The Gauteng provincial legislature will hold the first meeting of its seventh government on Friday, which will see lawmakers sworn in and the election of the province's premier, speaker and other leaders for the next five years.
In what was described as one of the most fiercely contested elections ever, the ANC in the province won 28 seats in parliament, followed by the DA with 20 and the EFF in third place with 11. New parties such as MK, ActionSA, BOSA and Rise Mzansi are expected to enter parliament for the first time.
The ANC is in a precarious position after the ruling party lost its majority in parliament for the first time in 30 years.
The party's popularity has fallen sharply, from 50.2% of the vote in 2019 to just 35% this year, meaning the ANC needs to form alliances to gain a majority.
“Well, a premier will be elected. The premier will likely be from the ANC and you have to understand that the two influential parties in Gauteng right now are the DA and the ANC and they are also at odds ideologically. The ANC has put forward transformative policies that the DA does not agree with,” says political analyst Professor Sipho Seepu.
The majority parties have been holding talks and meetings to form a government at both the national and local levels since the election results were announced.
“The Federal Council also acknowledged the work of the negotiating team consisting of Helen Zille, Ivan Miller, Alan Winde, Siviwe Gwalbe, Tony Leong and Ryan Coetzee and affirmed it in terms of the Federal Constitution. The final decision on forming a coalition and national and provincial governments rests with the parties' federal executives. The DA will continue to negotiate with all other political parties with the aim of forming a stable government to ensure a better tomorrow for all South Africans,” said DA national spokesman Solly Malatsi.
Coalitions formed at the national level are expected to trickle down to the states.
“At the same time, you can actually see that the EFF is doing well, although not as well as we expected, and MK is also doing well. If you put the figures for the DA and the ANC together, they are easily at 61% between them. The problem is that what happens at the national level can affect what happens at the provincial level. If there is an agreement to work with the DA at national level, it is not surprising to see Gauteng heading down that path,” explains Seep.
The first session of the state legislature is going well.
“As the inaugural sitting of the Gauteng Provincial Assembly, the meeting will be held at Selborne Hall. The meeting will consider matters such as the swearing in of members, the election of a Gauteng Premier, the election of a Speaker, the election of a Deputy Speaker, the election of committee chairs, the election of committee deputy chairs and the nomination of Gauteng's permanent representative to the national provincial assembly,” said Gauteng Provincial Assembly Acting Secretary-General Thamsanqa Makamba.
The dawn of a new democracy in South Africa is expected to begin with the opening of Parliament.