating team composed of Hellen Zille, Ivan Miller, Allan Winde, Siviwe Gwarube, Tony Leon and and Ryan Coetzee and affirmed that in terms of the federal constitution. The parties federal executive will make a final decision relating to coalitions and the formation of governments at national and provincial levels. The DA continues to engage with all other parties with the aim of forming stable governments to ensure a better tomorrow for all of South Africa’s people,” says DA national spokesperson Solly Malatsi.
It’s predicted that the coalitions which will be made at a national level will filter down to the provinces.
“At the same time, you will actually find that the EFF has done well yet not as well as they expected, and the MK has also done well. And if you take the DA’s numbers and that of the ANC, they easily constitute about 61% and the issue is what happens at a national level could affect what happens at the provincial level. If there could be a deal at a national level that says we will go with the DA, it will not be surprising that Gauteng will go that route,” Seepe explains.
It’s all systems go for the first sitting of the province
“The sitting will be held at Selbourne Hall, as the first sitting of the Gauteng provincial legislature. The sitting will consider among others the swearing-in of members of the legislature, election of the Premier of Gauteng province, election of the Speaker, election of the Deputy Speaker, election of the chairperson of committees, election of the deputy chairperson of committees and the designation of Gauteng permanent delegates to the National Council of Provinces,” says acting Secretary Gauteng Legislature, Thamsanqa Makamba.
The dawn of new democracy in South Africa is expected to be ushered in with the opening of houses of Parliament.
