• Eighties' hits by soul group Peaches and Herb suit the mood in the country
In February 1960, British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan made his famous 'Wind of Change' speech in an address to the Parliament of South Africa in Cape Town.
The speech, which was made after Macmillan had spent a month in Africa visiting a number of soon-to-be former British colonies, and seeing the inevitability of independence for the continent.
It has been a week of horse trading with the aim of ushering in a new political reality for South Africa. You could say that there is a new wind of change blowing through the country as the country’s first post-1994 coalition government prepares to govern.
The first sitting of South Africa’s National Assembly must occur no more than 14 days after election results are declared. If the coalition has not already been decided, the parties have another week or so of deal-making to go.
Before I continue, here is my disclaimer. I am writing speculatively at the start of this week, and you will be reading this at the end of the week. As another former UK Prime Minister, Harold Wilson, is reputed to have said in 1964: “A week is a long time in politics.”
This next fact may appear random, but walk with me and you’ll see how it ties in.
On June 15, the 'Sweethearts of Soul' Peaches and Herb will be in Cape Town, performing all their greatest hits. If you are under 40, please consult with older people to figure out who they are.
Since the mid-1960s, the male and female soul duo has been singing classic hits, with songs such as 'Shake Your Groove Thing', 'Reunited', 'Close Your Eyes', 'Pledge my Love' and 'Love is Strange'.
As South Africa’s political parties try to figure out how to cobble together a government, I wonder which of the above Peaches and Herb hits will suit the mood.
After the voters shook their groove thing, the ANC emerged as the single biggest political party with 40 per cent of the seats in Parliament. As such, it is the one leading the charge as far as forming the coalition is concerned.
Of course, love is strange, and all the other parties could band together against the ANC and force them to become an opposition force because they've got 60 per cent, but that is highly unlikely, given the ideological differences that exist between these parties.
As I write this, the best bet is that at national level, the ANC will reach out and pledge their love to the second-biggest parliamentary party, the DA, which until now was the main opposition.
Such a coalition would be very interesting considering that the DA’s election campaign was all about urging voters not to support smaller parties such as the EFF and Jacob Zuma’s MK.
The DA claimed a vote for the EFF, the MK and another party that made surprising gains nationally, the Patriotic Alliance, would be a backdoor vote for the ANC.
If, as many expect, the DA close their eyes, and do jump into bed with the ANC, they will have to find a way to explain that in fact, a vote for the DA turned out to be a vote for the ANC.
Alternatively, and there are some for whom this would be the dream coalition, the ANC could also end up forming an alliance with the MK and the EFF.
Some suggest that this would be the most logical move because in reality, the EFF and the MK are parties that were formed after their leaders split from the ANC. This way, they would be reunited.
In theory, their supporters would have at one point been ANC supporters, but there are others who argue that bringing the EFF and MK into the fold would be a nightmare for the economy as they would try to force nationalisation of key sectors of the economy.
If the ANC fails to agree on a coalition, the party's newly humbled and contrite sounding secretary general Fikile Mbalula has said the party is prepared for a spell on the opposition benches.