CAPE TOWN, Friday 28 August 2026 — Parliament’s legal advisers have warned that legislation intended to regulate municipal coalitions is unlikely to be enacted before South Africa’s 4 November local government elections, meaning newly elected councils are likely to form governments under the existing rules despite expectations of another increase in hung municipalities.
The Portfolio Committee on Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs received its first substantive briefing on the Local Government: Municipal Structures Amendment Bill on Thursday.
Commonly called the Municipal Coalitions Bill, the legislation was introduced in Parliament on 18 August after approval by Cabinet.
Parliamentary legal adviser Charmaine van der Merwe cautioned the committee against attempting to compress the legislative process simply because parties want the new rules in place before the municipal elections.
She advised MPs that processing legislation of this nature through both houses of Parliament could ordinarily take about two years, with constitutional requirements for meaningful public participation limiting Parliament’s ability to accelerate the process.
The warning significantly reduces the likelihood that the proposed coalition framework will govern the formation of councils immediately after the November election.
That matters because South Africa recorded 66 hung councils after the 2021 local government elections, double the number produced in 2016.
Several major metropolitan municipalities have subsequently experienced unstable coalition governments, repeated changes of mayor and shifting agreements between parties.
Johannesburg, Tshwane and Ekurhuleni have all experienced changes in governing coalitions during the current term, while Nelson Mandela Bay has also undergone repeated changes in political control.
With no major party assured of outright majorities in several of those metros on 4 November, coalition negotiations are again expected to play a central role in determining who governs.
The proposed legislation is intended to create a more formal framework for those arrangements.
One of its principal provisions would make written coalition agreements mandatory.
Agreements would have to be submitted to the relevant municipal manager and provincial MEC responsible for local government and published in the Provincial Gazette, making their terms formally accessible to the public.
The bill would also extend the period available to establish municipal governance structures after an election from 14 days to 30 days.
That additional time is intended partly to give parties in hung councils more opportunity to negotiate governing arrangements before electing office-bearers.
Another major provision would regulate motions to remove municipal office-bearers.
The proposed framework is intended to reduce repeated or frivolous motions of no confidence, one of the mechanisms that has contributed to frequent changes of political leadership in some coalition-controlled councils.
The bill also sets out procedures governing the election and removal of speakers, mayors, executive mayors and other municipal office-bearers.
Committee chairperson Zweli Mkhize said the committee would now develop a programme setting out how the legislation would be processed.
Parliament said the committee recognised the importance of establishing a framework capable of improving stability, accountability and transparency in coalition governments but also acknowledged the need for proper legislative scrutiny and public participation.
The timing has become politically contentious because the ANC has previously called for coalition legislation to be enacted before November.
However, Parliament’s legal advice makes clear that political urgency does not remove its constitutional obligations.
Van der Merwe told the committee that court decisions had established that a matter being regarded as politically urgent did not justify improperly reducing the time available for legislative processes and public participation.
The Democratic Alliance has separately pursued coalition legislation through a private member’s bill introduced by its parliamentary leader George Michalakis.
That proposal had already been before the committee from the previous parliamentary process.
Michalakis has now agreed to place consideration of his bill on hold while MPs assess whether its provisions can be incorporated into or considered alongside the government’s legislation.
The delay could have immediate consequences after the November election.
Under the existing Municipal Structures Act, newly elected councils generally have a much shorter period in which to hold their first meetings and elect office-bearers.
Parties negotiating coalitions after 4 November are therefore unlikely to have the proposed 30-day negotiating window available to them.
Nor are coalition partners expected to face a statutory requirement to publish binding written agreements before governments are established.
That leaves political parties themselves responsible for deciding whether to negotiate transparent and enforceable coalition arrangements during the immediate post-election period.
The issue is especially important in Johannesburg, Pretoria and Ekurhuleni, where fragmented councils have produced repeated political changes since the 2021 elections.
Nelson Mandela Bay could face similar negotiations after the DA and ANC each won 48 seats in the 120-seat council in 2021.
The likelihood that the legislation will miss the election therefore means voters may choose new councils under one political environment while the rules intended to govern future coalitions are still being debated in Parliament.
Candidate nominations for the election close at 17:00 on Friday, after which parties will enter the main campaign period.
The Electoral Commission of South Africa will publish the final list of successful candidates on 16 September.
Parliament’s CoGTA committee will meanwhile continue developing its programme for the Coalitions Bill, including public participation and consideration by both houses.
Unless that process advances far more quickly than Parliament’s legal advisers currently consider realistic, the councils elected on 4 November will have to negotiate their first governing coalitions without the framework specifically designed to prevent a repeat of the instability experienced during the current municipal term.
