Contemporary Issues In Local Government €Œcoexistence Strategy†And €Œprovincial Government Monitoring Of Local Government†: An Overview Of Selected Case Studies In Kwazulu-Natal

This article describes the coexistence strategy employed by the opposition parties and discusses the complexities associated with provincial government supervision of local government, arising out of the alleged ‘politically’ motivated interventions. The article draws on secondary data sources and uses two local municipalities through case studies to discuss the coexistence of opposition parties and the challenges associated with the provincial government’s involvement in local government affairs. The selected case studies are the uMngeni Local Municipality and uMsunduzi Local Municipality. The two local municipalities are based in the uMgungundlovu District Municipality in South Africa. Opposition parties have adopted a coexistence strategy, forging informal and formal coalitions to challenge the African National Congress (ANC) hegemony in South Africa's political landscape. This has prompted the ANC to use its powers overly as the ruling party to monitor and supervise municipalities, particularly those that the opposition parties, such as the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) and the Democratic Alliance (DA), govern. The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa enjoins the provincial government to monitor and supervise the local governments, as stated in Sections 154(1) and 155(6, 7). This implies that provincial governments have the responsibility to support the municipalities in discharging their fiduciary duties in relevant cases. However, this analysis reveals that despite ‘politically’ motivated interventions in local government, the ruling party’s electoral support will continue to shrink in South Africa. This situation will result in the formation of more coalition governments in the country. The article contributes to an improved understanding of the complexities, associated with provincial government intervention in local government, and how the opposition parties have deployed the strategy of coexistence to dethrone the ANC’s dominance in the country's political landscape.