Provincial elections and government formation in the Western Cape: the politics of polarisation

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Periodical article

Title:	Provincial elections and government formation in the Western Cape: the politics of polarisation
Authors:	Nijzink, Lia Jacobs, Sean
Year:	2000
Periodical:	Politikon: South African Journal of Political Studies
Volume:	27
Issue:	1
Pages:	37-49
Language:	English
Geographic term:	South Africa
Subjects:	elections 1999
External link:	https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02589340050004082
Abstract:	During the 1999 elections in South Africa, there was no province more contested than the Western Cape. The situation was characterized by a confrontational style of electoral politics: the largest opposition party, the ANC, challenged the New National Party (NNP), being the largest governing party in the province. In the process of government formation that followed, the parties were clearly not able to change their competitive style by working towards some form of unity in the interests of the province. As a result a multiparty government consisting of the NNP and the Democratic Party (DP) took office. After assessing the institutional and political contexts of coalition governance in the Western Cape, this study concludes that the crucial question is whether the politics of polarization in the Western Cape will turn the province into a bastion of anti-ANC opposition. Much will depend on developments within the NNP and its leadership. Notes, ref., sum.