Marriages of Inconvenience: The Politics of Coalitions in South Africa ed. by S. Booysen

While coalitions are not new to the South African political landscape, the 2021 Local Government Elections yielded five of the eight metros as hung councils and a total of 66 municipalities without a party in the majority, thus thrusting coalition politics into the political limelight. This was nearly double the number of hung councils in the 2016 local elections. Since its first democratic multiparty elections in 1994, South Africa's party politics has been characterised by a dominant party system, with the African National Congress (ANC) winning five consecutive national elections. Provincial elections, but even more so, those in the local spheres have been increasingly competitive. The results have compelled political parties to consider coalitions and post-election co-operation for a joint exercise of political power.