Power-sharing in South Africa's municipalities: The case of Ekurhuleni and Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan municipalities from 2016

Local government power-sharing and coalitions are likely to increase in South Africa given the ANC's declining electoral dominance as demonstrated by the 2016 and 2021 election outcomes. This has sparked increased academic debate and research in this field. This study contributes to this research by identifying power-sharing trends and assessing the stability and performance of municipalities governed through power-sharing in South Africa between 2016 and August 2022, using the case studies of Ekurhuleni and Nelson Mandela Bay metropolitan municipalities. It finds that coalitions have had a mixed impact on municipal stability and performance, with some municipalities showing stability and others instability. Therefore, it argues that while coalitions come with an inherent risk of greater political and administrative instability, it is the conduct of political parties and individuals in these coalitions and affected municipal councils that often exacerbates this risk. This study uses the case study approach and is primarily qualitative and inductive. It uses semi-structured interviews with open-ended questions to collect primary data from political actors in the two case studies. It then triangulates this data with document analysis while using the systematic review method.